Penalty Kicks. Some Thoughts

The shootout. Penalty kicks. The twelve yard free kicks. They certainly are an exciting aspect of soccer/football, but should it be? I think they’re great as a spectator, and for those spectators who actually don’t enjoy watching footy, they probably love shootouts because of the goals. But as a player and a coach, I’m not a fan of penalty kicks deciding who wins the game. There is still a component of soccer skill and mental strength involved, but I’ve always felt that the game should be won on the pitch playing with all aspects of the game. I’ve loved the golden goal format for a while (play extra time until the first goal is scored, to which that team wins the game). I understand that time restraints can be hard for media, as well as playing longer games could physically drain players for games that occur shortly after in a tournament. I just know I would’ve been pissed if Italy had lost that game to England in the shootout. I also feel Portugal should have had a fair shake at winning the game. If teams are worried about players been drained for upcoming games, maybe should we allow unlimited substitutions in extra time? Soccer’s an old sport that doesn’t like rule changes (look at all the video replay stuff happening in the news now), but it was just a thought.

My philosophy for penalty shots is whoever is most confident should be taking the shots. Nerves are the biggest contributing factor towards success in a shootout. When I coach younger players, I will usually pick the strongest shooters, because at young ages, there is still a big gap between your top players and your bottom players (this assuming it is competitive youth, obviously I’m not that thinking of this kind of stuff with recreational soccer). Once you get older though, shooting abilities tend to level off, especially at the professional level. As well, everyone thinks pressure is on the goalie to make the save, when in reality, all pressure is on the shooter. Shooters have to assume that a goalie will guess the right way (quality keepers are really good at reading body language and positioning before and during a run-up). That doesn’t leave too much room for a shooter to aim for. Basically they have to aim for a corner and hit it dead on. If players miss the net, then they look even worse (cause in theory, most people think they just have to hit the net. It is a ‘big’ net).

Another comment I have to make is why in the world was Ronaldo kicking last for Portugal? Was he hoping to have all the glory of sealing a Portugal win by kicking last? I understand that you could make an argument for putting your best kickers at any place in the order. The commentators I was listening to were arguing that Ronaldo should have kicked first or second, since he was a top player.  The player with the most pressure though, would probably be near the end. My thoughts are that your top players should be in the #4 slot, maybe #3. These are the points in a shootout where the pressure actually starts to build. If you’re behind, a top player can ensure you survive to see another kicker. If you’re ahead, a top player can put the game out of reach. If it’s tied, there’s that much more pressure to not screw up, which usually gets to players. Look at the Italy-England game. They had two players who did not have an exceptional game by any means take kicks #3 and #4, which were a miss and a save. Italy went on to win. Ronaldo will now be spending his summer thinking about the penalty kick he never took…