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…
your crazy..big pete is one of the greatest if not the greatest of all time.
Mr Van Der Sar is a fine keeper one of the very best but Mr Schmeichel was world class.He was the very best keeper in the world at his time with us,i watched him win games on his own.I remember playing Everton and single handedly one us the game leaping starfish jumps everywere.Mr Van Der Sae is class but he is no Schmeichel
I think you have mistaken me, I DID NOT SAY VDS IS BETTER (I can’ stress this enough) but if I had to choose between the two I personally would take him.
An interesting blog.
“due to my age I can’t claim to have seen Schmeichel at his brilliant best” – as such, it should be very difficult for you to remark that you would pick one over the other; the point is therefore moot.
PS is arguably the best goal keeper football has ever seen…EVER. VDS isnt in that league. The likes of Banks and Yashin could be, with maybe Zoff and Khan below. Buffon does not get in this list, so VDS simply cannot.
I appluad your enthusiasm, howsoever misplaced, but PS is and will be #1 for United….most likely…Forever!!
As I said Tom, I have seen more than enough video as well as being able to remember the later years of his United career. I just think being around to experience something first hand and watching tapes isn’t the same.
Are you aware of VDS’s credentials before you bar him from your list? I didn’t want to make it purely about accolades but VDS has done pretty well,
3 league titles in 5 years is brilliant add to that 2 CL titles as well as Uefa Cups and some other smaller trophies and personal accolades.
I go back some way with United goalkeepers an several have been very good in their time. The first I remember is Harry Gregg and being from NI I am a little biased. Then I remember Alec Stepney and of course Peter and Edwin. We could argue all night about the various attributes of these 4 and many others but when Edwin finally hangs up his boots I’d take anyone who was as good as any of these 4!
Ella
Agreed Ella, replacing a goalkeeper isn’t the easiest thing to do. If we had snapped up VDS after Schmeichel we may not have had such a shaky period in the last decade.
Remember the game against Newcastle in St. James, 96?
Schmeichel almost single-handedly kept us in the game, they were bombarding our goal. Lost count of how many one-on-ones he came out on top. Then Eric did his thing. Two legends.
VDS isn’t in the same league.
Guys you gonna only know VDS’s importance once he retires…he has always been underrated
@Murman…What the hell are you saying…dont you remeber last season how we struggled when VDS was out and Foster tried to fill his boots