Liverpool FC Forum

[JBG]

IMO a good penalty taker should have:

1. Good striking technique.
2. Self confidence and ability to keep his nerve.

Owen has plenty of no. 2, but you can argue all you want Stu: of all the top strikers in the world at the moment, Owen does not hit the sweetest ball. That doesn't mean he's not a good player as he has many other strengths, but Owen rarely hits a ball cleanly. Owen has missed a few penalties even when he has been in absolutely flying form, as he sometimes scuffs it straight at the keeper.

[woof woof !]

Whatever the problem was Owen certainly didn't look happy taking penalties .
I tend to go along with Stu's theory that maybe Owen was lacking confidence and self belief.
Anybody can score from a penalty and anybodycan miss a penalty but Owen looked as though he was going for the record on Penalty Misses. I can't believe that he doesn't have the skill, ability , technique etc to hit a ball cleanly.I think that the fact that it's a dead ball situation complicates it for Owen. Instead of acting instinctively he now finds himself with time to think , gets all tense and fks it up.You only had to look at his face the last time he missed a peno for us , you could see he wasn't really up for it. Most professional players will till you penalty taking is the most nerve wracking experience in football, why should it be any different for Mikey ?
Bring back Phil Neal     

[stmichael]

Bring back Phil Neal     

yeah i'd concur with that.

he'd make a mockery of the modern day, overpaid, overpampered players who complain about being "tired" on 40 grand a week.

phil neal didn't miss a game for about eight years.

put's the attitude of some modern day footballers into perspective.

[Sean]

Good point woof woof.  Strikers aren't often the best penalty takers.  Phil Neal was one of the best spot kickers in our history.  Right full Ray Stewart was deadly from the spot with West Ham in the 80's and before Cantona came along another full back Denis Irwin used to take them with a lot of success for United.

[stmichael]

i can't remeber jan molby ever missing one either.

[Sean]

Molby scored three penalties in one match during the 1986 double season.  I think it was against Coventry.

[adayinthelife]

Penalty taking is all about confidence as we all know so therefore a player low on confidence should not take a peno.

IMO the best peno takers are usually dead ball experts i.e Le Tissier the best peno taker I have ever seen.

Strikers Shearer and Henry apart dont normally take many free kicks or corners and rely on instinct when it somes to scoring.

Look at horseface who missed 3 in a row last season and even worse that poor argie palermo who managed to miss 3 penos in 1 game.

[mistyred]

Van Horselroy, What a stud;Brad pit eat yer heart out mate:laugh: .

[Scottbot]

There is still the very real possibility that Mikey will take our pens again next season unless Murphy convinces Rafa he is worth a starting birth. Anyone know if Cisse took the Pens for Auxerre? I did try and open the link with all his goals from last season but couldn't view them.

[supersub]

Infact, imo, with the right service and in the right team on top of his game and injury free he is capable of getting around 40-45 goals a season.

and if he stays extra special injury free and improves his shooting from outside the box and finds a left foot,he may even beat Dixie Deans record and wallop in 60 goals...well game on.

[Santa]

I don't think 40 goals is realistic, not even for class like Owen. I bet he will hit closer to 30 wth the right support.

Obviously Owen is not a penalty taker, not a deadball specialist and definately not when he is short of confidence.
Best penalty taker I've seen at this club is Phil Neal (who never seems to missed), followed closely by Aldridge (spoilt by the miss at Wembley) and Molby. Owen definately need coaching in the art of penalty taking before he is allowed to take one more.

[Voices from Yates]

I think Owen Can score Penalties, but he's lost the stuff, somewhere .The thing about confidence, is the lack of it will undermine his whole game .from the easy knock in to the totally acrobatic. He needs a dose of Confidence. How do you give it to him again ? ? ?

Just remember his first World Cup goal and the penalty later...he definitely had no shortage of  testículos, but they’ve shrunk a bit lately.

[cheesecrackernuts]

Owen is not a penalty taker, get real. I said in another thread somewhere that Brian Clough in 442 magazines actually praised Owen for his attitude taking a penalty against Portugal said he insisted he take one and showed he had the minerals. If you look at Owen's record at the highest level his goal scoring record is not that great. He never was the most feared striker in football and never will be either. Saying that he has never had the service and has been forced to feed off scraps the last 2 seasons but this season that should all change and he is well capable of scoring 25+ goals in the league IF he stays injury free.

Michael Owen has an average of more than one goal in every two games played in at least five of the past six seasons. He is often hampered by injury and takes a while to get back to his best on his return. Owen does not hit the sweetest ball. That doesn't mean he's not a good player as he has many other strengths, but Owen rarely hits a ball cleanly. Owen has missed a few penalties even when he has been in absolutely flying form, as he sometimes scuffs it straight at the keeper. But whatever the problem was Owen certainly didn't look happy taking penalties. I can't believe that he doesn't have the skill, ability, technique etc to hit a ball cleanly. I think that the fact that it's a dead ball situation complicates it for Owen.  Obviously Owen is not a penalty taker, not a dead ball specialist and definitely not when he is short of confidence.

Good post cheesecrackernuts!
you deserve being an elite member!

[supersub]

[charwell]

Statistically the Great Dane was our best ever penalty taker. I wouldn't argue with it either, that man was deadly from 12 yards.