ENGLAND’S perfect penalty shootout has been six years in the making.
The five takers and keeper Jordan Pickford are the heroes, but there has been an immense amount of work behind their success.
9England produced the perfect penalty shoot-out against SwitzerlandCredit: AP
9Cole Palmer got the Three Lions off to the perfect start in the shoot-outCredit: Getty
From bottles to breathing and buddies, England covered everything.
Gareth Southgate’s eye for detail is famed and touches every aspect of tournament football with the Three Lions.
But he and his team went above and beyond to overcome the greatest of English hurdles.
In 2018, a five-man penalty project team was established, including Chris Markham – the then game insights lead for The FA.
Markham reached out to Geir Jordet – a Norwegian sports psychologist who is a leading expert on spot kicks, dubbed ‘The Penalty Professor’.
Markham and his team had read Jordet’s comprehensive book, Pressure: Lessons from the psychology of the penalty shootout, and were keen to pick his brains.
Jordet’s influence on England’s development from there has been at arm’s length – he has not talked with Southgate – but the signs that they have learned from him were all over Saturday’s nights shootout.
He told SunSport: “I was very impressed that they started this project back in 2018.
9Jude Bellingham calmly slotted home England’s second spot kickCredit: Alamy
9Bukayo Saka brilliantly dispatched his penalty
“That they took those steps to gain control over a part of the game that, not just the English but the English maybe more than others, have not really embraced before.
“What they did back then, I’m incredibly impressed. Because that is still to this day the most rigorous penalty preparation that I have ever seen anyone do.”
England’s penalty heartbreak is incredibly well documented and scarred onto the mind of every fan, player and coach.
Defeating that history requires control.
Slowing things down controlled momentum
There is little players can do about nerves and pressure – they will always be there in a shootout, but controlling that small moment is key.
The way England did that was time.
Whether it be Pickford dragging out the time Manuel Akanji, who saw the first Swiss penalty saved, stood over the ball or the takers making Yann Sommer wait, going through their own individual routine and run-up to feel as comfortable as possible.
Jordet said: “A penalty shootout is about control.
“It’s about controlling the situation which essentially means controlling the other person and it’s about controlling yourself.”
The ideal way to obtain control, according to Jordet’s research, is taking your time before striking the ball.
He added: “It often is an indication of a team or a player doing something deliberate to control themselves at the moment.”
9Ivan Toney maintained his superb penalty record all while not looking at the ballCredit: Rex
9Trent Alexander-Arnold lashed in the winning spot kick to send England throughCredit: Getty
On average, the England players took 5.2 seconds from the whistle to taking their shot. Switzerland took just 1.3 seconds.
When it came to stopping the crucial kick from Akanji, Pickford strolled to the corner, apologised for his delay and stretched out every second.
Jordet added: “What Pickford showed particularly leading up to the Akanji penalty was a very smart move.
“This was all part of his plan.
“He had him wait for 14 seconds. This is one of the most consistent findings in my data on goalkeeper involvement.
“If goalkeepers are able to stall or delay so that penalty takers have to stand in that position and wait eight or more seconds then these players score on just 44 per cent of their kicks.”
Jude Bellingham, one of the five successful scorers, referenced the plan and process when speaking afterwards as being key to the success.
Jordet said: “Overall we saw penalty takers who had a very structured pre-shot routine.
9Jordan Pickford yet again produced a save in a crucial penalty shoot-out for EnglandCredit: Getty
9He made Akanji wait before saving the Manchester City man’s spot kick
“This is never a guarantee. You can miss and have a perfect set-up and a routine.
“But we know from decades of research in sports psychology that having a well-rehearsed routine where you know exactly what to do leading up to your shot.”
‘Buddy system’ formed after past heartbreaks
England have not only learned from Jordet but their own mistakes.
Southgate sent on his selected takers earlier in extra time to get a feel for the game before the big moment – as opposed to the last minute changes in 2021, when Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford went on at the last second and England lost to Italy.
After each of Bukayo Saka, Sancho and Rashford missed they walked back alone – another thing England addressed.
A buddy system was introduced. Each of those standing on the halfway line who were not taking a spot kick was paired with a taker, told to march out and greet them if needed.
Jordet said: “I love that. Because that means, we make mistakes but they learn from it, recover from it, and come back and do better.
“That’s a very nice innovation that they came up with, which was brilliant.”
The penalty expert also praised Cole Palmer for stepping up and filling the boots of Harry Kane, making it “maybe the highest pressure penalty of them all”.
He added: “Bellingham is just beautiful to watch. It’s very deliberate the way he walks back and takes a step to the side.
“Saka, you can tell that he’s nervous in his face, of course, who wouldn’t be?
“But still he falls back on the routine. Despite the anxiety which will be going through him, he’s able to execute what he plans to do.”And Toney, what a beautiful penalty.”
Ivan Toney, who practices penalties from 13 yards in training, is the one he really wants to talk about.
That technique, of staring down the keeper and not looking at the ball, is only used by the very best.
Jordet explained: “Does not looking add pressure? Yeah, but that’s one of the reasons why this style is so beautiful.
“I mean, can people imagine the pressure of taking a No4 penalty kick for England in the Euros quarter-final and you kick the ball without watching it?
“It’s just such an insane concept to not look at the ball.
“I have so much admiration for players who do this technique.
“Toney is one in a growing group of players who resort to this technique because they just discovered that sacrificing some, let’s call it short-term discomfort in the sense that they don’t look at the ball, will still give them that ultimate outcome.
“It’s a technique that requires very high proficiency to execute.
“That’s part of the beauty, of course, that this is trained over years and then it looks simple at the end.”
