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Right back penalty takers

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graeme2911

graeme2911

Player Valuation: £2.5m
I just emailed in to Football365 website and had it published in the mailbox this morning.

What's everyone's take on this? Why does there appear (to me at least) to be more, better left back penalty takers compared to right backs?


http://www.football365.com/mailbox/9210846/Mails

Right-back specialist penalty takers? Why don't you get them?

Loads of strikers and midfields are the dedicated penalty-takers for their clubs, with loads of examples being available to choose from.

Centre-backs, not loads but a few - Jagielka was a usual taker for Sheffield Utd and for us (Everton) in his earlier days, until his miss against Fiorentina :'-( . David Luiz is often a penalty taker if Lampard isn't on the pitch.

I can understand there being less centre-backs, as it is probably the position which requires the least technical ability. (If you can head, tackle, intercept, etc. well you make a decent centre-back. If you can play a bit of togger too, then you're normally the exception. Or not English.)

There have been tonnes of left backs that I can think of. I fondly remember left-back/centre-back David 'Rhino' Unsworth empty-headed smashing them down a goalies throat. And then there's our Leighton - the only player to have taken more than 10 in the Premier League era with 100% conversion rate. Other left -acks I can think of are Kolarov, Ian Harte, Julian Dicks. Pretty sure Riise took quite a few back in the day.

Even goalies have had a few penalty-kick specialist representatives, namely Chilavert and the German fella (Han-Jorge Butt, after a bit of googling).

But I struggle to recall any really good, consistent, dedicated penalty takers who are a right-back by trade. Some googling has lead me to Phil Neal, but that seems to be about it.

I can understand why a striker/midfielder would take precedence within a team as they are generally a bit more composed in front of goal and have better technique than a 'clogger at the back', but why makes the left-back/right-back penalty-taker ability so disproportionate?
Graeme (Having said all that, Phil Neville never missed one for us. Four in total I think.)
Click to expand...
 

Phil Neal.

Are left footed penalty takers better than right ones? I can't imagine there is too much difference.
 
Ramos is a CB these days. Was only right back in his early days and as an "emergency" these days.

Yeah, i thought of Phil Neal (after googling).

There shouldn't be any difference really between a LB and a RB taking them, but there is definitely a disproportion.
I think the majority of people of right sided/footed, so perhaps left footers are a bit more of a speciality, therefore a bit more coaching is aimed at them, or they have to work harder to improve technique playing against right footers.
 
Maybe because left footers are less common so left backs will be more likely to take free kicks/corners if teams want a different option (e.g. outswinger vs inswinger). This may lead to more practice at dead ball situations leading them to be better strikers of the ball and so moving into penalties more than their right back counterparts who are likely to have right footed strikers, midfielders, wide players ahead of them.

Just a theory but can't think why else.
 

graeme2911 said:
Ramos is a CB these days. Was only right back in his early days and as an "emergency" these days.

Yeah, i thought of Phil Neal (after googling).

There shouldn't be any difference really between a LB and a RB taking them, but there is definitely a disproportion.
I think the majority of people of right sided/footed, so perhaps left footers are a bit more of a speciality, therefore a bit more coaching is aimed at them, or they have to work harder to improve technique playing against right footers.
Click to expand...
Sorry just saw your reply and you've already said a similar thing to what I just posted.
 
I would say it is because left footers are less common in general. If you are right back you tend to know you are and just get on with developing that area of your games. Compared to left backs who are a specialist player to play them at their correct foot which would mean chances are these lads worked a lot harder in training and therefore became better takers.

all of that could be nonsense, could simply be the amount of right backs at clubs have already have a better taker in the team already.
 
right back free kick takers dont seem very prevalent either..

baines,pearce, irwin..off top of me head, all left footers
 
For penalties you can probably read any kind of set piece. Even the great right backs of the past few decades, the likes of Cafu, Zanetti, Thuram, Alves, Maicon, Lahm et al, have never been ones to take set pieces. The nearest equivalent to that type of full back on the other flank is maybe an Ashley Cole. Athletic, good going forward but not really a dead ball kind of player.
 

Bruce Wayne said:
For penalties you can probably read any kind of set piece. Even the great right backs of the past few decades, the likes of Cafu, Zanetti, Thuram, Alves, Maicon, Lahm et al, have never been ones to take set pieces. The nearest equivalent to that type of full back on the other flank is maybe an Ashley Cole. Athletic, good going forward but not really a dead ball kind of player.
Click to expand...

why tho?!

i think the lefts have a more creative brain!
 
No idea. Trying to rack my brain back a while and see where the trend maybe started. I mean there was a time when full backs were by and large defenders. If they could put a decent cross in then great, but that was about the extent of it.

The likes of Brehme and Maldini started to break the mold by offering a whole lot of skill to go with excellent defensive ability.
 

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