Paul Scholes Questions Lammens' Goalkeeping Ability at Manchester United
Paul Scholes has never been one to sugar-coat it, and he hasn’t started now.
The Manchester United great has delivered a sharp warning over current No.1 Lammens, questioning whether the Belgian is truly of the calibre required to take the club back to the top of English football.
Lammens, 24, arrived from Royal Antwerp for £21.7 million last summer and has already pushed Altay Bayindir aside to make the shirt his own. He’s young, confident and highly rated inside the club. Scholes isn’t convinced that’s enough.
On The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, he cut straight to the heart of the issue: “What team have you seen win the Premier League without a top class goalkeeper?” he asked. “Lammens might be that, I don't know, I think the jury's probably still out on that and then you build from the back four.”
That “jury’s still out” line hangs heavily over Old Trafford.
Scholes’ standard: titles start in goal
United are trying to piece together a new identity under Michael Carrick, who has been tasked with restoring some sort of structure and authority to a team that has drifted for too long. For Scholes, any serious rebuild starts in the same place: between the posts.
He pointed to the model set by their rivals in recent years, where the spine of a title-chasing side has almost always been anchored by an elite goalkeeper.
“It's the way Arsenal started three or four years ago, defensively they have been absolutely brilliant. You need a top class goalkeeper,” Scholes said, before reeling off the names that have defined modern title races.
“You think of Liverpool's team with Alisson, Raya at Arsenal, Man United with Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. They've all got brilliant, brilliant goalkeepers. You start from the back, of course you do. Whether Michael's just got to be patient and wait for that, I don't know.”
The implication is clear: if Lammens doesn’t grow into that bracket, Carrick may eventually have to look elsewhere.
Lammens’ own ambition
If the scrutiny is fierce, Lammens knew what he was signing up for. He has spoken openly about wanting to become a long-term pillar at Old Trafford, to be talked about in the same breath as the club’s greats.
He also knows how quickly the mood can turn in England.
Reflecting last year on the Premier League spotlight, he said: “That's England for you. If things go badly, they can bury you deep, but if things go well, they praise you to the skies.
“I take that with a grain of salt, because to be mentioned in the same sentence as Schmeichel, I'm going to have to prove myself many more times. But I did find it a very nice compliment. I hope to play here for 10 years and be important, so that, like Schmeichel and Van der Sar, I can leave a legacy.”
The words are measured. The target is enormous.
Derby doubts and a growing microscope
Scholes’ comments have landed in the aftermath of a bruising Manchester derby, where Lammens was unable to keep out Erling Haaland and United again came up short on the biggest domestic stage.
The defeat was not his alone. United’s problems ran far deeper than one position. But when a club legend chooses to hone in on the goalkeeper, it tells its own story. Scholes clearly believes that, in tight, high-stakes games, the very best stoppers tilt the balance. United, in his eyes, don’t yet have that guarantee.
From here, every Lammens performance carries extra weight. Every save will be held up as evidence that he can grow into the role. Every mistake will be replayed with Scholes’ phrase echoing in the background: the jury is still out.
This is the reality for a young goalkeeper trying to establish himself at a club built on the legacies of Schmeichel and Van der Sar. To quieten the noise, Lammens will have to do more than just look the part. He’ll have to win United points, win them big games, and, eventually, win them trophies.
Only then will the question Scholes has posed stop hanging over him.
