If I was taking a penalty in the Champions League final, I’d close my eyes, hit it the ball as hard as I could straight down the middle and hope for the best.
I could live a thousand lifetimes and would never be good enough to hit a penalty in a Champions League final. Even if I was good enough, I wouldn’t have the bottle to do anything but put my laces through it.
I’d like to think though that, if it came to it, I’d hold my hands up, admit to my team mates that I’m just going to leave it to chance, and advise them that it’d probably be wiser if they found a better option.
Antoine Griezmann is a magical footballer. He’s a big-game player and he’s Atletico Madrid’s best option from the spot for such a huge moment.
But what use is his talent and nerve if he’s not going to use it? What use is his skill if all he’s going to do is abandon what has gotten him to where he is and blast the ball into a lottery like any Joe soap could do? The way he did it after the break in the European final on Saturday night.
Antoine Griezmann with the penalty
Antoine Griezmann with the misshttps://t.co/r59L4aGJsJ— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 28, 2016
Penalty takers are selected for a reason. Men like Antoine Griezmann are chosen for that big occasion because they’re the ones who can deal with it. They’re the ones who can keep their cool and execute. He’s proven he can do it. If a manager wanted someone to blast the ball down the middle, he wouldn’t need to pick a penalty-taker. He wouldn’t need a Griezmann to step up. Anyone could do it.
The best shouldn’t have to resort hitting and hoping and definitely not from there. They don’t have resort to anything but Atletico paid for that mentality on Saturday night. Griezmann didn’t hold his nerve in normal time, he drilled the ball and hoped to get lucky and he didn’t.
Yes, sometimes the ‘keeper makes it easy for you, he goes too early, you can adjust at the last minute. Sometimes the penalty-taker gives him the eye, puts a cheeky, disguised effort down the middle, and sometimes it’s even nice when it happens – especially when it’s Andrea Pirlo doing it.
But, let’s get real. A penalty is a 12-yard free shot with just one man in your way. Just put it away, for God’s sake. Just find the corner. Just beat the ‘keeper but, please oh please, don’t just resort to hitting the thing as hard as you can and hoping that the goalie jumps out of the way.
These players – these quality players – can find the pockets that ‘keepers can’t reach. They can do it from 12 yards out consistently. Harry Kane does it most of the time, Ronaldo does it most of the time, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Frank Lampard did it most of the time. Antoine Griezmann bloody did it in the penalty shootout later in the night against Real Madrid but he could’ve given them an equaliser straight after the break instead and changed the course of the final.
The best penalty takers hold their nerve and they play basic percentages: “If I hit the ball there, he can’t get it. If I blast the ball down the middle, f**k knows what will happen.”
That’s the mathematics of it all, it’s that simple. If you put the ball in the corner, he can’t get it. If you hit it down the middle, he can get it.
Sure, a lot of times, players get away with this unwritten sin but it’s exactly that, they’ve gotten away with it. They’ve gotten lucky.
You shouldn’t need luck from 12 yards out. You shouldn’t want it. It’s not up to chance from there, it’s up to you.
So, the next time you’re planning on taking a penalty and just putting your laces through it and hoping for the best, just don’t do it. Just hold your hands up and say, “Listen, I am bloody bricking it here and I am just going to blast it and see what happens. Does anyone else want it instead?”
You’re going to miss penalties but at least miss them playing percentages. Griezmann didn’t play the percentages – not in normal time anyway. He tossed it up to the gods of fate and it backfired on him.
He could’ve just put the ball away. He’s good enough to do that, he did it in the shootout.
Unfortunately for him, it was too late then.
