Penalty saves

[Norwood's 6 iron]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

 

[blade67]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

Good point. I've never heard it talked about, but there has to be truth in what you say.

If you got really scientific, and had a couple of decent penalty takers it might even affect who you picked to take them in each game.

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

I think that someone wrote before the game that Gunn lets in a lot more shots from distance, down to his left. I would guess, with regards to penalties, that at this level the keepers would be doing their research on the penalty takers and diving that way, rather than a preferred way.
The lower down the levels it is certainly worth watching the keeper warming up to see if they have a preferred side

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

I think that someone wrote before the game that Gunn lets in a lot more shots from distance, down to his left. I would guess, with regards to penalties, that at this level the keepers would be doing their research on the penalty takers and diving that way, rather than a preferred way.
The lower down the levels it is certainly worth watching the keeper warming up to see if they have a preferred side

The first goal seems to confirm his weakness to the left - he got a hand to the ball, but only diverted the ball onto the post. But Burrows then placed his penalty to Gunn’s right. Double bluff, or just the side he feels comfortable to aim at?

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

The first goal seems to confirm his weakness to the left - he got a hand to the ball, but only diverted the ball onto the post. But Burrows then placed his penalty to Gunn’s right. Double bluff, or just the side he feels comfortable to aim at?

I think it is strange that a keeper at such a high level has such a noticeable difference or weakness from one side to the other.
I think the penalty is different or maybe Burrows wasn’t aware of Gunn’s weakness and went to the side where he felt confident

 

[Ned the Donkey]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

But then everyone has the same brainwave and they all start aiming for his weak side and he either gets better so he doesn't have an obvious weak side or he gets replaced by someone who doesn't have a weak side so if a side has a keeper with a weak side it won't be for long otherwise the side with a keeper with a weak side would be a weak side.

 

[bakeblade]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

Trafford said afterwards that they'd studied Isidor's pens and he usually goes to the keepers right. So I think it's a matter of research rather than have a preferred side to dive.

 

[Norwood's 6 iron]

Could it be as simple as knowing if a keeper is right or left footed. Does a keeper get a better sideways dive using his favoured foot to push off with. I don't know the answer but in some penalty shoot outs I've seen, a keeper has dived the same way everytime.
The game seems to be full of metrics these days, how far, how fast, number of tackles etc etc so I was just interested to know if anything similar was done for keepers.
Here's another question on keepers, do our players press a keeper quicker if they know a back pass has gone to his weaker foot?

 

[jt64]

I've always thought that nearly every keeper has a strong/favourite side to dive. Sometimes during the warm ups you can see that he saves fewer shots on one side compared to the other.
Is the same data available on keepers as it is for the penalty takers. Certainly anyone taking a penalty against Burnley must be tempted to go to the keepers left rather than his right.

That is likely down to Burnley doing the very basic thing of "most players right footed - most players aim to dominant side - tell keeper to dive accordingly"

 

[1889]

I’ve always believed that as most goalkeepers, or most of the population, are right handed, it feels much more natural for them to dive to their right.

 

[Younger Dryas Blade]

Ask Keith Waugh, he was shit hot at saving pens.

 

[Blade in Cordoba]

Ask Keith Waugh, he was shit hot at saving pens.

Except during the Blades Family Fun Day down at the Lane in 1984. As a spotty youth I paid ten bob for the privilege of slotting one past him in the five-a-side goals. I hit it to his right and it just snuck in. My OTT goal celebration went down like a sack of shit.

 

[Blade for Sale]

Reminds me of when we took Arsenal to pens. Paddy Kenny was injured to the extent that he could literally only fall over in one direction. I've never seen an easier shoot out win than Arsenal's. It was farcical. I was hoping it was all a big bluff and he'd fling himself the other way for the last one but no, it turned out we'd genuinely left a cripple in net for a shoot out.