The Debate: Penalties are tough enough, kill the ball after it’s taken

When the Coronavirus pandemic is over I’d like you all to do something for me. I’d like you to take a football and a few friends and go down to your local park with football goals. Take it all in turn being the goalkeeper and facing penalties from your mates.

Speaking from experience I can tell you it is extremely difficult.

The ball is coming at you from twelve yards away, at a ridiculous pace, giving you even less time to react.

Now imagine that you are a professional goalkeeper, facing a professional taker with increased accuracy and power. Of course as a professional keeper your reactions will be increased but the balance will be more uneven, at least at amateur level there’s a good chance that the taker might completely scuff their attempt.

So, here you are, standing and waiting for a fellow professional to hammer a ball at you from a close distance, and your job is to try and stop it.

Finally imagine that you actually manage to save it, which the data tells us isn’t particularly likely, and then as you look up as a striker gleefully slams the ball in from one yard and wheels off in celebration, pretending they’re the greatest thing in the world and ignoring the fact that they just failed to score from 12 yards with no defenders in their way.

This is the turmoil of a goalkeeper during penalty kicks and it’s time for that to change.

It’s time to kill the ball dead after it’s taken. If it goes in, it’s a goal, if it’s a save then it’s a save. If the keeper tips it behind or parries it out of play then it is a throw or a corner and if it comes back up they can gather and play resumes from them. If it hits the crossbar or the post then it becomes a goal-kick, as simple as that.

On average 75% of penalties are scored, it’s a free shot from 12 yards out, why on earth are takers being given a second chance? They missed they need to accept it and move on.

So what are the potential issues with this? To my mind two spring immediately to mind.

Q: There will be no more goalmouth scrambles that ensue after a keeper makes a save.

A: Who cares they’re a rarity anyways.

Q: Will this lack of a follow-up opportunity lead to some teams taking more risks and giving away more penalties?

A: It’s possible but if it weights things more evenly it’s probably worth it.

The other argument against this is that penalties are designed to be exactly what it says on the tin, a penalty. The reason they’re awarded in the first place is because of a foul committed within the box.

That is fair, but, given the convoluted state of officiating when it comes to penalties currently, does it really seem that unfair that all of a sudden the taking team doesn’t get a second chance? You had a glorious opportunity to score and didn’t take it, why the second chance?

For years goalkeepers have been marginalised and undervalued by football. In fact, bizarrely, recent rule changes tried to make things even harder for them by awarding re-takes if they crept the merest inch off their line during a penalty. Whose brilliant idea was that? It’s already so heavily weighted in favour of takers that they decided to give them another chance if a keeper tried to forge the slimmest of advantages by moving a little early, a thing that happens at every single kick while we’re at it.

Look keepers are working overtime to try to get an edge on their opponents. Data on penalties has never been better and that might be why there are plenty being saved but perhaps some takers have gotten lazy? Perhaps in the back of their mind they know they’ll have the follow-up? If that chance is removed it might force them to work harder.

Doesn’t it make sense that when the little graphic pops up on our TV screen before a penalty showing where the taker has gone in their last 5-10 penalties that there would be an even spread? Sometimes these graphics come on our screen and it’s fairly obvious where the taker is likely to go so if we can work it out at home you can be sure the keeper will know. Takers may back themselves to go the same way each time with enough power and placement but they should become more unpredictable. This could end up forcing everyone to work harder in the ultimate battle of wills within football.