Kasper Schmeichel: “The beauty and the challenge of playing at a club like Celtic”

The Celtic Star

·08 de novembro de 2024

Kasper Schmeichel: “The beauty and the challenge of playing at a club like Celtic”

Kasper Schmeichel spoke to the media, including The Celtic Star, at Lennoxtown this afternoon ahead of the Scottish Premiership match at Rugby Park on Sunday against Kilmarnock…

Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Celtic v RB Leipzig, UEFA Champions League, Group Stage, Celtic Park on – 5th November 2024. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

We soon discovered that it’s a risky business to tell the Great Dane that he had nothing much to do in a game Celtic won 6-0 and he didn’t have a save to make! Here’s everything that was said…

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Q: How do you reflect on Tuesday night, the atmosphere, the result, the performance? When you look back at it now, what are your thoughts and emotions?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think it was a very good performance. Yeah, very complete in many ways. We started the game really well, went behind and then we needed to show the character and the belief, the determination and the composure to get back into the game. We worked our way back in and I thought it was a performance that had everything.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers talks with Callum McGregor of Celtic during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Callum McGregor felt the squad were playing as if they had a point to prove in the competition. Do you feel that point was proved after adopting a bit of criticism after Dortmund? Do you feel as if you have blown that out of the water with that result and performance?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t really view it like that. With the greatest respect to you guys, I don’t read what you guys write because it can be quite ruthless sometimes and it needs to sell. For me, I looked at the Dortmund game, it was a one-off. I knew that wasn’t indicative of the team that we were or where we were. They hit their best day, we hit our worst day. When those two collide at the level of the Champions League, then that can happen. But we showed against Atalanta and we showed against Leipzig exactly the type of team that we are. We showed in pre-season when we played both Man City and Chelsea that we do have the ability when we move the ball fast to go and cause a lot of trouble for every team. We certainly did that against Leipzig.”

Auston Trusty heads the ball away from Benjamin Sesko. Celtic v RB Leipzig, UEFA Champions League, Group Stage, Football, Celtic Park, 5 November 2024 Phot Stuart Wallace Shutterstock (Imago – The Celtic Star)

Q: In terms of the outlook of the competition, fans quite rightly are dreaming of an automatic one to eight positions rather than just a play-off spot. For you guys, how do you view the outlook after the first half of this competition?

Kasper Schmeichel: “We are looking at the next game, no more than that. I think that’s probably the biggest mistake we can make is to get carried away. This is a ruthless competition. If we are performing at the level that we were against Atalanta defensively and particularly the entire performance against Leipzig, then we have a good opportunity to progress. It’s about staying humble, it’s about staying grounded now and not getting too carried away. I think that would be a mistake on our part.”

Q: A fairly different challenge comes now, away to Kilmarnock, and all the challenges it brings with the pitch and everything else. Your thoughts on that game?

Kasper Schmeichel: “They’ve shown against (the)Rangers just how dangerous they can be at Rugby Park. I suppose this is one that you’re going to have to be very much on your game at. In modern football, you have to be on your game in every single game. There are no easy games and we are in no way expecting an easy game on Sunday. I think that’s the beauty and the challenge of playing at a club like Celtic. You have to be able to adapt to all the different competitions you’re in.”

Celtic players pose for a team photo on the pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: You play a semi-final one day, then you play in the Champions League, and then you play in the league. Do you have to be able to cope with that demand, the physical demand, the mental demand?

Kasper Schmeichel: “We’ve shown all the way through the season up to now that we’ve been able to do that. Now it’s a new challenge. Like I said, Tuesday is gone. We’re not thinking of that anymore. That was a great night, a fantastic night for all of us. Midnight, we park that and we move on to the next one. The next one is Kilmarnock. That’s going to pose a lot of challenges in their own right. You mentioned their result against Rangers. We’re not taking anything for granted. I think that’s a big strength in this squad, that we don’t get carried away with ourselves. We don’t take things for granted. We have to work hard. We know that going into any single game in any competition, you have to outwork the opposition. If you don’t, then you’re going to have a difficult evening.”

Q: You talk about not getting carried away, and staying humble. Is there more to come from this side? It’s still fairly early in the season. You’ve delivered so many good performances so far.

Kasper Schmeichel: “Time will tell. I think it’s one of those things that will obviously be discussed in the media and discussed amongst fans. As a football fan myself, you always look forward and dream. Our job is not to look more forward than the next game. The next game deserves our full attention. If we start thinking or dividing our attention to other areas, other aspects, then we’re not paying the respect that we need to pay to the opponent that we’re up against. We’re not about to do that. So, the full focus is on Kilmarnock. Whatever happens in the future happens. You have to take each game as it comes. You can’t go thinking of two games ahead. That just never works.”

Celtic Glasgow RB Leipzig Champions League Glasgow, 05 11 2024, Celtic Park, Football, UEFA Champions League, Matchday 4 , Celtic Glasgow 3 RB Leipzig 1 RB Leipzig Christoph Baumgartner 14, RB Leipzig scores with his head to 0 1 Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel 1, Celtic is disappointed. Photo Imago (The Celtic Star)

Q: You say you take each game as it comes, and can’t look too far into the future. I take it that you, as a senior player and the squad in general, you’re not putting limits on yourselves. You’re not saying, this is what we can do or this is what we can achieve. It can be anything this season, can’t it?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I’ve been in football long enough to know that you can lay every single plan and have every single dream you want. It can happen and it can’t happen. So, like I say, it is one game at a time. It’s really boring and it’s probably not what anybody wants to hear. It’s not going to generate any headlines. It is as simple as that’s our job. Our job is to be professional and our job is to look at the next game, no further.”

Q: Instead of looking forward then, looking back at your time since you’ve been here, how would you assess it so far? Has it been what you expected? Did you expect to have won so many games already this season?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I’m not one to look back either in that sense. It is honestly, modern football now, there are so many games, if you’re not in the now, if you’re not in the present, then you lose focus. You can’t lose focus in this game. It’s honestly, in my experience, the most important thing is to stay focused on the here and the now. It’s been a really good start, but that’s it. It’s a start. It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. Every single step along the way deserves attention because that’s what’s ultimately going to make you achieve your goals.”

Q: Are you happy with where you are at the moment as a team?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Yes, I think we’re in a good place. The squad’s good, playing well, playing good football. We’ve just got to keep going.”

Christoph Baumgartner of RB Leipzig scores his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: What do you enjoy most personally about being at Celtic, your work at Celtic?

Kasper Schmeichel: “The whole package really. The day-to-day life is good. Playing in a full stadium at Celtic Park doesn’t get much better than that. The support when I walk around town and speak to people. It’s a massive club, travel around the world with your national team. You realise that Celtic’s everywhere. It’s been really enjoyable.”

Q: You came up here in similar circumstances to Joe Hart. How have you learned from him?

Kasper Schmeichel: “He always mentioned about how he was always learning. It was a new experience for him, almost a new lease of life.”

Q: Is that the type of feeling that it can give you, coming here to a different place and experiencing this?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I wouldn’t say it was a new lease of life. I think life, and particularly football, is about progression, is about learning. I think the second you do that, you stand still. And when you stand still, I think in modern football, then you’re done. Every day is a challenge. It poses new challenges. This week we were in three different competitions in the last seven days. They all pose their own challenge, and that’s great to be a part of.”

Q: You talk about being in the moment. How do you make sure that that is what you do all the time yourself?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I don’t know, it’s quite easy. I just do it. There’s no kind of strategy to it. I think it’s just experience. The experience of going through different types of leagues, different types of seasons where you’re winning, different types of seasons when you’re losing. You learn that you don’t get too high, you don’t get too low. You just move on, and get on to the next one. We’re in a period now, probably somewhere around March, where we’ve got a game every three or four days. The best thing you can do is, like I say, you feel whatever you need to feel until midnight, and then you move on.”

Q: On top of Kilmarnock’s plastic pitch, we hear from outfield players a lot about how it affects their game and the bounce of the ball. For you as a keeper, are there any major differences you see in terms of that?

Kasper Schmeichel: “A plastic pitch is a plastic pitch. We just have to take it as it comes. We’ll be playing on a plastic pitch, that’s a different discussion. We’re not focused on that. That’s not in our minds. I think particularly modern football now, the amount of different pitches around the world. You play the Euros and the pitches are terrible. You come to different places all the time where pitches can be great, they can be bad. You’ve just got to get on with it, you’ve got to learn. A lot of players have grown up playing on plastic pitches. It’s not an excuse, it’s just part of football. I think the next year or the year after, they’re not going to be used anymore. So that’s probably a positive.”

Auston Trusty celebrates at full time during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Celtic Star: Can I ask you about the atmosphere at Celtic Park on Wednesday night? How does that rank in terms of the experiences you’ve had in your career?

Kasper Schmeichel: “It’s right up there, for sure. It was really loud, let’s put it that way. I have a lot of friends from my young days who travel around and watch me play. They were at the game the other night and they said that was special. So it’s right up there.”

The Celtic Star: When Reo scored the third goal, did you maybe reflect on that brilliant save you made two minutes earlier?

Kasper Schmeichel: “No, definitely not. There’s still a long way to go in the game. If you lose focus on the now, as I’ve said before then you risk losing. I’ve been in games, I think Tottenham at home were 2-1 up with 10 seconds to go but ended up losing 3-2. At this level, anyone can hurt you at any time. So my focus was fully on the next 15 or 18 minutes or whatever it was that was left.”

The Celtic Star: It was a pretty good save, right enough, wasn’t it?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Yeah, that’s what I’m here to do. That’s my job. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.

The Celtic Star: In the game against Aberdeen at Hampden, you didn’t really have much to do that day, but the team were absolutely sensational. I think that’s the best I’ve ever seen Celtic at Hampden. What did you think?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think your assessment of my game is very much how people used to view goalkeeping and you don’t have much to do when it comes to saves. That’s not goalkeeping anymore. I had two saves against Leipzig, but I touched the ball probably 60 times. So that’s just not goalkeeping anymore. That’s not part of it. It’s a small part of it, sorry. You have to be able to play with your feet all the time. You’re always involved. I was involved a lot against Aberdeen. So, the team played fantastically and goalkeeping has moved on. We play a different game now than when I started playing this game. So, it’s enjoyable and it’s great to see the team playing the way we did, the fluidity that we had. We brought that into the game on Tuesday and we’ve got to do the same on Sunday.”