Kasper Schmeichel

[cc_star]

I rate Kasper as a team player & he is hugely important to us for that, so would be very very difficult to replace.

However, purely on his goalkeeping ability he is not irreplaceable; the likes of Sunderland, Burnley, Southampton, Stoke & others have (or have had) better keepers either now or in very recent years

 

I'd be delighted if we got to end of the transfer window and still had Kasper, Simpson (only 1st-team RB), Ndidi, Mahrez & Vardy in our line-up

Edited 27 June 2017 by cc_star

[urban.spaceman]

What an amazing 6 years he's had for us. Even better is that he seems very down to earth and an all round decent character.

 

Also, if he stays for one more year then he will have the chance of completing this stat:

 

The goal against Yoevil didn't officially count sadly but he needs to score one in the next 6 months to keep the "1 every 50 years" trend going!

[Stevosevic]

Captain next year?

[jumbo747]

On ‎26‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 09:34, foxfanazer said:

Yup Kasper and Vardy are the must keeps imo

Plus N'didi, Chilwell, Gray

[adam95581]

'So far' - that means he's staying (forever) right?!?! 

[Leicesterlichtie]

Schmeichal has been & will continue to be a fantastic keeper for us, had a few blips but so do many other keepers. Has been a pivotal player in the last couple of years. A match winner.

[urban.spaceman]

"so far"

[Hitesh]

Fully expecting Kasper to be captain for quite a few games next season but Wes remaining club captain. Mainly as I can't see Wes playing the majority of games.

[Grantham Fox]

1 hour ago, Hitesh said:

Fully expecting Kasper to be captain for quite a few games next season but Wes remaining club captain. Mainly as I can't see Wes playing the majority of games.

Yep I'll go with that.

[shen]

Here's an article about Kasper, who's obviously very much in focus leading up to the second leg of the play-off against Ireland. It's made up of bits and pieces of different interviews and gives some more insight as to who he is as a player and person. If you follow the link you will see a few short videos as well. My own translation follows.

https://www.dr.dk/sporten/webfeature/cyborgen-schmeichel

 

Kasper Schmeichel's philosophy is simple, but the methods of the Danish wall are like taken out of modern warfare.

 

With meticulous preparation, relentless introspection and high-tech aids, the Leicester goalkeeper constantly tries to optimize his game and eliminate as many weaknesses as he can.

It is all driven by a constant pursuit of perfection. A hunt that starts within himself, as he re-play all situations in his head after an international game in his head while walking alone on the pitch.

"I'm always trying to get better and push myself to not cut some corners. I try to be as progressive as possible. It is the most important thing for me to always learn and constantly improve", says Kasper Schmeichel.

National team goalkeeper coach Lars Høgh uses big words about Kasper Schmeichel. "One of the best goalkeepers around".

 

The Danish national team is in a Lufthansa flight on its way to battle in Romania.

Around him, several players are sleeping, but Kasper Schemichel is sitting in his seat and staring intently on his computer screen.

He's watching videos of himself training at Leicester. He follows and notes each movement.

For Kasper Schmeichel football is a very serious job, and in many ways it makes him a kind of goalkeeping researcher.

He constantly tries to find the little detail that can make him an even better goalkeeper.

"I study the goalkeeping game a lot. I have my own way of doing things and it does not always match with the coaches I have. The good goalkeeping coaches accept that there is no right or wrong way", says Schmeichel.

 

No detail or angle is too insignificant for the goalkeeper's attention. "It's not a narcissistic thing, but it's to see how you look when you save a ball or if a ball goes in. There are many elements of one's goalkeeping game, which you previously could only sense, but now you can get pictures. So there are many exciting things about it", explains Lars Høgh.

 

In his eternal pursuit of perfection, Schmeichel is a pioneer in experimenting. When the National Team meet up, Kasper often brings a new glove or new technology that might help him to get even better. The latest weapon in Schmeichel's arsenal is a drone. Hovering over the pitch, it gives a video angle, which he has not seen before.

 

Lars Høgh, in turn, loves Schmeichel's approach to the game. The droning may give a new understanding of the Dane's technique, and how he places himself in the goal, explains Lars Høgh. But he sees the drone more as an example of the mentality Kasper Schmeichel has when he works.

"No stone is left unturned. That's what I find more interesting. Whether the droning gives him anything, I do not know, but Kasper was also the first to use GoPros. Now it's just developed even further", says Lars Høgh.

 

The nerdy and analytical approach to the game is supplemented with hard effort in training, and all of this combined has brought him from League 2 to the Premier League championship.

"I have the attitude that you have to train like you play. When you go on the pitch it must be as natural as possible. I often try to make it harder for myself by giving myself more to do. It could be moving a cone farther away, making it more difficult. This means that when the easier tasks come, they become easier for me", says Kasper Schmeichel.

 

It is not just on the field that Schmeichel tries to super-optimize. As a top player in the world's best league, he is under constant pressure both on and off the pitch.

"You need ruggedness in football. There are many opinions, and someone always watches", explains Kasper Schmeichel.

As a result, he has chosen to hire a mental coach. His role is to help train the brain so that it matches the physical form Schmeichel spends a long time to work out.

"The brain and the psyche are like, your body. You go to the gym to be healthy, fast and strong. So why not also train your psyche? So I try to optimize and find the small percentages that will improve me."

 

And while both drones and similar nethods have improved the game of the goalkeeping star, it's the mental training that has helped Schmeichel most.

"In this area I have made great progress and it has helped me a lot. Football is nonstop, it is around the clock and year round. Therefore it is good to get your thoughts sorted and control things in the head. So when match day comes, you are well prepared."

------------------------

 

He also appeared in an interview talking about goalkeeping gloves, which I will attempt to translate later.

Edited 13 November 2017 by shen

[MPH]

1 hour ago, shen said:

 

------------------------

 

He also appeared in an interview talking about goalkeeping gloves, which I will attempt to translate later.

 

 

I imagine this part isnt covered  haha but He gets proper mad if anyone puts any sand in  the goalmouths because he says that it gets on his gloves and can effect his grip/ ruin the gloves..

 

He's ultra professional / bit of a diva about goalkeeping.

[fuchsntf]

On Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 09:22, Hitesh said:

Fully expecting Kasper to be captain for quite a few games next season but Wes remaining club captain. Mainly as I can't see Wes playing the majority of games.

I rate Kasper, I hope he finishes his best years with us.

I just dont believe GKs, being given the captains armband.

Though he has imo a good captains credentials...

[shen]

As promised, I'm transcribing his interview with football journalist Kian Founoudi (J). I'll split it up as I might not get everything done in one go.

 

https://www.bt.dk/fodbold/fodboldnoerden-schmeichel-select-bolden-er-den-vaerste-paa-hele-kloden

Kasper (KS) talking about gloves:

KS: I'm quite old-fashioned when it comes to gloves. My gloves are very, very thin and cling tight to the hand. I'm not really into the ones with thick foam.
Gloves these days usually have about 3,5-4mm og foam, my gloves have around 2mm. I want to be able to feel the ball as much as I can.
It probably stems from my childhood where I would use my dad's gloves and they were old-fashioned by today's standards as you'd expect.
Back then gloves had, and now this gets a little nerdy, something called "flat palm".
These days gloves have a "negative cut" which basically means that the stitches are on the inside of the glove rather than the outside.

 

*KS shows one of his gloves*

 

KS: "This grip is called quartz which is something I only started using 8 years ago and it's been very good. It's very durable and has incredibly good grip, particularly in wet weather."

 

KS: "I don't like frilly colours on my gloves. I like white gloves and white boots. I don't like having too many colours, especially on my gloves.
I cannot be in goal in black gloves! I think it looks completely wrong and feels completely wrong."

J: "Feels completely wrong?!"

 

KS: "Feels completely wrong. It's the same with black boots. I cannot play in black boots, it's entirely wrong.
My ideal boots and gloves are completely white. Very simple."

 

*Kian Founoudi points at Kasper's glove*

 

J: "This coating... no matter what brand you're using, it would be that type of glove you'd use?"

 

KS: "Yes"

 

J: "...Then you'd ask for this coating?"

 

KS: "Yes, I would"

 

[AlloverthefloorYesNdidi]

24 minutes ago, shen said:

As promised, I'm transcribing his interview with football journalist Kian Founoudi (J). I'll split it up as I might not get everything done in one go.

 

https://www.bt.dk/fodbold/fodboldnoerden-schmeichel-select-bolden-er-den-vaerste-paa-hele-kloden

Kasper (KS) talking about gloves:

KS: I'm quite old-fashioned when it comes to gloves. My gloves are very, very thin and cling tight to the hand. I'm not really into the ones with thick foam.
Gloves these days usually have about 3,5-4mm og foam, my gloves have around 2mm. I want to be able to feel the ball as much as I can.
It probably stems from my childhood where I would use my dad's gloves and they were old-fashioned by today's standards as you'd expect.
Back then gloves had, and now this gets a little nerdy, something called "flat palm".
These days gloves have a "negative cut" which basically means that the stitches are on the inside of the glove rather than the outside.

 

*KS shows one of his gloves*

 

KS: "This grip is called quartz which is something I only started using 8 years ago and it's been very good. It's very durable and has incredibly good grip, particularly in wet weather."

 

KS: "I don't like frilly colours on my gloves. I like white gloves and white boots. I don't like having too many colours, especially on my gloves.
I cannot be in goal in black gloves! I think it looks completely wrong and feels completely wrong."

J: "Feels completely wrong?!"

 

KS: "Feels completely wrong. It's the same with black boots. I cannot play in black boots, it's entirely wrong.
My ideal boots and gloves are completely white. Very simple."

 

*Kian Founoudi points at Kasper's glove*

 

J: "This coating... no matter what brand you're using, it would be that type of glove you'd use?"

 

KS: "Yes"

 

J: "...Then you'd ask for this coating?"

 

KS: "Yes, I would"

 

Very interesting that. I'd never considered a man could get so deeply into his goalie gloves

[Wymsey]

Quite easily up there in being one of the best goalkeepers the club has ever had.

Had question marks about him during his early spells, but he's turned out to be very valuable for the team.

He's not irreplaceable, but it'll be difficult to find another goalkeeper like him when he's finished.

Edited 13 November 2017 by Wymeswold fox

[shen]

(Continued)

https://www.bt.dk/fodbold/fodboldnoerden-schmeichel-select-bolden-er-den-vaerste-paa-hele-kloden

 

Kasper (KS) on goalkeeping techniques

 

KS: "Goalkeepers everywhere have different ways of doing things. Often you can see by observing their technique where they're from, which school they belong to, for example their recovery turn. Let's take the situation where a goalkeeper makes a save and has to get ready to save again. In Germany they roll. In England you 'rock' *gestures with his hand* so you jump back up the way you came from. In Spain and France, when they jump, they throw themselves around and almost land on the backsides so that they can swing their legs around and get back up the other way. That (ed. the 'Spanish'/'French' way) is a relatively new thing and I think many have seen that it is a more efficient way than the others, so many have started using this technique, including myself."

 

Kasper on footballs

 

KS: "With the national team we play with Select balls and that's the worst ball on the entire planet!"

 

Kian Founoudi (J): "OK? Why's that?"

 

KS: "Because it has a smooth surface. It's unusually smooth and it's heavy. It's difficult to kick and unpredictable in the air and, yeah, the worst part is that it's very smooth and slippery. It has no grip."

 

KS: "For home games with Select balls, I prefer to wear old, used gloves. As old as possible really, because... it's a fine balance. The grip is so soft that it gets worn very easily. The gloves should be a little worn before they become good with a Select ball, but they cannot be too worn. It's a tricky balance to find."

 

J: "Have you ever experienced during an international match that the gloves weren't worn enough?"

 

KS: "Yes I have. I remember the France game (ed. October 2015), we lost 1-2 I think, yeah, and Giroud's shot slips underneath my hand, and I have no grip, so it goes under me and into the goal. I remember the feeling I had during the warm up. I had no grip on that ball it was just so slippery. Often you'll hear commentators say the goalkeeper should catch a ball instead of punching it. You just don't know how the keeper feels with his gloves that day. It's possible that during the warm up the gloves were slippery and you just couldn't get a hold of the ball and then you take no chances."

 

KS: "We've just switched in the Premier League from the white ball to the yellow ball (ed. Nike)."

 

J: "Summer to winter ball."

 

KS: "It's the same ball, but it's still different. There's a different grip on this one. Ask any goalkeeper in the Premier League and they'll tell you the grip is different on the yellow ball."

 

KS: "With the PL ball you can play with new gloves without any issues because there's good grip on the ball, but with the Select balls you need to have used your gloves four or five times before they start becoming OK with that ball because... I don't know what that ball is made of, but it's impossible for goalkeepers, that's for sure."

 

Kasper on his passion for football

 

KS: "Steven Gerrard always used the word 'obsessed', 'obsession'. I'm totally obsessed, I really am, no doubt about it. I'm interested in every detail in football, I'm passionate about football in general, I watch football too and I love football. I love Parken (ed. Danish national stadium), I think it's the best stadium to play in. The pitch is always bad, always absolutely terrible. If we had as good a pitch as here *points to turf at KP* it would be so awesome. There's an area on the pitch, where you are furthest from the player tunnel, when crosses come in from there at night time, the light is very bright."

 

J: "So when you drop a cross from there against Ireland, then we'd know what's to blame."

 

KS: *Laughing* "It's not an excuse, but of course it does have an influence, but Richard Møller Nielsen (ed. coach that won Euro 92 with Denmark) used to say 'don't look at the lights, look at the ball' but you can't always see it, right?"

 

Kasper on boots and kit

 

KS: "Boots, for me, need to be very hard, very stiff. Again, that's probably a goalkeeper thing. I don't think an outfield player wouldn't endure running as much as they do in boots as stiff as mine. I get carbon fiber inserted in the sole of the boot which makes it very difficult to bend. My movements are often sideways, so I need my foot to not go over the edge (ed. of the sole) too much, so they cannot be too soft. I prefer them to be hard and I prefer to play in new boots as much as possible."

 

J: "Let's talk about the kit. Again there's something about colours here."

 

KS: "I prefer to play in black and always have. Normally I wear short sleeves with a long undershirt. The main reason for that is that I want the jersey to sit as tight as possible around my arm. I don't want any textile flapping around when I'm playing."

 

KS: "My own experience is that goalkeepers are more conscious about details, specifically when it comes to gloves, boots, balls and the equipment they use, because all of these details need to be taken care of (ed. if you are to do your best). You cannot play 'half' a perfect game. If you've played 'half' a perfect game it means you've let in goals, then you've made mistakes. I might be a little above average on the nerd-scale, but from my experience, all the goalkeepers I have met and talk to on a daily basis are very much alike."

 

Kasper on the forthcoming matches against Republic of Ireland

 

J: "When we're playing RoI, both games will be played at 8.45pm. How do you prepare for the game? What do you spend your day doing?"

 

KS: "For me, matchday has to be as 'loose' as possible. There shouldn't be too many commitments where you have to do this and that. It's really down to how you feel. Maybe you've had a poor night's sleep and you just need to sleep most of the day. It's really just down to how you feel when you wake up."

 

J: "These are going to be two absolutely crazy games in relation to what's at stake. You can qualify for your first World Cup!"

 

KS: "If you start thinking those thoughts then you go mad. Then you start to think too much about possibilities and consequences."

 

J: "We've played 0-0 in Parken (ed. good call there Kian!) and it's 1-1 in Dublin, we're on our way to the World Cup with 5 minutes to go. Don't stand there and tell me you're not thinking 'Only 5 minutes left until we've reached the World Cup, we just need to hold out here'."

 

KS: "Of course I'm thinking that, but I'm not thinking... You have to realise..."

 

J: "You have to explain it to me!"

 

KS: "Yeah I have to explain it. You don't think about the World Cup, you think about winning these two games. No more, no less. The World Cup is a by-product, the prize. I don't stand there thinking 'only 5 minutes to go until we've qualified', rather 'only 5 minutes to go, let's keep it together', just that. Then the elation can arrive when you succeed."

 

J: "You're the one going to play the games, why am I the one that's nervous then?"

 

KS: "Well, I'd say I feel exactly the same when I don't play. I hate not playing, because then I have no influence on the result. And you have no influence, but I do and that makes me calm."

[Melbourne Fuchs]

All that analysis and he still can’t sort out his starting position on free-kicks . 

 

He gets better every season does Kasper, we’re lucky to have him!

[ARM1968]

Kasper is quality. A proper club player. Be very difficult to replace. 

[shen]

1 minute ago, Melbourne Fuchs said:

All that analysis and he still can’t sort out his starting position on free-kicks . 

 

He gets better every season does Kasper, we’re lucky to have him!

I think there are a lot of reasons for him looking a bit wonky at free kicks. I just believe that some of that is due to his stature, which he finds compromises to deal with.

That said, I think it's a part of his game that has improved as well.

 

I had my doubts about him becoming top class. To his credit, he's exceeded my hopes and expectations which I find very admirable.

 

[Melbourne Fuchs]

7 minutes ago, shen said:

I think there are a lot of reasons for him looking a bit wonky at free kicks. I just believe that some of that is due to his stature, which he finds compromises to deal with.

That said, I think it's a part of his game that has improved as well.

 

I had my doubts about him becoming top class. To his credit, he's exceeded my hopes and expectations which I find very admirable.

 

My post was more aimed towards criticising the criticism itself . I’m sure Kasper is fully aware of it being a weakness of his and is doing everything possible to improve that aspect of his game.(Stilts could help!)

 

Thanks for the translations, I found the interviews fascinating.

[norwichfox]

3 minutes ago, Melbourne Fuchs said:

My post was more aimed towards criticising the criticism itself . I’m sure Kasper is fully aware of it being a weakness of his and is doing everything possible to improve that aspect of his game.(Stilts could help!)

 

Thanks for the translations, I found the interviews fascinating.

Misread that the first time, I thought you'd written SHILTS could help, and was wondering if he'd got some high heel football boots he could lend Kasper (white ones naturally)

[whoareyaaa]

Legend! hopefully he can make it to the world cup tonight

[Blue ROI]

An all-time great. The most likeable player of our most recent success story.

 

Whatever happens with tonights game wont change that.

[shen]

7 minutes ago, Blue ROI said:

An all-time great. The most likeable player of our most recent success story.

 

Whatever happens with tonights game wont change that.

Feel similar with O'Neill. Still a legend no matter how terrible this RoI side play.

I completely respect and condone it. Just looking at the quality of the squad I think they've done brilliantly to get to the play-offs.

Iceland are basically doing the same only they have a bit more quality and everyone seems to laud them.

[1972 Fox]

Good luck Kasper. I really would like to see him playing at the World Cup in Russia.