Gary Neville calls it the hardest position in the English game, and with good reason.
The pressure that comes with being the goalkeeper at Manchester United — Neville’s former club, and one of the most scrutinised in world football — is sky-high but so are the rewards for the man who makes the role his own.
Senne Lammens, 23, is the latest to take on the task — and the early signs are hugely encouraging.
The 6ft 4in (193cm) Belgian has been a calm and reassuring presence from the moment he made his debut against Sunderland on October 4, following a deadline-day €21million (£18.2m/$25.2m at the current rates) move from Royal Antwerp in his homeland just over a month earlier, certainly in comparison to his immediate predecessors Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.
Yet the numbers are not, in fact, all that different: United have conceded 23 goals in the Premier League in Lammens’ 17 appearances and kept just three clean sheets.
So, how good has he actually been and is he helping United improve collectively? Chris McKenna and The Athletic’s goalkeeping expert Matthew Pyzdrowski have teamed up to analyse his impact.
Shot-stopping
This is the most important trait of any goalkeeper, and Lammens has been defined by it since arriving.
Again, the numbers tell a complex story. He is not hitting the statistical heights he reached in Belgium, as he is ranked 18th in the Premier League for save percentage (61.7 per cent) after recording a 77 per cent rate for Antwerp last season.
Lammens has conceded 20 league goals (excluding penalties and own goals) from shots worth 22.9 expected goals on target, meaning that he has “prevented” around three goals more than expected. He has faced 58 shots while conceding one penalty and two own goals on top of those 20 direct shots.
That all probably says more about the inconsistency of United’s back line and the quality of chances they are conceding this season than it does about Lammens’ own ability.
In their 3-2 away win against league leaders Arsenal on Sunday, one standout moment came in the 18th minute with a stop from Martin Zubimendi’s header, which had deflected off United team-mate Casemiro on its way to him. It was an outstanding example of elite reaction speed combined with balance and control.
There have been plenty of good stops, but his double save from Wolves’ Ladislav Krejci in December may be his finest of the season so far.
Though the explosiveness and quickness he showed on his initial save were special, what happened next was arguably even better. As the ball rebounded into play, Lammens had the clarity of thought to manipulate it mid-air — not once but twice — nudging it away from onrushing opponent Yerson Mosquera.
Remaining mentally engaged after the initial action, while maintaining coordination in such a chaotic moment, is exceptionally difficult. It is also what separates good shot-stoppers from truly elite ones.
On his day, Lammens belongs firmly in the latter category.
Aerial dominance
United have had goalkeepers with good shot-stopping skills — David de Gea being an obvious recent example — but who have been lacking in other key areas.
In the Premier League, aerial ability is key and, in this, Lammens has excelled. From his very first appearance, he established a clear tone by leaving his line with conviction and claiming crosses.
The Belgian is a proactive goalkeeper by nature. He wants to attack the ball, dominate his space, and impose himself rather than retreat. His ability to defuse periods of pressure by winning the ball in the air often releases the defensive tension for United, like the opening of a valve.
At the weekend against Arsenal — opponents who offer the sternest test of a goalkeeper’s ability to deal with crosses — he fought through traffic, timed his jumps, punched decisively, and imposed himself on the game. He took ownership of his penalty area when United needed it most.
Lammens punches clear during the Arsenal game (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
Even after being caught out on Arsenal’s second goal to make it 2-2 late on, his response was revealing — there was no hesitation on the very next delivery.
Positioning and timing
In general, Lammens’ positioning has been reliable, but there have been moments that underline where refinement is still required from this still-young player.
Unlike Onana, he does not rush out into play as much, with only 0.8 sweeper actions per 90 minutes, but that does not mean he rarely leaves his line.
Since he prefers to step forward and actively close space, there are situations where he arrives late into his set position or is still in motion as the shot is struck.
The goal conceded against Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson this month is a clear example.
As Aaronson drives towards the goal, Lammens initially retreats towards his line…
… before stepping forward at the last moment to close the angle.
The intention was right, but the timing was not.
He arrived late into his set, was still bouncing as the ball was hit, and his forward movement pulled him slightly outside the frame of the goal. That combination left him with no real chance to react to Aaronson’s shot.
A similar pattern emerged on the winner conceded to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall against Everton in November. With the shot heading towards goal, Lammens’ feet are off the ground, compromising his set position.
It wasn’t until the ball was roughly at the penalty spot that his feet came into contact with the Old Trafford turf again.
That led to a weak dive and Lammens being unable to generate the necessary strength and power required to make a successful save, despite the shot being placed roughly in the middle of his goal.
The encouraging aspect is that these are not major mistakes, nor are they frequent. They are details, which can be coached.
Distribution
Lammens has not been consistently asked to build from the back, particularly when United are up against top-six opposition. Instead, he has often been instructed to play long, in order to reduce risk and protect a defence that has struggled in build-up for much of the season.
The 2–1 win against Liverpool in October, in just his second start for the club, was the clearest example.
On that occasion, 45 of his 46 passes were played long. At the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, 33 of his 36 kicks bypassed the short build-up entirely. And while his workload against Manchester City this month was lighter than it had been against Liverpool and would be at Arsenal, the underlying story was unchanged: 11 of his 13 passes were again played long.
This is in stark contrast to last season, when Onana went short far more frequently: just 65 per cent of his goal kicks went long, as opposed to 87 per cent of those by Lammens. It is a similar story in terms of open-play kicks.
Lammens’ one big passing error came in the 15th minute of this month’s FA Cup tie against Brighton, when he tried to play a short pass but instead found opposition striker Danny Welbeck. Yet, what followed was arguably more instructive than the mistake itself as he recovered to deny the former United man a goal.
On-field presence
Perhaps the most immediate and striking impact Lammens has had since getting into the team at United has been his presence. After two seasons of instability in goal with Onana and Bayindir, he has largely been a steadying figure. It is rooted in his mentality, his communication, and his willingness to take ownership of the space around him.
People within the club were immediately impressed by his calm demeanour when he arrived in September. His first few training sessions were not perfect, which made United’s then head coach Ruben Amorim hesitant about putting him in straight away, but he soon settled.
His authority in the air and his ability to organise those in front of him prompted an immediate reaction from the Old Trafford crowd when he made his debut against Sunderland. As he repeatedly came off his line to claim crosses, the chant rang out: “Are you Schmeichel in disguise?”
That was made somewhat in jest, but the song hinted at a belief their new goalkeeper had control, certainty and fearlessness. Significantly, he has yet to make an error directly leading to a goal.
Given his age and room for growth, there is every reason to believe United have invested well with their initial £18.2million.
They had the option to spend more heavily on 33-year-old Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa, who won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina and was a player Amorim wanted, but their decision to go for the younger alternative could certainly pay off in the long run.
Of course, time, and more games, will tell on that one.