Soccer Fan Blog

I’m amazed that Arsene Wenger doesn’t believe practising penalties just before a finely-poised European tie (like tonight’s game against Porto) can be beneficial.

At least Wenger explained his position. He believes if a player misses in training, he’s likely to suffer a loss of confidence prior to a shoot-out.

I have a simple solution to this. Make the players take penalties until they score. Just because they miss in training, it doesn’t follow they will when it really counts. In fact, missing in
training could make the players focus harder on making sure they don’t in a shoot-out. After all, we learn by our mistakes. Even when Bendtner was missing all those chances against Burnley, I
would have bet on him scoring a penalty. Nic might lack in some departments, but confidence is not one of them. 

Then again, if Theo was missing chances, I’m not so sure I’d want him taking a penalty. If he’d just scored a goal (like against Burnley), he’d be one of my first choices.

Most of our players (with the exception of the goalkeepers) have enough talent, so all they should need to convert a penalty is concentration. Surely they all have the technique. Yet, it is
still necessary to practise. It makes you wonder if Wenger has heard the phrase: ‘Prepare well or prepare to fail’.

One thing I would hate would be to see us go out on penalties. How can we ever forget England’s fate in numerous competitions and how Hoddle said there was no point in practising spot kicks? I
really didn’t think Wenger would agree with his protege on that.