Penalty taker

[No2]

1 hour ago, Lee909 said:

Career

Mac Callster taken 11 scored 10

Gakpo scored 4 missed 1

Jota scored 1 missed 0

Nunez scored 12 missed 0

Szoboszlai scored 16 missed 1

Van Dijk scored 1 missed 0

 

Nunez scored a peno against AC Milan during the world cup break, it's the worst peno I've ever seen scored and should preclude him from ever taking one again.

[gkmacca]

He's got excellent technique, and he's our main goalscorer, and he's obsessed with adding to his goal tally, so the appetite and ambition is there as well, so he remains the obvious person to take penalties. 

 

Very few penalty takers don't go through the odd shaky period. Gerrard certainly did. So Mo missing one every now and then is not in itself a reason to drop him from duties.

 

That said, as someone noted earlier in the thread, it's a bit odd that someone who is described as obsessive about knowing what keepers do, and who has been known to quiz keepers after games about how they prepare for his kicks, was 'surprised' by the Newcastle keeper doing what he usually does. 

 

It's also slightly concerning that whenever his confidence does go, he tends to blast it down the middle. That's not uncommon in such states of mind, but it's not the way to get out of a rut. Hitting the corners with force and precision is always the better way.

 

But I don't see a strong case for giving the job to anyone else. What concerns me much more is Trent's Beckham-like monopoly on all the other dead ball kicks. Yes, he can be brilliant, but not every angle and distance, every time, suits him more than one of several other excellent free kick takers in the team. It's always a mistake, IMHO, when a team lets one star dominate every free kick. 

 

Some free kicks don't suit Trent, such as those that are close to the area and he keeps trying to get the ball up and down when there's simply not enough distance for it to dip under the bar in time. In that kind of situation, surely it would be worth trying occasionally someone who can hit the ball hard and fast around the wall, such as Szoboszlai. 

 

Improving our success rate at free kicks is probably easier than reducing Mo's misses at pens.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Just the little bit of Salah, Trent and Szoboszlai missing from our list of penalty takers.

 

I think Jota would be my next choice.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I like Mac Allister's technique. 

 

 

[Kevin D]

The angle behind the penalty made me think it wasn’t going in, but he clearly knows what he’s doing.

 

Would make him penalty taker over Mo.

[Bob]

48 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

The angle behind the penalty made me think it wasn’t going in, but he clearly knows what he’s doing.

 

Would make him penalty taker over Mo.

I liked the goals and misses graphic that they showed. Scored in a huge variety of spots and none that had hit the target saved. Just one miss. 

[Kevin D]

12 minutes ago, Bob said:

I liked the goals and misses graphic that they showed. Scored in a huge variety of spots and none that had hit the target saved. Just one miss. 

The graphic made it look like the missed one was right in the corner?

[Bob]

2 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

The graphic made it look like the missed one was right in the corner?

I thought it was just wide of the post

 

[Bob]

5 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

The graphic made it look like the missed one was right in the corner?

Actually, just watched the video posted above. Hits the post.

[Kevin D]

1 hour ago, Bob said:

Actually, just watched the video posted above. Hits the post.

That’s what I thought from the graphic.

 

Everything about how he plays tells you he knows to place to a penalty.

Precise.

 

[Remmie]

On 02/01/2024 at 20:11, Lee909 said:

Career

Mac Callster taken 11 scored 10

Gakpo scored 4 missed 1

Jota scored 1 missed 0

Nunez scored 12 missed 0

Szoboszlai scored 16 missed 1

Van Dijk scored 1 missed 0

 

Nunez has definitely missed at least one penalty for us, I have a feeling it's a couple. He hit the post against Chelsea a few weeks back

[Kevin D]

43 minutes ago, Remmie said:

Nunez has definitely missed at least one penalty for us, I have a feeling it's a couple. He hit the post against Chelsea a few weeks back

January, second, mate, that was posted.

 

To be fair, Nunez could have scored 250/250 penalties, and I’d not want him taking the penalty against Real in a Champions League final.