Peter Schmeichel's biggest regret from his time at Man Utd makes perfect sense

03 December 2023 , 05:30

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Peter Schmeichel enjoyed eight trophy-laden years at Man Utd (Image: PA)

In the eyes of many, Peter Schmeichel is the best goalkeeper in both Manchester United and Premier League history.

The former Red Devil amassed quite the trophy haul during his Old Trafford stay, including five Premier Leagues, three FA Cups and a memorable Champions League back in 1999. That night in Barcelona that saw United seal a historic treble has long been regarded as one of the club's biggest triumphs, but it also marked Schmeichel's last ever game for them.

That same summer he ended an eight-year spell with United to join Sporting Club de Portugal and has since confessed he regrets calling time on his Red Devils career. Schmeichel admitted he should have stuck around Old Trafford for at least a few more seasons.

"It's over 20 years ago now and during that period of time you go through a lot of phases," he told talkSPORT back in 2020. "First of all I went through retirement from football, then it was nice not to go in for a while and before you know you start to miss it all a bit.

"As you become further and further away from football your thinking process becomes better. I could have possibly played on for many more years [at Man United] had I cut back a little bit on the pride and spoken to the manager about it – but I didn't.

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"I was too proud of my position at the club. When you get to your mid-50s you look back and have a better understanding of things. That was a young man's head making that decision, I admit I probably should have held out. It's not a regret as such, but it is a regret at the same time if you get what I mean."

Schmeichel's assessment makes sense, by leaving in 1999 he missed out on some glorious years for United. The Red Devils won the next two league titles after losing their shot-stopper, who was subsequently replaced by Mark Bosnich followed by Fabian Barthez.

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Peter Schmeichel holds the Champions League aloft after what was his last game for Man Utd

Remarkably, Schmeichel once explained how he held discussions with Sir Alex Ferguson over who his own successor should be and recommended Edwin van der Sar, who didn't actually arrive at the club until 2005.

Ferguson since supported those claims, admitting: “I tried to replace Schmeichel, but that was very difficult, we went for Fabien Barthez and he did well for a while, but he then had his own situations, so we went for Edwin. We really should have gone for him when Schmeichel left, but [former chairman] Martin Edwards had an agreement with Mark Bosnich at the time that took the wind out of our sails.

"So we couldn’t get Edwin, but I’d have loved to have got him then. He is different entirely to Schmeichel and you can’t compare them, but there was a certain criteria to be a goalkeeper here which involved good experience, personality and also a good track record."

Josh O'Brien