I think its more drama and better where the player is expected to score rather than making it tougher.
I think if you moved the kicks back 4 yards the entertainment value would go way, way down imo.
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then maybe it should be open net from midfield
Part of what is good about pen shootouts is that they are cruel. Itās what creates the drama. I donāt want them to be made into more of a contest of skill. I want Spain to get owned by an obviously worse team. If they donāt want that to happen, maybe they shouldnāt spend 120 minutes playing a garbage false 9 which creates 0 chances.
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not that it means anything but
USA beat Morocco 3 to 0 in june
The best part is itās more psychological than ability based.
You can sometimes see it in their eyes that they arenāt up for it
I will always believe that Zidane head-butted specifically to get out of penalties.
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I havenāt been keeping track, but whatās the penalty conversion rate from the spot at this WC. Just based on memory, it seems pretty close to 50%. Maybe Iām way off. I just canāt remember seeing a top level international tournament with this many horrible penalties taken.
Of course. A blistering start but still almost 2/3 of the season left. 37 from 14 means if points are accrued at the same rate as our last seasons average weād finish with 80 points.
On paper that looks logical but i think itās unlikely. I worry about the psychological effect on such a young side of losing an irreplaceable part of the team and a very popular figure and team player. I also worry that if Januaryās games against Newcastle, Tottenham and Utd go badly it will shatter the confidence theyāve built up.
Apparently theyāre over in the US now with Stan presumably asking for January trqnsfer(s), like last yeqr. Eddies fine as a second striker but thereās nothing after that. Iād just tell Eddie his time will come and go and get Mitrovic. Iām not a huge fan but heās s proven PL goal scorer and could do a good job until Jesus returns, at which point he could make a useful sub for in game 442 switches when weāre chasing goals, but heās not a very Arteta player (neither was Vlahovic though). The dressing room with Xhaka would be interesting.
The team is in a training camp in Dubai but Mikel was in LA.
I donāt think Mitrovic would be a good fit. We need someone who can press/pass. Mitrovic is great, but they can barely run.
Iād just try for Trossard, Mudryk, Asensio, Ferran, Depay, Morata or other guys who are out of contract in ~6 months and teams are fine just getting a small fee for, or even doing that on loan.
There is a chance we lose to newcastle, spurs etc as you sayā¦but as you also said, you can still keep up an ~80 point pace even losing those games.
ESR should also be fit, so itās one in one out. Jesus is a much bigger player than ESR, but ESR did score more last year.
no games today
wtf
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Morata is a shit finisher and has been winging it as a CF his whole career.
Depay failed in the PL which will bring back bad memories for him and is a huge risk for a long contract. A loan might be ok.
Ascensio is good but weāre linked with him every window,
Trossard Iāve been interested in as a ready made alternative on the wing but it still means ESR (whoās been tried as a false 9 without success) or Martinelli playing at CF when Eddie canāt; Mudryk the same. Heās very exciting but untested against low blocks and in tight positions and likely to be very expensive.
What bothers me most is I donāt see any really good solutions that work well in the short and long term, unlike Cityās situation when Haaland is out.
The real solution is multiball
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Where are my four games??
Tournament lulls always get me. March Madness especially. Iām supposed to do work again for three days??
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Depay and morata would be loans.
Theyre not the best options, but morata is the closest thing to Jesus. Even includes the poor finishing
Crazy stat I just saw.
Italy, Germany and Spain havenāt won a KO game since last winning the WC
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Crazier ā Italy and Germany havenāt even played a knockout stage game since their last win.
Pulisic!
Croatia also hasnāt won a KO in regulation since 1998.
So I looked into this briefly and I think we are 17/30 for penalties at this WC (including the two shootouts). Just a bit over 50%.
Not 100% sure on the numbers, tho. Someone might need to fact check this. If true, that seems pretty close to optimal from a drama standpoint.