#PLStories- Kasper Schmeichel makes complaint over Premier League ball that affects key part of his game #LCFC
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Kasper Schmeichel
The current Premier League ball is “moody” and will not do what players want it to, Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has claimed. The City captain has complained that Nike’s ball for the 2021-22 Premier League season is “awful” compared to the “incredible” one they made a few years ago, and says it has a big effect on his distribution. His kicking is often a point of contention among City supporters, and this season he ranks 14th of the 23 goalkeepers to play at least six games when it comes to distribution over 40 yards, with a completion rate of 38 per cent.
Kasper Schmeichel said: “Take the Nike ball in the Premier League at the moment, that’s the worst ball they’ve ever made. It’s an awful, awful football compared to what they’ve made in the past. Two seasons ago, they made an incredible ball. If you notice with this one, it’s so hard, for example, to do the sidewinder to get it far. It’s really difficult to do that. It’s a moody ball because it doesn’t do what you want it to do. Particularly when you try to hit hard, it won’t really work. The Adidas one (used in the Euros) was so true. With that, I could take goal kicks and land it on the edge of the other box. With the Nike one, I can barely get it over the halfway line, particularly if it’s cold, then it really changes. Then you have the Europa League one which is a bit like the Adidas one that just flies. You have the Puma in the Carabao Cup, which is, wow, a bit like the Jabulani of 2010, and then the FA Cup, there’s the Mitre ball. That’s a strange ball because it’s got great grip on it but it feels so heavy, and it moves a lot in the air, but you can also really hit it far. So there’s four different balls, and then there’s internationals. I always have gloves of different grips and I’ll make sure I have different ones available to me in case of the ball that we’re playing with.”
And it’s not just goalkeepers that are struggling with the current Premier League ball, outfield players are too. And it’s leading to lower-quality play.
Kasper Schmeichel added: “The Nike ball I‘ve not heard a Premier League player say anything good about it yet, compared to at the Euros, when there were people saying: ‘Wow, what a great ball.’ You could really hit that so nicely. I think you can see it in the quality of play. For example, switches of play are difficult with a Nike ball, but the Adidas balls you see in the Champions League, you can hit diags, it’s just so much easier to hit. The Nike ball we have in the Premier League at the moment, it’s got great grip, I’ll say that for it. But it’s just not a ball that has worked well. For me, what they had before was so good, so it’s a shame they changed that. I hope they go back and see the other one was better.”
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