The lottery of penalties

[Gritt23]

They call it luck because you can't practice under the circumstances (tension and tiredness) that accompany the shoot-out.

Sorry fella, but that's another statement that just drives me mental, and you hear it a lot. People questioning the value of practising penalties because you can't replicate the pressure.

But hang on, doesn't that count for everything in every sport. You can't replicate the pressure when clean through on the goalie in an important game, but we practise one-on-ones, or the pressure on a goalie to collect the first cross in a big game, but he practises catching.

The day I hear a professional snooker player saying he doesn't practise potting the black off the spot "because you can't replicate the pressure and tension of the Crucible" then that argument will have some credability.

 

[zefarelly]

I think its been fairly apparent that Gerrard and LAmpard are both knackered having both had very long seasons

theres definitely a mental problem with England and penalties

I think Fitness comes into it a bit

also we have to lower our standards to win, gamesmanship, cheating, pretending to be Portugese . . .call it what you will, but to win these days requires that little bit extra that we haven't got

maybe let LEs Bhien infiltrate the WAGS . . . . the players seeing THe Sussex Cassanova wooing their ladies will make them mad enough to nail the keeper to the back of the net with the ball pierced by a few ribs, bingo we win