When Peter Schmeichel left Old Trafford after captaining United to the Champions League in 1999 it marked the start of a period of wilderness in terms of goalkeepers at the club. It was always going to be hard to replace a man who created such an impression between the sticks for such a long time but we didn’t help ourselves with a series of sub par, wacky and plain terrible goalkeepers.
Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard, Roy Carroll, Andy Goram and the infamous Massimo Taibi were amongst those who attempted to replace the great man and although each had a varying degree of success (bar Taibi of course who was absolutely shite) none came anywhere near the high standard Schmeichel set. It appeared we would continually be searching for a replacement until we snapped Edwin van der Sar from Fulham in 2005.
Edwin had been in England since 2001 when he was forced to move on from Juventus after they snapped up Gigi Buffon and after 4 years at Craven Cottage he joined United for £2m, a fee that looks as big a bargain as the £530,000 we paid for Schmeichel.
In the 5 years he has been at the club he has restored the stability at the back that disappeared in Peter Schmeichel’s absence. Not just helping United regain the foothold in the battle for dominance in England, van der Sar was also instrumental in helping United win the European Cup in 2008 and the fact he is nearly 40, still going strong and looking at a contract extension tells you all you need to know about his longevity and consistency at the top of his game.
Inevitably there has and will be comparisons between the two and due to my age I can’t claim to have seen Schmeichel at his brilliant best dominating his box, making matching winning saves as well as popping up with the occasional goal but I have seen United struggle with goalkeepers and then van der Sar step in and in an instant erase that problem.
Watching tape of Schmeichel isn’t quite the same as being around to experience it as it happens and I respect what he did for the club but for me I would have to pick van der Sarr ahead of him if I had to choose between the two in a United XI.
Do you agree? Feel free to have your say…
Peter Schmeichel hands down, Van Der Sar is a great goalìe but The Great Dane is the greatest goalkeeper in football history. Peter was my first favorite United player and I originally wanted to play as a goalie because of Schmeichel, to this very day I still wish Peter was still here playing for United. Schmeichel had it all and did so much for club and country including 5 Lge titles, Champions Lge, 3 FA Cups, Lge Cup & Euro 92 upset with Denmark. Schmeichel was the buy of the century as said by Fergie.
Both are world class goalkeepers, so it’s very difficult to make a choice. I’m just glad that we have been blessed with 2 great keepers. In my opinion, we should have made plans to sign VDS the moment Schmeichel announced his retirement, his signing was 6 years too late. Better late than never though.
Hmmm having a hard time gathering concensus Chudi? VDS has been great, but Schmeichel is several stratas higher in terms of legend. VDS also played during an era when we had our strongest defense ever (and to his credit, he was apart of it), but Schmeichel routinely gave us points we surely would’ve droped otherwise. VDS chapter in United’s history is still special, and especially to have done so at an age when many would already have been retired.
In the same breath Jonathan, Schmeichel had Dolly and Daisy in front of him as well as Irwin and a prime Neville to name a few of the defenders.
Schmeichel may have made match winning saves but VDS also made the save that won us the CL. I think this is a closer than people will admit and again whilst he may not be the better goalkeeper (this too is open to debate) for me going on what I’ve experienced I would go with VDS.
VDS is a great keeper no doubt. All keepers can make saves. Bosnich was a great shot stopper. what separates a great keeper from a good keeper however is the ability to command their area. Claiming crosses when the team is 1 nil up and being bombarded by the opposition. Utd have had great keepers in Gregg and Stepney. I have to agree with Tom Cozens. PS is the greatest keeper of all time. I think he is better than Banks, Zoff, Yashin etc. His ability to command his area is next to none. No keeper can intimidate the opposition like PS. When Bergkamp stepped up for the penalty in 1999 FA Cup semi finals. I knew PS would save it and that was the catalyst for the treble. I have never seen PS make a mistake. I can recall a few mistakes leading to goals from VDS however, even though I put him as one of the greatest keepers of this generation. Kahn maybe the only keeper better than him in the past 10years. Not even Buffon is better.
i personally feel that vds deserves more credit for what he has brought to the team. i must admit that peter’s a LEGEND, and he edges VDS due to the presence and personality that he brings to the team.
but from a purely technical point of view, i think that both keepers are on par. for e.g. vds has better distribution due to his excellent kicking technique while peter is awesome 1v1.
its gonna be very difficult for the next keeper that comes in when vds eventually retires.