It’s difficult to imagine any team winning the World Cup or European Championship without a penalty shootout at some stage, so England have to think differently about spot-kicks and start narrowing the odds in their favour.
I’m in awe of those who did their best on Sunday and my heart goes out to the three Lions who missed. It’s not their fault, it’s the system and our approach.
England must put more time and science into shootouts because we came up short again. It had nothing to do with youth and everything to do with not preparing everyone to handle the occasion.
England suffered more penalty shoot-out heartbreak in the Euro 2020 final against Italy
England have got to start thinking differently about spot-kicks if they are to succeed
The Three Lions need to put more time and science into the shootouts going forward
You can’t guarantee success but shootouts are not the lottery many pundits would have us believe. The opposition are in the same boat and consistently do better than us. The team with the best penalty takers and best penalty stopper wins.
England need to be more practical, scientific and inventive. Here are some suggestions on an issue I’ve been fascinated with since I got my UEFA coaching qualification and spent a year at Southampton.
ARE WE PRACTISING CORRECTLY?
A penalty is a basic repeatable skill, like a golfer’s putting stroke or a rugby goal-kicker. It shouldn’t be random or reliant on how you feel on the night. It should be exactly the same penalty you have executed in practice 50 times that week and 200 times that month. A taker should have two penalties in his locker to keep the opposition guessing, ideally one left and one right.
When I was at Southampton I asked Dave Alred, the best coach of how to kick any ball, to come and bend his mind to penalties with our academy players as guinea pigs.
Dave got two lengths of rope. He tied one on the crossbar a yard in from the left post and let it dangle to the turf. He tied the second a yard in from the right post. Between the post and the rope is the area you must hit every time, at a decent pace, to virtually ensure success.
With the crossbar eight feet high, that’s two areas of approximately 24 square feet. We asked these young professionals to do it three times with no keeper and they found it incredibly difficult. They didn’t have the consistency and technique.
England’s top goal-kickers in rugby over the decades — Dusty Hare or Jonny Wilkinson — picked out a bobble hat or a fan wearing a bright jacket in the crowd to aim for. For Jonny’s warm-up, he would practise kicking from the
