Originally posted by reader1107But only minimal contact wouldn't hurt. They should drench the goalkeeper in gasoline before the flaming ball is kicked at him, then the winner can be who saves the most penalties.
I thought that since the penalty kicks are so crucial in the end, they should up the ante and torch the balls. Then you have the added questions of *How badly do you want to kick it?* and *How badly do you want to catch it?* Although in the last game it was still edge-of-the-seat without flames.
Originally posted by CoconutIt takes a lot of skill on the part of the keeper. Choosing the location of your dive to maximize your chances, and based upon body language of the striker takes years of practice to perfect. Timing your dive, and in doing so choosing the balance between guessing a reflex, is key. You have to get in the strikers head. Given, these are very different skills than other parts of goalkeeping require, but it is not just luck.
Does anyone else think it's wrong that the goalie has to just pick a side and dive that direction? Can't things be changed to give him a chance to use skill? Can one just kick that ball straight and expect the goalkeeper to dive out of the way?
Yeah, they can and do just kick it straight. But if the goalkeeper holds his dive long enough, it's an easy save.
Originally posted by CoconutActually, that's the way it looked to me too, which was surprising, especially when they guessed wrong. Following up on Ark, why not just wait a second after the kick to see which way it's going?
They all seem to think that there is no time to react to a kick, and just choose one way or the other to throw their bodies.
PKs were my biggest problem watching the WC for me.
It just seemed to me that even when the goalie picked the right way it was well nigh impossible for him to catch a solid kick to either of the corners.
The only goalie I even saw stop a single PK was Ricardo? from Portugal against England.
but judging from the othjer rounds of PKs I saw, those English players seemed to be the only players who kick it directly AT the goalie. Swear 2 or 3 of those kicks went straight into his hands, seems like he did make one impressive save, but that was the only one I saw.
would moving back the PK placement a few feet make it more equitable? I dont watch the sport enough to know really.
I can see in game PKs staying the same, since fouling someone in the box could take away a rare legitimate goal opportunity, hence the advantage should go to the Offense.
But determining the outcome of Ties after 2 OTs seems like the goalie should have a better chance to actually make a save. I know both teams have equal opportunity to make their PKs, but I just feel the goalie may as well not even be there some of the time for all the good he does.
Like the final, it wasnt as if the goalie made a play on that 3rd french PK, the guy just missed it by a quarter inch.
But, it is "your" (as in the rest of the world's) Sport, and I only watch it once every 4 years. Just seemed like a pity to go out like that after playing so many great matches and essentially proving you are equal to your opponent after 120 minutes of hard fought Footie.
Originally posted by TuranthorMost football fans find penalty kicks a deeply unsatisfactory way to decide a game. Unfortunately, the modern world demands an instant result. Otherwise we would have replays.
PKs were my biggest problem watching the WC for me.
It just seemed to me that even when the goalie picked the right way it was well nigh impossible for him to catch a solid kick to either of the corners.
The only goalie I even saw stop a single PK was Ricardo? from Portugal against England.
but judging from the othjer rounds of PKs I saw, those ...[text shortened]... d essentially proving you are equal to your opponent after 120 minutes of hard fought Footie.
Originally posted by reader1107As well struck penalty kick, at that level, will be goiong 60-70 miles per hour. The penalty spot is 12 yards away. That means it takes about 1/3 of a second to travel that distance.
Actually, that's the way it looked to me too, which was surprising, especially when they guessed wrong. Following up on Ark, why not just wait a second after the kick to see which way it's going?
The goalkeeper that purely react - but this will only allow him to save shots relatively down the middle - perhaps covering, at best, the lower half, and middle third of the goal. This would result in very few saves unless he "guessed right" that the kicker intended to hit it down the middle.
Purely guessing ahead of time gives you slightly less than 50% chance of guessing the right direction (not 50% because of the 5-10% down the middle). If you guess the right direction you have a fair chance of saving a not-ideally-placed kick.
Guessing at the last second based on the body language/position of the kicker increases your chances of going in the right direction. But you will still be beaten by a perfectly placed shot.
Originally posted by TuranthorA hate to seem the game decided on penalties as well. But if it has to be I like your idea of more distant kicks (since, as you say, it's fair for both sides).
PKs were my biggest problem watching the WC for me.
It just seemed to me that even when the goalie picked the right way it was well nigh impossible for him to catch a solid kick to either of the corners.
The only goalie I even saw stop a single PK was Ricardo? from Portugal against England.
but judging from the othjer rounds of PKs I saw, those ...[text shortened]... d essentially proving you are equal to your opponent after 120 minutes of hard fought Footie.
I would much rather seem them play until either someone scores, or a whole team drops from exhaustion.
A youth league that my son played in many years ago had an interesting idea (probably not original but I hadn't seen it before). Every 5 minutes of overtime each side has to remove a player. So, if nobody scores you'd eventually be playing 1-on-1 full field. A goal would soon follow.
Originally posted by dottewell"If Coach Raymond Domenech of France is looking for a penalty taker, he might want to pass on his captain, Zinédine Zidane. He ranked 21st out of the 22 kickers who took at least 30 penalties, with a 75 percent success rate."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/sports/soccer/18score.html?ex=1308283200&en=87391ad6a4b95a75&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
isnt this snippet from that article particularly comical/ironic considering the recent end to the WC?
funny how that works.