What a weekend for Goalkeepers! I cant remember the specifics, but I think there is a 86% advantage to the shooter when you go to the spot. The goalkeepers did their part to push that number closer to 50/50 this weekend. As a side note - I read an article some time ago that claimed moving the spot back to the top of the penalty area would put the save/score difference to 50%. I am not sure that they wanted to get rid of the spot for fouls in the area, but wanted to move the PK spot back for deciding matches... Or something like that anyway.
It was weird. I watched four matches from start to finish [I LOVE DVR] this weekend and all four of them featured a saved penalty. Now THERE'S a bit of statistical weirdness for you. A couple of notes. 1. Burnley's beast was seriously getting inside Dindane's head during the 30 seconds before the kick was taken. I'm surprised the guy managed to kick it straight at all. 2. If you noticed Saha have a word to Howard before Defoe's attempt, evidently Howard said that Saha told him which way Defoe likes to go. Howard also said that with all the video, penalty takers don't have the element of surprise like they used to. Don't change 'nuthin' about the penalties. If the GKs have adjusted to the takers, it's time for the takers to make their adjustments.
A rather significant elephant in the room to this thread and discussion about video is the fact that refs no longer call against gk'ers for coming off their line.
The last five PK's I have seen have all been saved or missed. Portsmouth, Defoe, Fabregas, Lampard and Danny Murphy against Sofia. I was quite pleased to see Timmy pull off the save in extra time against Defoe!
