TOTD: Man Utd goalkeepers special edition – Steele on Lammens, what next for Vitek?

By Ian Irving, host of Talk of the Devils

Manchester United’s goalkeeping narrative has pivoted from anxiety to anticipation inside a single season, and the transformation can be traced through two very different stories unfolding 150 miles apart. At Carrington, 21-year-old Senne Lammens has restored a sense of calm to the No 1 shirt, while in the West Country, 22-year-old Radek Vitek is forcing United’s hierarchy to contemplate a future in which he, not André Onana or Altay Bayindir, provides the primary competition to the Belgian.

Eric Steele, the club’s goalkeeping coach during the Ferguson era, has watched both threads develop with more than passing interest. Speaking on Wednesday’s Talk of the Devils: Extra, Steele recalled the standards set by Edwin van der Sar – the Dutchman who once scooped up a stranded Cristiano Ronaldo after a 2009 car crash to ensure the Portuguese was not late for training – and believes Lammens is finally approaching the threshold demanded of a United keeper.

“All Ronaldo was concerned about was not being late for training. He wasn’t bothered about the car,” Steele said. “When you need us, we are there for you. That’s the culture we had, and that’s what Lammens is starting to rebuild.”

The Belgian’s early-season assurance briefly dipped during Ruben Amorim’s final weeks in charge, a period Steele attributes partly to a breakdown in coaching chemistry. Jorge Vital, Amorim’s long-time goalkeeping coach, rarely demonstrated techniques on the grass, a method Steele questions. “I went to games and couldn’t believe I saw a goalkeeping coach who didn’t kick a ball. I’m not sure you can get your message across if you’re not actually demonstrating the work.”

Since Craig Mawson’s appointment as specialist coach, Steele has detected a sharper edge to Lammens’ game. The Belgian, who journals his emotions after every match and inks Kobe Bryant’s 8 and 24 on his gloves, has produced decisive saves in each of United’s last three fixtures. “The big thing about being a Man United goalkeeper is you have to make the big saves when it matters,” Steele stressed. “He’s done that in vital moments.”

While Lammens’ immediate future appears secure, the path for Vitek is less certain but increasingly compelling. Recruited by Bristol City last August as short-term injury cover for ever-present Max O’Leary, the Czech has started 27 Championship matches and engineered O’Leary’s exit to West Brom in January. A sprawling stop at Ipswich last month was labelled save of the season by supporters; his command of crosses and vocal organisation have drawn admiring glances from Old Trafford.

Vitek, whose only senior loans before this season came in the Austrian Bundesliga and League Two, has never been capped at senior or U-21 level. Yet with Onana’s loan in Turkey concluding, Bayindir’s future uncertain and Tom Heaton’s contract expiring in June, a first-team vacancy could open this summer. The player has publicly targeted a return to challenge Lammens, and Steele believes the club must decide whether 27 Championship starts constitute sufficient education.

“Peter Schmeichel told me United keepers need to act like they own the penalty box,” Steele added. “Lammens is starting to do that. The question now is whether Vitek’s year in the Championship has given him the same authority.”

United’s goalkeeping conundrum is no longer simply about arresting errors; it is about choosing which young contender best embodies the next chapter of a position once defined by Schmeichel and Van der Sar. Friday’s column may have begun with a story of a helpful Dutchman and a crashed Bentley, but its conclusion points forward – to a Belgian who writes like a psychologist and a Czech who dives like a missionary. The gloves, once again, feel up for grabs.

SEO keywords: