English football and penalties

[BJ.]

Could someone please explain to me how a team can be so consistently inept when it comes to kicking a ball into a net 11 metres away with only the goalkeeper to beat?

[Skin_and_Muscle]

Complacency - it was mentioned that Joe Hart had studied the Italian penalty takers for their histories. Apparently, this gave him licence to expend effort trying to put the Italian team off rather than pay attention to the situation at hand.

They just aren't good enough - The fact that it goes to penalties means England aren't good enough to win a game of football. The Italians, for instance, seemed to have the capability to pass to their teammates and, when they didn't have the ball, they actually put pressure on England.

Decision making - perhaps this is endemic in English sport; the right decisions are not made at crucial times. Brave decisions are not made at crucial times. Why was Rooney not substituted instead of Welbeck? He was, even to a layman like myself, poor.

[Kinoulton]

As regards penalties, I have a good track record of predicting who will miss, and I was spot on last night with the Italian and the two Ashleys.

If a player concentrates on where he has decided to hit the thing, stares hard and puts it there, then the goal keeper is hard pressed to stop it, unless he is lucky and agile.

But when people amble up not even looking and clearly thinking, "I'll just poke the thing, hope for the best, and let's get the hell out of here." then they invariably foul it up.

It's about guts under pressure, and it's the same in any sport.

[Bill W (2)]

It's about guts under pressure, and it's the same in any sport.

The roundyball players clearly need SCW's input!

TCUP

[Ze Stade Fan]

As regards penalties, I have a good track record of predicting who will miss, and I was spot on last night with the Italian and the two Ashleys.

If a player concentrates on where he has decided to hit the thing, stares hard and puts it there, then the goal keeper is hard pressed to stop it, unless he is lucky and agile.

But when people amble up not even looking and clearly thinking, "I'll just poke the thing, hope for the best, and let's get the hell out of here." then they invariably foul it up.

It's about guts under pressure, and it's the same in any sport.

I'll second that. You have to be happy to kick. And the Italian man looked like he was panicking. Pirlo splendidly shifted the pressure with a great "Panenka kick".
Now they say they want to supress the drama of penalty kicks (and replace it by what, one may ask, a quiz?). But this is sport and it has to be cruel.
On a related note : congrats Ingerland, you did proud to your flag. The game was passionate, nerve racking, Hart was magnificent. England had a clear chance to make it, if it wasn't for a superb Gianluigi Buffon. Now when you compare this to the gang of overpaid brats that are the French selection...

[Kinoulton]

I think ours are all overpaid, but it's how they cope with it. Love 'em or hate 'em, there are certain people like Hart, Terry, Lescott, Gerard, Johnson and Carroll that will always do their utmost to put in a good shift and inspire those around them.

The irony is that the French players had, on average, far more talent than the England squad, as they demonstrated in the 1:1 draw, but they lacked that bit of steel which makes a second rate England squad quite hard to beat.

[BJ.]

Yesterday Fabio Capello was quoted on Sky Sports as saying one of the reasons England do not do well is because the players are tired due to the lack of a winter break in the domestic schedule!

Aah, the poor ickle things. Perhaps the FA should follow the example of the ECB and have a squad of centrally-contracted players who they can wrap in cotton wool and ensure they do not get fatigued by playing too much. I am sure no more than five or six league games a season will keep these finely-conditioned athletes in tip top form and there should be no objections from the likes of Ferguson, Wenger et al.

[Ze Stade Fan]

I like a quote from Wenger. He is said to have said : "National selections are like joy riders, they steal your car and abandon it damaged and without a drop of gas left!"

[Kinoulton]

Something is wrong with today's complicated training, stretching, dieting and all that gonads.

In the days when footballers were allowed to barge you as hard as they liked, kick your shins, take you out at the knees and punch you in the back, the Spurs team did the double in 1961 with the same eleven players for the whole season.

There were no squads. You were in the first team and if you got a proper injury, like a broken leg, then a reserve would take your place.

Nowadays every sportsman from Andrew Murray to Tom Croft suffers from a series of niggles, pulls, strains, twinges, Metatarcels, Megabarstools and Terracottas, and I seriously wonder if players shouldn't get rid of their charlatans and amatuer fitness gurus and go back to having a few beers after the game and a rub down with a wet Radio Times.

[Skin_and_Muscle]

Nowadays every sportsman from Andrew Murray to Tom Croft suffers from a series of niggles, pulls, strains, twinges, Metatarcels, Megabarstools and Terracottas, and I seriously wonder if players shouldn't get rid of their charlatans and amatuer fitness gurus and go back to having a few beers after the game and a rub down with a wet Radio Times.

Poor Tom Croft, comparing him to Andy Murray - the laughing stock of the tennis circuit if reports are to be believed, given his predisposed he is to needing treatment on 'injuries'.

I think this relates to a discussion that took place on the other forum (the other place?) - how often does Waldrom get injured - he's fatter and fitter than anyone else in the squad!

[Kinoulton]

The first ever defender to win the coveted "Footbal Writer's Player of the Year Award" was one Kenny Burns. He may be a "wendyball player" but by crikey he's a hell of a tough nut that I've had the pleasure of meeting lots of times.

He tells me that he never ever crossed that white line, be it to meet Celtic, Liverpool, Barcelona, Man Utd, Nacional or Ajax without feeling some jabbing pain from an injury that just wouldn't go away.

But you played on.