Goalkeeper's fear of the penalty? Not for me
David James
What a difference four days makes. I give away a penalty in the England game, which was really frustrating, then I save one for Pompey in yesterday's win over Wigan. I've got penalties on the brain with the FA cup semi-final against West Brom looming. Last time I was in a semi-final, with Aston Villa, it went to a 4-1 shootout win against Bolton.
Do goalkeepers get nervous about the dreaded spot-kick? I don't, not any more. Last Wednesday in Paris I wasn't nervous, I was just peed off that I'd given a bloody penalty away against France again. I've never saved a penalty for England, which really bothers me. Although I think I put one player off at Euro 2004, if you're counting.
Penalties are paradoxical things. If you give away a penalty and don't save it, it's your own terrible mistake, but at least it's you that everyone is blaming rather than someone else. If a defender concedes one and you don't save it, you feel even worse. You picture their face as the guy lines up to take it, full of expectation. And then disappointment. I would rather it was all in my hands. I know that sounds mad, but at least then it's my responsibility and no one else's.
Not that you want to be there at all. Ideally, you just want everyone in front of you feeling focused. Concede a penalty and it disrupts the way people play, all of a sudden the pressure is on and they're feeling down. You can't save from a brilliant penalty taker and Eric Cantona was the best. His technique was so good it was a joke. You would stand on the goalline waiting and waiting - his run-up was so slow. He didn't need to sprint and blast the ball: he had control. After he retired I found out his secret - he was watching the keeper. As soon as the keeper's knee went, Cantona took the ball the other way and left him stranded. For any keeper, a bent knee is the point of no return.
There is a complex amount of psychology every time a penalty taker faces a goalkeeper. They try to read each other's body language, and the best attempt to psych each other out with false cues. As a keeper you're never expected to make the save, but that doesn't stop you wanting to.
How do goalkeepers save penalties? David Seaman said he had a special technique, but never let the cat out of the bag. The very best was Paul Cooper for Ipswich Town. He saved eight penalties out of 10 one season back in 1979-80. Keepers were not allowed to move their feet in those days, so he used to stand there swinging his arms and leaning to one side to put people off. I remember mimicking him in the playground. It was a bizarre technique, but it worked.
Sometimes it's just instinctive. There have been a couple times this season - including yesterday - when I knew which way the ball was going as soon as the guy put it on the spot. Then the only thing you have to do is stand up long enough to save it. When the ref pointed to the spot yesterday I thought 'Oh no, it's Wednesday again', but then as soon as Ryan Taylor put the ball down I thought: 'I know which way he's going to put this.' I was right.
Sometimes it's the gamesmanship that gets you. It's worse against former team-mates or players you know from the national team. When we played Liverpool in the Asia Trophy last summer Stevie G stepped up. I looked at him, thinking: 'I know where you're going to put this.' Then I asked myself: 'But is he thinking the same thing? What if he puts it the other way?' Your head is full of questions. (Stevie scored, but we won the shootout 4-2).
People are forever asking why England don't practise penalties more, and under Mr Capello we have done. But it's not always as simple as people think. Practising penalties with your team-mates can complicate matters. If a penalty taker continually practises with the same keeper, the keeper starts reading the penalties and saving them. Then you've got your penalty taker developing a complex because he is not scoring, and your keeper completely thrown when someone new takes a shot at him.
A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Just like with Zinedine Zidane's free-kick and penalty at Euro 2004 when we had done no preparation because he hadn't taken one for France for two years. Then he stepped up and I was all over the place.
It's not difficult to develop a mental block about penalties. I had a good spell at saving them with Liverpool and then all of sudden it dried up. I remember a reporter said to me: 'Dave, you've got a great penalty save record.' I said 'Thanks very much' and then didn't save another one for two years. I started believing in mystical powers, being jinxed and all that: it was a long time before I spoke to that reporter again.
You can dream up a million theories on how to score them or save them, and I have a few secrets of my own. But in the end a lot of it does just boil down to guesswork. Yours and theirs. For any budding penalty takers out there, your best bet is just to smash it as hard as you can. At least that way you won't tie yourself up in knots about it.
