SanguinestealthpapesAsked how he’s been preparing for any penalty shoot-out, Pickford explained: “It’s about how the taker’s looking at it, body language, where his shoulders or arms are... and sometimes you’ve just got to pick a side, wait and attack it.
“If you get there you get there and if you don’t, get the next one. If you save a couple, you can be a hero but there’s no pressure on you.”
Pickford said penalties are also “pot luck”
sigh.
Yes, sigh and all that, but as good as we get there will always be an element, however small, of luck. If the keeper guesses the right way, he's 50% of the way there.
I watched a video recently that analysed Eden Hazard's penalties, I'll try to find it, but in short it showed the key (barely perceptible, even slowed down) differences between his kicking technique, including front foot placement and angle, for a penalty to each of the left and the right.
Best thing about penalties of course is failed Panenkas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdu5pweeDiI
Eden Hazard's penalty choices i.e. right, left, etc, are (apparently) almost random. Its as if he's playing game theory with it.
Magnificent.