He may be a proven shot-stopper, but one facet of Kasper Schmeichel's game that was best showcased in Sunday's 2-0 win over Kilmarnock is how capable he is with the ball at his feet.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper has shown this in flashes in his short time at Celtic already, but the weekend's encounter at Rugby Park saw him more involved when building defence into attack than ever before.
Stewart Ross was so impressed with the Denmark internationalist's display that he chose the veteran stopper as the subject of his latest analytical deep dive for The Celtic Way, which is well worth a read in its entirety.
For Schmeichel himself, watching the game evolve over the last quarter of a century has been a joy.
He can't wait to see where it goes next – during his own playing days, and whenever he decides to hang up his gloves thereafter.
Schmeichel said: "It's a fun evolution. It's great see. I love watching and seeing if someone comes up with a new idea [in goalkeeping], and see if that's something we can use or something we can implement.
"I think as a goalkeeper now in 2024, nearly 2025, you have to be able to be flexible. You have to be able to play a variety of ways. You have teams that play with long balls. You have to be able to do that and you have to be able to play intricate little passes. You have to be able to adapt to these teams.
“And it's not a case anymore of having a good goalkeeper. You have to match your goalkeeper with your playing style because there's some goalkeepers that don't fit certain playing styles and some that fit others. And that's where goalkeeping has gone."
Read more:
- Celtic Player Ratings as Kasper Schmeichel steals the show
- Why Celtic's Schmeichel is the best goalkeeper in Scotland
Schmeichel added: "It's so much now that you're part of the team. It's not, like I say, it's not that just you put your gloves on and you go over the goalies and do some work.
"That was maybe what it was like, you know, when I started 23 years ago, whatever it was. That was probably how it was.
"But in that sense, I was lucky. When I was young, I was number two or number three. So there was always a spare keeper, which meant I could go outfield.
"And, you know, I always knew that goalkeeping would become more and more with your feet. So that was always something I used to my advantage."
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