quote:
Originally posted by Belligerent:
I didn't exactly mean that PK's are ALL chance, but I have seen too many of them where some of the best players (who practice them all the time) will miss one by a mile, while the player who, on a normal day couldn't put the ball in the back of the net WITHOUT a goalkeeper, makes HIS PK.

If PK's were pure skill, they should result in an automatic goal. If the ball is hit with the proper weight and placement, there is no possible way for a goalkeeper to make the save. That being said, there have been hundreds of awesome saves made by great keepers, that average goalkeepers would not make, but when hit properly, physics wins...goalkeepers cannot get all the way to the post before a hard-hit ball placed on the ground right beside it does.

That is wonderful that great goalkeepers love shootouts, but games are not played for the enjoyment of goalkeepers.

As mentioned above, PK's do not necessarily show how a team has played during a match....futbol IS a team sport, after all.

This might be a good time to get in line with the rest of the world.
In many ways, I agree with you. Yet, in a few, I do not. While it's true that a ball hit with "the proper weight and placement" is nearly unstoppable for a keeper, it is that one moment of uncertainty that makes PK's such an intense situation for everyone on a team.

Personally, I am all for PK Shootouts over ending a game in a tie. And yes, games aren't played for the enjoyment of keepers, but they are played for the enjoyment of teams and that one second when your team realizes that they just won a game by PK's... yeah, that's enjoyment alright.

As mentioned above, PK's do not necessarily show how a team has played during a match....futbol IS a team sport, after all.

True; PK's don't show how a team has played during the regulation time but once you get down to PK's... the PK's become a part of the match. Sure, physically a Penalty Kick is between a shooter and a keeper, but mentally, it is a team 'ordeal.' When a keeper knows they are about to go down to PK's, they know that the game is on the line... their line. I wrote a paper for a class on how important the confidence my teammates had in me was during a PK Shootout earlier in the season (and yes, we won that game in PK's) so as far as mentality goes... I think an entire team is involved in a PK Shootout.