It’s funny how this has become such a weird art form.
There are plenty of players (mostly strikers) who don’t do anything fancy but score 99% of the time by just picking top left or top right corner and hitting it so fast it’s impossible to save. Harry Kane is a good modern example, but Alan Shearer also never really missed penalties with the same idea.
Jamie Vardy, also mentioned in the article, just hoofs it in most of the time. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's how he scored the 2 pens against man city in the article.
To me, with a limited data set, Vardy does seem to have got smarter over the past few years. Still pace and power, but a little more skill even if it slows the ball down (perhaps as he gets older, or just wiser?).
Trying to hit it in the top left or right corner is so risky though - for a high-profile example of what can go wrong take a look at Baggio's penalty miss in the 1994 World Cup final or when Beckham skied his against Portugal in 2004. In a high pressure situation like a penalty it's so easy to get under it and send it soaring over the bar.
I think it's more about going with what you are confident with, and having the resolve to not change your mind just before you hit the ball. I had a pretty solid right footed drive, so I'd just crack it low and hard into the bottom left. That way I didn't have to be particularly accurate to get a good chance of converting it (it didn't have to be tucked JUST inside the post) but the keeper had to:
1. guess the right side
2. know I was going low
3. dive very quickly
4. dive quite far
I know that any time I missed I doubted myself or changed my mind at the last minute and tried something different or fancy. I was not a famous footballer facing an opponent who had studied my stats though - so I doubt this is a strategy that works outside Sunday League :-)
edit: I went back to check Beckham's penalty against Portugal to check my memory wasn't misleading me ... man that was some shootout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlEUdZgH0gc
- David Beckham kicks his penalty over the crossbar, out of the stadium and into orbit
- Rui Costa kicks his penalty over too, not quite as high
- Nuno Gomes (I think?) does a Panenka
- Ricardo saves a penalty for Portugal without his gloves, then proceeds to take penalty himself ... and scores, winning the game
I still remember the pain of this (and many other england) shoot outs.
Apparently it was team policy back then not to practice penalties. No wonder we always lost.
It wasn't until Gareth Southgate took over as england manager (who infamously had his terrible semi final penalty saved in Euro 96) that we started practicing - and guess what, we won the next penalty shoot out. Who'd have thought?
Good grief that is bonkers. I wonder if it was justified like - if you prepare for penalties the players will aim for that instead of trying to win in 90 minutes or in Extra Time. Like an old antiquated training strategy I read about where a team would train without a ball, so that they’d be more hungry for it during the game.
I cannot imagine what it feels like to be an England fan. With Scotland it’d be an achievement if we even reached a major finals, and we’re kinda prepared for disappointment in every game. But England are a genuinely good team who are capable of winning the Euros or the World Cup if they don’t bottle it.
The sad thing about being an England fan over the last few decades has been managers pandering to the egos rather than playing the best strategy. Can never forgive the run of managers who decided playing Gerrard and Lampard next to each other every match was a great idea.
Southgate in that regard does feel like a small breath of fresh air.
There are plenty of players (mostly strikers) who don’t do anything fancy but score 99% of the time by just picking top left or top right corner and hitting it so fast it’s impossible to save. Harry Kane is a good modern example, but Alan Shearer also never really missed penalties with the same idea.