Cibaman wrote:
Cole coped well enough with the pressure of taking a penalty in a Champions League final but looked incredibly nervous yesterday.
I could say that Cole knew he wouldn't have been blamed for a miss because he is supported as a Chelsea player. As an England player he will know that the majority of "supporters" would instantly turn on him and revert back to hating him as soon as the pen didn't go in.
So personally I'd say that most England supporters got what they deserved yesterday.
But TBH I don't even think that had anything to do with it. Three of the greatest players in the world today - Messi, Ronaldo and Robben - have all missed massively important penalties recently for their clubs. Those players have skill, technique, and especially the first two, goalscoring ability that most players cannot even dream of matching.
I think that most players will knock on something like 92% of the pens that they take. Awesome penalty specialists (like LeBoueff was at Chelsea) will get 95%. Bad penalty takers (like possibly Mata at Chelsea) will be at 89%.
The much bigger problem that the FA needs to look at is why England arrived at the Euros with so few players of genuine international class.
I think even a fantastic FA would struggle to find a solution for this. But I think the FA are in a similar shape to our squad.