What Danny Ward’s new deal means for Leicester’s goalkeepers

What Ward brings

Passion, energy, and authority. These are the words which reflect Kasper Schmeichel. Schmeichel is a commanding presence, passionate about performing for the badge and keeping those clean sheets intact. These words do not apply wholly to Ward.

Danny Ward can be surmised in three words: calm, reflexive, and sweeping. These are, in my view, the defining characteristics which make him a suitable option alongside Schmeichel.

Where Schmeichel can sometimes panic under the press of players and spray a long ball forward with little direction and a lot of hopefulness, Ward brings a level of calmness under that pressure.

His short distribution is good. Though more direct and less into space than a centre-back could do, Ward’s passing is more accurate and less risky, meaning Leicester are more likely to retain possession and build something from the back.

Schmeichel is known for his positioning excellence. Where he stands entirely dictates whether he will save a ball, and he tends to be in the right place. ‘Danny boy’ has had little opportunity to show whether he has the positional knowledge; from his appearances, we can see that he relies less on positioning.

Ward relies more on reflexes and acrobatics to save shots. He will often be in a less than savoury position, and will be forced to make a reflex save or dive. This is something Schmeichel does not do quite as well.

So, Ward is a good option opposed to Schmeichel, though his positioning could be improved through match experience and a little bit of coaching from the Great Dane.

Also, it is good not to forget those penalty heroics against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup!

On top of this, there are several other goalkeepers at Leicester City, who would be looking for an opportunity at the King Power. Think of the on-loan Daniel Iversen, the No.3 backup Eldin Jakupović, and youngster Jakub Stolarczyk.