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Senne Lammens couldn’t have asked for a better start at Manchester United, but the Belgian goalkeeper is keeping his feet on the ground despite early praise.
After completing an £18.2m transfer from Royal Antwerp on deadline day, the 23-year-old had to be patient and watch from the bench for three games before finally making his debut in the win over Sunderland just before the international break.
The Stretford End group were quick to show their gratitude and serenade him with chants of “Are you Schmeichel in disguise?” after keeping a clean sheet on his debut. Lammens followed up with another standout performance in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool – United’s first win at Anfield in almost a decade.
Reflecting on his sudden rise from the Belgian Pro League to starring in one of the biggest games in the world, Lammens admitted it had been a whirlwind few weeks.
“It’s a lot. I try to keep my best friends and family close and the rest is a little bit of outside noise,” he said. “At the moment everything is going well, so it’s all praise, but I’m realistic in knowing that if it doesn’t go so well, it’s all going to be bad comments. It’s a really good feeling when you get the praise and also the wins.”
The result at Anfield marked the first time since Ruben Amorim’s appointment last November that United have recorded back-to-back league wins, and Lammens is eager to maintain that momentum.
“We have tried it and we want more. This is not the end, we just have to move forward,” he said. “We won here 10 seasons ago, so it’s something special. Two in a row is also something we were looking forward to to gain momentum.”
“That’s a big part of what coach has been telling us this season: get momentum. There have been some disappointments this season where we wanted to get momentum and couldn’t, but this could be the start of a good momentum.”
Despite working with Amorim for a short time, Lammens praised the Portuguese coach, especially for his way of dealing with external criticism.
“As a coach, you get a lot of pressure, you can feel it from the outside, you can read it and hear it,” Lammens said. “But I think he does the best he can and tries to keep the pressure on himself and not the team, he takes the pressure off us and that’s what a lot of great coaches do.”
