“It was almost poetry” – Kasper Schmeichel explains Ederson preference over Liverpool’s Alisson in Manuel Neuer comparison | OneFootball

Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has lauded Manchester City’s Ederson for his ability on the ball in a trip down memory lane to his Premier League days.

Schmeichel has earned huge plaudits for his performances between the sticks for the Scottish side this season, having kept 23 clean sheets in 44 outings in all competitions this term.

The Denmark shotstopper spent 11 seasons with Leicester City and was part of the historic side that won the 2015-16 Premier League under current AS Roma boss Claudio Ranieri in only their second season back in the English top-flight.

Speaking on his goalkeeping inspirations in the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick to Football, the 38-year-old gave his two cents on the impact Manchester City’s Ederson has had on goalkeeping during his time in England.

“You look at someone like Ederson, the bravery he shows in playing that high – I love watching it because that for me, it goes beyond bravery; it’s like (Manuel) Neuer. Ederson took it to the next level,” the Dane said.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville pressed Schmeichel on whom he prefers between Liverpool’s Alisson and Ederson – and Kasper, the son of former City and United goalkeeper Peter, explained why he preferred one Brazilian over the other.

“I think they’re both (Ederson and Alisson) very good. For me, I’ve always had a soft spot for Ederson because I think he changed the game in terms of – (Manuel) Neuer could play out from the back but Ederson, it was almost poetry watching it.

“I remember playing against him for Leicester, it (Manchester City) was the one team we didn’t press because if you’d press Ederson, he’d just find David Silva or (Kevin) De Bruyne – he’d play these ridiculous passes.”

A high press and Ederson being able to pick out most outfield players directly has been the hallmark of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, leading them to six Premier League titles amongst a plethora of domestic and European silverware.

“Take this season away maybe – the way City have been able to press has been because has been because any ball over the top, he’s (Ederson) out so he’s actually stopped the one-vs-one before it’s even happened.

“And when you talk about adding something to the team, when they (City) have been at their best in their pressing – trust me, I’ve been at the end of a few of these – you feel suffocated – and even with us (Leicester), our outball was (Jamie) Vardy a lot of the time – (we) couldn’t it because Ederson would just chest it down and he’d pass it and so in the game, the actual one-vs-one wouldn’t happen a lot.

“And that’s why for me, Ederson just brought something slightly different in the sense that, actually he didn’t even need to keep goals sometimes because he’d stop it at source and because he was so brave in his starting position and high, it meant that he could press.”