Former Celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko has paid tribute to fellow countryman Kasper Schmeichel for his first season at the Hoops. Schmeichel, who joined in the summer on a free transfer from Anderlecht, has looked back to the very top of his game in Glasgow, although he has missed the Bhoys’ last four games through injury.
Sviatchenko himself, who joined Celtic in January 2016, played 18 games in his first six months at the club. Following Brendan Rodgers’ arrival, he played a big part in the Irishman’s first year at Celtic, but in Rodgers’ second season, he fell out of favour before rejoining Midtjylland on loan in January 2018, making the move permanent at the end of the season.
Sviatchenko still holds a place in his heart for Celtic. Now at Houston Dynamo, he has played six MLS games this year, and he can’t get over how much Kasper Schmeichel is enjoying his time at the club.
He said: (TCW), “You can ask Kasper Schmeichel how he feels about playing for Celtic. He loves it.
“He is a great example of a player who was running around at Anderlecht and drifting a bit as he brought the curtain down on his career.
“Kasper missed the feeling for football that playing for a British or Scottish club like Celtic brings. You saw it first with Joe Hart, and you are now seeing it again with Kasper.
“It is no coincidence that both players rediscovered their hunger for the game after being given an opportunity with Celtic.
“Joe and Kasper got their careers back at Celtic, and that says a lot about the desire of both players who played under a manager in Brendan Rodgers, who continually asks them to be the best they can be.”
Sviatchenko knows better than most the standards Brendan Rodgers demands from Celtic players, having worked alongside him for 18 months. With Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel both thriving under Rodgers, two goalkeepers who have seen and done nearly everything in their careers have clearly enjoyed how much he has pushed them.
Sviatchenko regularly keeps in touch with Schmeichel, having played alongside him for the Danish national team. He’s heard firsthand just how much Schmeichel is enjoying his time in Glasgow, having already extended his contract by a further year.
It’s brilliant to hear how much Schmeichel is thriving, and with Viljami Sinisalo hardly putting a foot wrong in his absence, he’ll face the uphill task of displacing the young keeper — something that, judging by Sviatchenko’s comments, Schmeichel will relish the challenge of.
