I don't know why i always worry when midfielders take penalties.
I even trust defenders and goalkeepers ahead of them.
Obviously i prefer the number 9 to whack it into the corner as hard as Shearer did!

Henry has the best penalty run up of all time, pure swag. Who were his misses against? I think he missed one against Newcastle.

Seriously thought Balotelli would never miss then he went and missed two in a row this season. Zlatan is immense at penalties.

James Beattie's run up was so good. Walcott copied it in the shootout vs Roma and his effort was so shit.

Thanks for posting. Proves that sometimes even the best players do miss and goalkeepers sometimes save them. Even Henry missed the odd one, it's not realistic to expect a player to score 100%, but they probably should be close to 90%. Surprised Shearer's conversion rate was that low but I guess it was across many years and a lot more penalties than anyone else.

Sheringham's record was terrible for someone who took them fairly regularly and Rooney's is surprisingly poor too. Did Michael Owen not take many? Guess he mostly played with Fowler. Hasselbaink used to take them regularly didn't he?

I seem to remember Henry missing one and then later on scoring the winner in the game, against Bolton perhaps?

I remember Henry missing two in a row (not in the same game obviously) once, but it might not have been in the league. Really surprised by his conversion rate. I didn't think it was that good.

Was it Giuseppe Signori who never missed a single penalty in his career? His style was so weird. He just stood next to the ball and swung his leg. No run-up. His career serves to prove that you don't need to put your boot through the ball to be successful from the spot.

Klaus wrote:

Was it Giuseppe Signori who never missed a single penalty in his career? His style was so weird. He just stood next to the ball and swung his leg. No run-up. His career serves to prove that you don't need to put your boot through the ball to be successful from the spot.

I remember him well as i used to watch Italian football regularly when it was televised here 20 years ago. With no run up, he had to place it but he still did manage to whack it quite hard.

Klaus wrote:

I remember Henry missing two in a row (not in the same game obviously) once, but it might not have been in the league. Really surprised by his conversion rate. I didn't think it was that good.

Yeah, always thought he had some tame misses. Van Nistelrooj stat is poorer than I thought too

I love those confident players who just blast it into the top corner of the goal. Think Craig Gardner and Chris Brunt is fantastic at those. Ki as well.

Remember that story about the 2008 Champions League final? Avram Grant's scientist friend studied penalties and told him to tell his players to hit the ball to the side of their dominant foot (so right footed players shoots right etc.). Every player followed it during the shootout. Terry's shot was in if he was on target. Van der sar picked up on the pattern however and spooked Anelka by pointing to the dominant side. Anelka broke the rule and his shot was saved. Another tidbit I remember was that going for the bottom corner yields a 70% success rate, top corners 90%, and the worst was around the middle, at 50%.

I wonder if I've ever seen a keeper save a penalty heading for the top corner. Kahn maybe? I have a memory of him saving a high one in the Champions League final 2001. Or maybe it just hit the bar and he grabbed it on the rebound.

I love the way Messi just brushes the ball in

Not Premiership but I recall Henry missed one against Inter when we got whacked 3-0 at Highbury in 03... all worth it (and totally made up for by the man himself) for the reverse fixture, mind.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

I love the way Messi just brushes the ball in

He had some very important misses already. Chelsea and Sevilla at home IIRC. Not the most reliable.

Klaus wrote:

I wonder if I've ever seen a keeper save a penalty heading for the top corner. Kahn maybe? I have a memory of him saving a high one in the Champions League final 2001. Or maybe it just hit the bar and he grabbed it on the rebound.

Never seen it to be honest. Mid-height at most, Lehmann vs Scholes? Love keepers who are expert in saving penalties. Think Reina is still the best in the business at that.

Kurtz wrote:

Remember that story about the 2008 Champions League final? Avram Grant's scientist friend studied penalties and told him to tell his players to hit the ball to the side of their dominant foot (so right footed players shoots right etc.). Every player followed it during the shootout. Terry's shot was in if he was on target. Van der sar picked up on the pattern however and spooked Anelka by pointing to the dominant side. Anelka broke the rule and his shot was saved. Another tidbit I remember was that going for the bottom corner yields a 70% success rate, top corners 90%, and the worst was around the middle, at 50%.

Never get why middle is not successful, most keepers dives before the kick is taken. Arteta love shooting in the middle. As long as it is not a panenka and you shoot it straight hard and high, it is pretty unsavable.

Clrnc wrote:

Never get why middle is not successful, most keepers dives before the kick is taken. Arteta love shooting in the middle. As long as it is not a panenka and you shoot it straight hard and high, it is pretty unsavable.

I think it's the fact that the keeper can more easily reach the middle third of the goal with his body lengthwise. Sort of like what happened with Ozil. But I see your point. Each penalty is its own event. I would just blast it in the top corner every time. High risk high reward.

Sorted the table out for you, feel free to copy and paste into opening post

[php]
Player Pens Goals % conversion

Alan Shearer 67 56 83.58
Frank Lampard 49 43 87.76
Matthew le Tissier 26 25 96.15
Steven Gerrard 30 23 76.67
Thierry Henry 25 23 92
David Unsworth 26 22 84.62
Teddy Sheringham 31 21 67.74
Gareth Barry 23 18 78.26
Ruud van Nistelrooy 22 18 81.82
Yakubu 22 18 81.82
Gary McAllister 21 18 85.71
Beardsley, Peter 20 18 90
Danny Murphy 19 18 94.74
Robbie Fowler 23 17 73.91
Robbie Keane 20 17 85
Darren Bent 20 17 85
Mikel Arteta 19 17 89.47
Ian Wright 22 16 72.73
James Beattie 17 16 94.12
Wayne Rooney 22 15 68.18[/php]

Best penalty taker I can remember is Tomas Brolin. He had a disaster of a career in England so I understand he is not likely to be highly thought of here, but he really was a top class player prior to his injury. Can't remember him missing a penalty. In fact, I can't remember him even looking likely to miss one.