Rio Ferdinand has sung the praises of Manchester United’s new shot-stopper Senne Lammens, after back-to-back impressive displays for the Reds.
Despite Manchester United’s significant expenditure during the summer transfer window, the Reds’ squad still looked to have some gaps when the new Premier League season came around.
Ruben Amorim approached the new campaign with a new-look front three, although this left his midfield looking slightly dubious, whilst his goalkeeping department raised a few eyebrows.
The deadline day introduction of Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp meant that Andre Onana departed the club, leaving Altay Bayindir as a regular feature in the starting XI.
Due to some shaky performances from Bayindir, Lammens was given his United debut against Sunderland, where he earned a clean sheet. He then started the difficult affair at Anfield, where, again, he was very impressive.
Ferdinand on Lammens’ importance
After his important role in United’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool, Rio Ferdinand was quick to commend the keeper, and insisted that he has already made a substantial impact.
Ferdinand said on his podcast, via The Mirror, “Talk about him… what I would say is, again, when I look back at when I played, when did I feel my best? When I didn’t have to look behind me and worry about what the keeper might do or where he might be.
“I wasn’t second-guessing anything about my goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar is a great example, a fantastic goalkeeper, a calming influence and just so reassuring seeing that behind you.
“I think what people don’t grasp, how important a goalkeeper is because he sends the vibrations through the team, his good vibrations reverberate through the team, the confidence, security, assuredness, confidence, any type of wavering from that to uncertainty and not sure what he’s going to do.”
United’s togetherness growing
Ferdinand explained that the influence of United’s new shot-stopper can not only be seen throughout his 180 minutes on the pitch, but also in the Reds’ post-match celebrations.
The Premier League-winning defender continued, “A lot of that was happening, the uncertainty with defenders especially mistakes being made before, it was leading to real uncertainty in the team and you see the way the lads celebrated [with Lammens], it’s only his second game by the way.
“It’d almost been like he’d been there a couple of years, it was like, ‘this is what we do’. It was so nice to see that togetherness and the celebrations are key for me, a marker, it can be over the top and forced but there was an aggression, a ‘let’s go’ and I hope that’s what we’re going to see.”
Hopefully for the Reds, Lammens’ recent assertiveness between the sticks can continue to instil faith in his backline, especially considering the important run of fixtures that are on the horizon.
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