Our Approach to Penalties

[Wycombe Royal]

Anyway, is Long our penalty taker? I thought Sigurdsson was. Or are we still using the "whoever grabs it" approach?

Long gave the ball to Sigurdsson last night for him to take the penalty and then Sigurdsson gave it back to him. It appeared that neither wanted to take it.

[RoyalBlue]

How do you train confidence and composure at the penalty spot? It's a mental thing more than anything and relies on the right player IMO.

The same way as you can practice meditation and other mind techniques e.g. visualisation. That's one of the reasons you employ a good sports psychologist or did ours go in the cost cutting exercise?

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Our players certainly look like they dont practice them.
The best way to take them is high to each side, but slightly too low and it becomes the worst type of penalty. Problem is you need to be technically very good to get that right 90% of the time (see Le Tissier), if not you do what Long did last night!

Then there is Graham Alexander. He hits so many pens straight down the middle, and high. i cant remember the last time i saw a keeper stand up to pen, thats why he scores so many. you could even side foot it down the middle, about aiming at the keepers head, if you have the nerve

[rhroyal]

Our players should look at John Carew's penalty on Sunday. Feds guessed the right direction but he didn't have a hope.

[Eastkentroyal]

Our players should look at John Carew's penalty on Sunday. Feds guessed the right direction but he didn't have a hope.

Spot on but that is what you pay for if you are a top Premiership side.

[Maguire]

I thought the reason Long's penalty was so shocking (apart from the rather obvious fact that he spanked it miles over) was that I honestly don't think, when his foot made contact with the ball, that he had any idea where he was going to put it. And that's a pyschological failing rather than merely a technical one.

[Elmer Park]

We've seen Long, Howard and Sigurdsson take one each.
How do we know these are the only methods they have of taking them?

Very fair point Steve although Siggi has taken three now. If I remember rightly he scored one against Crystal Palace by hitting it quite powerfully into the net which, if I am correct, backs up your point of his having more than one method.

Howard scored a lot of penalties for Barnsley so he may well have more than one way of taking them as you say.

I am another one who thinks that the penalty taker should be decided before the game and only changed if the designated player suddenly doesn't fancy taking it or of course if he is injured in which case there should be a designated stand in.

[Snowball]

I thought the reason Long's penalty was so shocking (apart from the rather obvious fact that he spanked it miles over) was that I honestly don't think, when his foot made contact with the ball, that he had any idea where he was going to put it. And that's a psychological failing rather than merely a technical one.

I thought he was going to miss it. Getting the sending off and the "guaranteed goal"
was like going 2-0 up against Villa. It made me expect the worst.

Maybe it was getting too easy?


Seemed to me the guys relaxed too much, thought the game was over
and then took twenty minutes to get themselves back onto a slow burn

[robb the royal]

If it was that simple to hit the top corner every time from 12 yards (even for the international players amoungst us ) then how come we don't see every top class penalty put into the top corner?
Placement should depend on the players preference, he is more likely to hit the target that way.... i learnt that the hard way, i can only remember missing 2 penalties playing, one hit a bobble on the pitch and onto the post, the other i decided to try and put it top corner and followed Longs example!
penalties are about 2 things: hitting the target and luck.
If you hit the target then the keeper has to be lucky enough to guess the right way to save it.
Murty proved you only need luck as long as you hit the target!
I would much rather our players concentrated on other factors that happen game in, game out, rather than practicing for penalties which only happen 10 times a season.

[Sarah Star]

"I stick them away every day in training and it was the first one I’ve ever missed.

“Robbie gave me a bit of stick at half-time, but those things happen. I tried to stick it in the corner with pace.

“But I just got under it and lifted it fairly high over the bar.”

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/footb ... own_robins

[facaldaqui]

This is so infuriating:

“I won’t let it get me down,” claimed the 23-year-old forward.

“But Gylfi Sigurdsson might be on the next penalty now!

“I stick them away every day in training and it was the first one I’ve ever missed."

If that really is the first one Long has ever missed, then Gylfi should not be on the next one. Because Long would still be almost a cert to score. Is Long saying that the penalty taker will change each time someone misses? Someone at the club needs to start applying some logic to all this!

[facaldaqui]

penalties are about 2 things: hitting the target and luck.

I'd say hitting the target and power. I just watched a bunch of Graham Alexander pens on YouTube and it seems to me that hitting the target and power are his two principles. Other than hitting the ball fairly high, he doesn't seem too bothered whether the ball goes left right or centre. His high strike rate seems to me the result of how hard he hits the ball.

I would much rather our players concentrated on other factors that happen game in, game out, rather than practicing for penalties which only happen 10 times a season.

It's not either or. Players can stay behind after training to practise. That's how a lot of dead ball specialists refine their skills.