Penalties are easy to save because keepers guess right

Aruna Dindane of Portsmouth, Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, Frank Lampard of Chelsea and Jermain Defoe of Tottenham all missed penalties over the weekend which sparked off a healthy curiousity about the effectiveness of the spot kick in this modern game especially by English pundits.

They say penalty kicks have become easy to save now because goalkeepers go through rigorous training and routines that help them make a good decision on saving a spot kick. Also they claim, that goalkeepers are physically bigger in frame nowadays than ever before so that give them leverage over the kick taker who is only a few yards away from him.

I have the answer and it’s the ironic title of this post.

I remember growing up and watching penalties in a World Cup final or some major FIFA accredited competition and I wondered why a goalkeeper would dive one way while the ball was played in the opposite direction. The reason was as I later found out was that the goalkeeper only guesses what side to dive and hopes the player played the ball in that direction.

I thought it was absolute ludicrous that you had a goalkeeper whose job was to keep the ball out of the net choose to gamble which way the ball would go before the ball was kicked. Apparently this ridiculous truth was the norm and widely accepted even by the best of them all.

That’s the reason why I believe penalties have become easy to save these days. It’s the notion that it’s a guessing game for the goalkeepers so the uncertainty only favors the striker of the ball.

Unfortunately, most strikers of the ball have become complacent in the thought of the ‘guessing goalie’ in front of them thereby forgetting that a spot kick is a onetime chance that needs no rehearsals. They forget to strike the ball with venom into the top right hand corner of the post, not place it in the bottom right angle or down right the center of the goal.

Fortunately for the goalkeeper’s union reputation, most goalkeepers have become smarter and now wait for the ball to be kicked before they jump.

Alan Shearer – the Newcastle legend, was one whom you would love to see behind the ball in a penalty kick situation. Most of the penalties he took were an example of a personal vendetta against the goal’s net. He would strike it so hard that even if the goalkeeper guessed the right way he wouldn’t even stand a chance if he tried.

Striking the ball like Shearer did do two things. Set’s the fear in the goalkeeper every time he stepped up for a spot kick. Second it gives Shearer room to change his style, whether he would shoot low or high because the goalkeeper would by default, expect a venom kick from him because of his reputation.  

Until we go back to the days when penalty kick takers hit the ball high and so hard that it would rip the net, we will continue to see goalkeepers guess right because strikers have preferred placement rather than power.