“ANY one of Messi, Neymar, Xavi, or Suarez can take penalties; it doesn't matter.” That was Luis Enrique during his time at Barcelona when asked about the designation of penalty takers and it is all-too-easy to imagine a yawn elongating the final few words. Almost definitely there was a shrug involved.
“They decide. I like it when players gave the initiative to do it.” This was Pep Guardiola at the weekend, similarly displaying a hands-off approach when determining who from his plethora of technically-gifted stars should be entrusted to take a spot-kick.
It is a nonchalance that is pretty commonplace across football. At Manchester United it was revealed earlier this season that they have two designated kickers and it simply didn’t occur to anybody that a problem may arise if both were on the pitch at the same time. This week, Kevin De Bruyne was asked if he might step up in future after Sergio Aguero became the fourth Manchester City player this term to miss from twelve yards. “Yeah, why not? I don’t really care,” he replied. He may as well have been asked if he was happy with Diet Pepsi because the canteen was out of Diet Coke.
Staying with Guardiola, on one level it is a detachment that has some merit. Managers these days are increasingly fond of transferring responsibility and decision-making onto their players and where better to do that than in non-tactical, non-strategic areas such as the taking of penalties and by encouraging democratic votes for the captaincy. Furthermore it is an egalitarian approach that implicitly suggests a manager has complete faith in the ability of his players and again, where better to project that trust than in a situation where one of them only has to beat a stationary keeper from short range? In this regard it is a safe bet with a big pay-off.
Kevin De Bruyne on #ManCity penalty takers:
“I don't really care. I think it's important for strikers to have them – it helps their goals tally.
It doesn't affect me but if they want me to step up, I will. That's something for the technical staff to decide.”#MCFC | @ManCity
— Man City Xtra (@City_Xtra) February 23, 2020
There is another line of thinking however. That it is ultimately ill-advised to the point of stupidity. And it is just plain odd.vThe taking of penalties is a specialist art-form that affords a team a 75% chance of scoring. So given that clubs employ the very best coaches; the very best physiotherapists; the very best nutritionists; the very best of everything in order to give players the tiniest advantageous margin where exactly is the sense in being so blasé about a scenario that dramatically increases a team’s chances of success?
“The next time we’ll score,” Guardiola said with a smile on Saturday. Well pick the right man then and stick with him. And make no mistake about it: it is a specialist art-form. It's why back in the day West Ham used to rely on full-back Ray Stewart to convert their spot-kicks in an era that saw Trevor Brooking and Alan Devonshire stylishly impress. It’s why Riyad Mahrez – one of the most accomplished players I have ever set eyes on – has an overall conversion rate of just 58.3%, the second worst since the Premier League began.
Float a fifty yard pass his way and the Algerian can kill it stone-dead. Place him in a psychological vignette that swirls doubt, bluff and certainty through every neuron of the frontal lobe and he invariably goes to pot. And it is why Ederson should now take City’s penalties. Because according to his manager ‘he has no blood in his brains’ and that deals with the psychological aspect. As pertinently, again according to Guardiola, “Eddie is the best taker we have.”
It has been said that the Catalan is very reluctant to promote his goalie to penalty taking duties because it would look disrespectful to the opposition but that ignores the many number ones who have excelled in the role. The recently retired Rogerio Ceni scored 65 times for Sao Paulo. Vincent Enyeama and Dimitar Ivankov scored 62 between them for clubs as diverse as Levski Sofia and Hapoel Tev Aviv. Jose Luis Chilavert once memorably bagged a hat-trick of pens.
It has also been said there is a danger of a swift counter should Ederson miss. On this I would love to see the stats on how rarely a penalty is saved and the ball remains in play with the opposition in possession of it. I would estimate it is minimal almost to the extent of irrelevance.
Regardless, a solution must be found because presently Manchester City unquestionably have a serious problem. They have missed five of their last seven spot-kicks with Aguero, Sterling, Jesus and Gundogan all now carrying the atrophic burden of having been unsuccessful on their previous occasion. Last season a spurned penalty against Spurs ultimately cost the club a Champions League semi-final. Last season too, a skied effort from Mahrez at Anfield nearly cost them a title.
For context Gabby Jesus has missed six for club and country since 2018 which astounds when weighed against his effervescent talent. He is a haute cuisine chef who somehow manages to burn toast on a regular basis.
It is a situation that must be addressed. It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue and boy do we miss the days of Balotelli and Yaya with their unerring elan. If the Brazilian stopper is their likeliest successor then he is absolutely the man Guardiola should appoint. For now and for the long-term.
