A lot of people lived through Schmeichal and VDS - whilst the years of Bosnich, Howard, Barthez seemed long it was only 6 years between the two.
All these things can be true. (Except the talk about ceilings, as that’s a particular bug bear of mine - and irrelevant for retired players in case).
Schmeichal was more spectacular, and I cannot remember VDS having the type of game Schmeichal had against Newcastle. He was the keeper we needed at the time. The quality of player was also more variable in the early 90s, the quality of all players got better and better as time went on.
However, ultimately I think VDS was a better keeper. His calm, and composure was incomparable.
We should also remember the role of the keeper changed in the 90s with the introduction of the back pass rule in 92. The Great Dane was not very good with his feet, and VDS was far better with the back pass - which is unsurprising given he had more time to grow up with this aspect of the game.
£505k. But a bargain nonetheless.
He didn’t do well at Juventus, and whilst not a complete failure never got near fulfilling expectations - there was a reason that he ended up at Fulham for a small fee when he should have been at a top club. If he hadn’t made some high profile mistakes, maybe Juventus wouldn’t have bought Buffon?
His revival at United was unexpected. The fact he’s even in the conversation as United’s best keeper (and personally for me he was) was a stunning turnaround.