Manchester United goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis has compared Sergio Romero to Old Trafford legend Edwin van der Sar.
Hartis joined United last year and works closely with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He has spoken at length about Romero and David de Gea and opened up on the experience of working with top level goalkeepers.
Romero has been United's 'cup goalkeeper' for the majority of his five-year stay at the club and returned to the side with a solid display in the 2-1 victory over LASK last week.
The Argentina international will now hope to pip teammate De Gea to a spot in goal for the rest of United's Europa League campaign. And Hartis has been hugely impressed with him.
“He’s obviously an experienced goalkeeper,” Hartis told United's official website on Romero. “He’s an international goalkeeper who has played in a World Cup final. I’ve found him to be extremely hard working. Very robust emotionally. He turns up to work every day and looks to better himself. Even now, at 33, he’s looking to make improvements to some fundamentals of his game, which is really refreshing.
“Good players adapt, so as players get a little bit older and the body slows down a little bit, the brain speeds up more. Sergio’s showing that adaptability. His thirst for knowledge means that he wants to come and see his clips after training, after the games, he’s still striving to improve, to be the best he can be. What that does is, for him, it gives him that level of consistency around his performance.
“He’s a very professional guy. He takes his work seriously. I think since I’ve been back here he’s only missed one training session, so he’s on the grass, doing what’s asked of him, every single day.
"His mentality fits in with the other top keepers that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Edwin van der Sar was like that. Sergio fits in with an elite-level goalkeeper.”
Hartis then lauded Romero's tactical nous, an attribute that De Gea also posseses.
"Good goalkeepers have to affect the game out of possession," he added. "They have to get a team playing when others can’t and save things that others can’t. That’s what goalkeepers here do.
"If you look at Sergio tactically, he’s very astute, so he processes lots of information very quickly with the game to help his decision-making, in the same way that David does. Experienced goalkeepers do that."
