The Football.....

[Beebo]

Is your daughter's friend a muthaf*cking pimp or a hustler? And did he sign for Swansea?

Yeah. Just signed for Swansea

 

[PaulSB]

People who think penalties are easy have never taken one.

I didn't watch the game and by chance saw the penalties in a news clip. There's a lot of truth in your statement but that can't take away the fact there were some very badly taken penalties in that shoot out.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

I didn't watch the game and by chance saw the penalties in a news clip. There's a lot of truth in your statement but that can't take away the fact there were some very badly taken penalties in that shoot out.

Last nights penalties were far, far better. Not really a surprise, as one of the teams was Germany.

I can remember when England men used to regularly lose on pens, and it transpired that they never practiced them - they thought it gave a negative mindset or something. It was evident whenever they came up against e.g. Germany that the opposition were on autopilot, able to cut off thought and just rely on muscle memory, with the confidence of having made that shot a thousand times, while England were overthinking, worrying and freezing up. Snatched and scuffed shots with a short run-up are a sign of overthinking, second-guessing themselves, shots powered over the bar a sign of overcompensating (just bang it high, it'll be fine!)

Most of us can spot who's going to miss quite easily. You can see the nervosity, the looking down not meeting the keeper's eyes, and often that two or three step run-up - I think the aim is reduce the amount of time approaching the ball in case you change your mind along the way.

There have been studies that show that a short pause before taking the kick is strongly correlated with scoring. "Get it over with quick" isn't.