- Norwich face a penalty drought before two arrive simultaneously.
- Mohamed Toure provides a stark lesson in how not to take penalties.
- Kenny McLean shows elite composure to convert under pressure.
Honestly, Norwich City wait ages for a penalty and three come along almost at once!
Weird
If I had a quid for every time I planned an article and it became unwittingly prescient I would have two quid but it’s weird that it happened twice!
In the previous instance it was Vlad’s goalkeeping and this one is about the art of penalty taking and now we have three examples to go off.
How not to do it
With his goalscoring record Mohammed Toure should have had everything in him to get the most out of a penalty against Bristol City. Yet his attempt proved to be an example of how not to do it.
His stride didn’t quite convince, the strike was neither well placed or well struck and the keeper was easily able to guess it.
True he made up for it with a thumping goal afterwards but it was a hard lesson to learn.
How you should do it
It was a bitter irony that after months of not getting a penalty and heralding Cordoba’s performance he conceded a clumsy one and that was decisively put away by high scoring Swansea striker Zan Vipotnik.
Fortunately Norwich City got another one in their favour and it was player of the season Kenny McClean to step up.
McClean’s penalty was the polar opposite of Toure’s- hit firm and forcefully, the epitome of a confident player showing his stuff.
Why the struggle?
In theory a penalty should be simple- you are a short distance from goal and the keeper has to stay on his line.
It is as much a psychological exercise as it is a physical one.
Can you block out the noise? Do you have the confidence to read the keeper?
Or is it better to have a plan and stick with it?
Of course there is the other way- Tim Krul’s writing of where each player put their penalty on his water bottle was either great preparation, a smart psyche out tactic or a combination of both.
The lesson
Neal Adams waved to the Carrow Road crowds as he departs at the end of this season. Like Wes Hoolahan he was another player with a strong penalty record with impressive numbers.
To sum up how to take a perfect penalty?
Be confident, know what you’re doing and don’t let the noise get to you.
Simple really!
