Lammens ‘not at the level’ for Man Utd as Sir Alex assistant spots ‘weaknesses’ | OneFootball

Michael Carrick has been warned that Senne Lammens is “not at the level” required for Manchester United as Rene Meulensteen has spotted “some weaknesses” in the goalkeeper’s game.

Lammens joined United from Royal Antwerp in an £18m deal on deadline day last summer and quickly established himself as first-choice under Ruben Amorim as Andre Onana was offloaded to Trabzonspor on loan.

The 23-year-old has retained his place in the first team under caretaker boss Carrick, helping United to four wins and a draw in five games under the former Red Devils midfielder.

Lammens has largely impressed and has certainly been more reliable than his predecessor, but Meulensteen – who worked as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford – isn’t convinced he’s “there just yet” and picked out Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma as an example of what a really top goalkeeper can do.

“While Senne Lammens has done well, he’s not yet at the level Manchester United needs in terms of personality, leadership, and certain aspects of his goalkeeping,” he told BetGoat.

“I still think there are some weaknesses there. Furthermore, you’re not in Europe at the moment, which presents another challenge altogether when you have to play in the Champions League against big teams.

“For me, every good, successful team that has won trophies had an outstanding goalkeeper, an absolute outstanding goalkeeper.

“You saw, for instance, the save that Gianluigi Donnarumma made on that deflected shot against Liverpool.

“Otherwise, Liverpool would have gone ahead again. That’s the kind of save goalkeepers need to make. And I’m not entirely sure whether Lammens is there just yet.”

Meulensteen then lavished praise on Sunderland’s Robi Roefs, who’s been outstanding for the newly-promoted side in his debut season.

“Robin Roefs has had a great first season in the Premier League,” Meulensteen added. “But playing for Sunderland is a completely different challenge than playing for Manchester United.

“He is very good. I know him from Holland because he came through at NEC in Nijmegen, and he has done extremely well to step up the way he has with Sunderland.

“Sunderland are having an unbelievably fantastic season. You have to give plaudits to Sunderland and everyone working in the background because their recruitment has been spot on, and they have the right manager to make them play in the right way.

“They are very hard to beat at home. So, they have done great, and Robin Roefs is a massive part of that. Everything starts with solidity at the back, the centre-backs know they have a goalkeeper behind them.

“He’s a great guy as well, and has a great personality. But who knows? It’s not a surprise that clubs are looking at him, that’s for sure.”