It might be to do with the ball too. Some players seem to have improved their deadballs and some, like our players, have not.
We did pretty well scoring 6 out of the first 7. Only let down by Pav (again) otherwise would have won this one. Impressed by the nerves of some of the younger players.
I venture to suggest that the balls were a little heavier in those days, SFTT. The equipment and the level of training professionals have mean that most should be able to whip in a cross surely?
Trust me, back in high school 5 years ago, half the class couldn't cross! Hardly anyone could seem to get elevation on it.
Does Beckham know anyone that can take a penalty, as he certainly had trouble. Great at other set-pieces, but his spot kicks were generally dire. The whole lottery mindset about penalties is just stupid. It's a skill and you can learn how to do it, just like anything else in football. You can't recreate the atmosphere of a shoot out in training, but you can't recreate the atmosphere of a game, either. People still bloody train. It's all down to practice and having the right mentality. Every player in the squad should be clamouring to take one.
I was just wondering how it was that with Beckham it always seemed to be a question of whether a corner was perfect or off by three inches, and with most everyone else it's a question of how embarrassing it's going to be. I get the point about trying to do too much with it, but it does seem strange so many corner kicks are completely wasted. Bale first made his mark as a free-kick specialist. So it clearly is something that's easy enough to lose your touch on.
Beckham used to stay behind after training and practice them every day, if I remember right. Funny how someone who's known for doing so many adverts and photo shoots could find the time, but other players couldn't, isn't it?
The Neville brothers had the same work ethic, apparently and it's hard to argue with their success, especially when compared to players with far more natural talent.
It still doesn't explain why we watch MOTD every week and see every other team score, or get the bastard thing on target! We haven't had an accurate free-kick specialist for a long time imo. VdV and Bale end up with more in the wall, over or wide, rarely is the keeper called upon, nothing special about that is there, VdV scored a decent one pre season thats about it recently isn't it?
I agree. I would still maintain that a free kick taken with the right amount of pace & accuracy, is a potent weapon against any defence, no matter how organised.
Apparently she's played 74 times for England. That's 212 caps between the three of them. I wonder if that's some sort of record?
Matt Le Tissier said once that he never understood people getting nervous about taking penalties - it's a shot at goal from twelve yards with only the goalie to beat! Any striker should love that (was his logic). Totally agree that penalties are something that can and should be practiced. It is total idiocy to say "well you can't really replicate the real thing so why bother?". In my opinion this is a symptom of the general philistine and Luddite approach that is so common in British football. (Talking of our stupid approach to football I still recall the first, and possibly only, piece of advice that was given to me when I played for my primary school team: "If in doubt, kick it out". I had no idea what it meant, the whole team were told it and, during our next game when I couldn't see a pass on and was about to be closed down somewhere in the opponents' half, I just wellied the ball off the pitch and was surprised to see the questioning look on everyone's faces).
