Only around 6 / 1,000 shots in the premier league create XG higher than a penalty (so Arsenal had 3/4). And the majority of fouls that lead to a penalty have less than a 10% chance of leading to a goal (including way too many non-deliberate handballs)
Penalties have actually been getting easier with VAR ensuring keepers stay on their lines and the new rules stopping the keepers distracting the taker.
I think it would make the game fairer and more exiting if penalties weren’t an almost guaranteed goal. So I came up with some ideas to reduce the impact of penalties:
- Require the fouled player to take the penalty.
- Offer indirect free kicks for non-deliberate handballs.
- Prohibit stuttered run-ups, making the kicker’s approach more predictable for goalkeepers.
- Move the penalty spot back.
- Use VAR to penalise diving more harshly
Let me know if you agree that penalties are too hard and if so how we could change them?
I’ve also explored more ideas in a new video, consider giving it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6elPY8ZvtI.
I think they need to reduce the area where a foul is a penalty. Why does the goalkeeper box and the penalty area have to be the same?
Also, move it back a yard or two and see what happens.
Requiring the fouled player to take the pen would be so fun
it makes the most sense logically
This feels like it should already be the case. How silly would it be in basketball if your best shooter got to take every free throw?
They already do if it’s a technical foul. So maybe normal fouls in penalty area during open play require the fouled player to take the pen. Handball, violent conduct etc the fouled team can choose.
Feel like penalties are usually a goal so a 0.79xG seems about right imo.
That said - penalty taking/saving is a skill. So it’s definitely worth training them still.
But completely agree that a slight touch in the box being rewarded with a penalty is crazy at times. It’s almost gifting a goal to the opposition. VAR need to be certain if it’s a penalty or not and stop awarding soft penalties. They can completely change games in an instant
I have thought about having a PK for minor offenses that is the ball on the 18 anywhere between the two intersections points of the arc. No wall or any defensive players except the GK. Just farther away.
I also love “the eliminator” I saw somewhere. The idea is to give a special free kick for really egregious tactical fouls. The ball is placed anywhere on the on the center circle line for a direct free kick. The GK starts on the 18 and cannot come off the line until the ball is kicked.
I will never understand why they allow that stupid stutter, so boring to watch as well
I’ve also explored more ideas in a new video, consider giving it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6elPY8ZvtI.
Penalties are too harsh of a punishment for most offenses in the box, similar to yellow and red cards the punishments aren’t fit for purpose (red often too harsh so refs scared to use, yellows pointless and second yellow also too harsh so scared to use).
First I’ll go over your suggestions.
But first we must be clear, the box should be a harsher punishment zone otherwise teams would sit in it more and it would be even harder to get through low blocks. Having the penalty area where the rules are tighter is a good thing.
Your suggestions.
Can’t prohibit stuttered run ups, too difficult to police you’re asking refs to define a stutter, that will end badly. Plus why should we rule stuttering as “not in the spirit of the game” and is there any evidence a stutter actually improves chances. We should avoid implementing things that make the sport more uniform, styles make fights and players with weird or wonderful techniques make football interesting. It’s cool that jorginho a random non athletic DM is one of the best PK takers in the world, we shouldn’t shut that down just to make pens harder.
Indirect freekicks are just a mess, fun for the novetly of a backpass but if they happened for every handball it would just be a cluster fuck.
Diving is a complex one, but it isn’t the issue imo, there is “beating your man and going down on a touch” and there is “going down from no contact” going down from no contact is pretty rare, most players who do that don’t appeal nowdays and we should allow players who win their 1v1 but get a tap to be awarded a pen, it’s good for attacking football that a defender can’t dangle a leg or just flail at the ball in the box.
Going back and penalising attackers who go down looking for that is fine, but don’t get var involved that will become a mess and players like Saka, Eze and salah will start getting sent off or will just dribble less which is not what anyone actually wants to see in their hearts of hearts.
You should be able to “win” a pen with quick thinking or good skill that’s a good part of the game and we shouldn’t go looking for ways to penalise attackers for doing it. Plus it becomes all too easy to send an attacker off who just fell over or slipped and that has to be avoided at all cost, again don’t give the refs that kind of leeway to fuck a game up, you’re asking for trouble.
Moving the penalty spot maybe… but really some fouls do deserve a normal pen, so now you can handball to stop a goal and then it’s a 0.5 chance pen. Seems unfair to the attacking team now.
Player fouled takes pen, good idea, but also most guys getting fouled are the forwards does it make much difference?
What you need imo is a two tier system, most igredious are denial of goal scoring opportunity.
Tier 1 - foul during 1v1 with keeper, foul with open goal, stopping ball that is goal bound with hand or serious foul play/dangerous/reckless.
Tier 2 - When a player isn’t about to score but is fouled or impeded.
Tier 1 would be standard pen, these things should get a 0.8 xG chance as punishment.
Tier 2 would be a 1v1 with the GK from half way line (like the american world cup).
This would add so much to the game, make penaties more of a spectacle and give keepers more chance to do cool stuff, give attackers the chance to pull off some outragous skill. Attacker to chip from 30 yards or run around keeper or try to sit him down loads of options so much individual skill potentially on show. Would reduce the guaranteed nature but make it still a punishment you would not want to be on the end of.
Football is entertainment at the end of the day and that would be an amazingly entertaining part of the game.
Compared to a penalty that’s usually just quite routine nowdays.
This should imo, go hand in hand with a review of red and yellow cards. An introduction of orange cards with a 10 min sin bin for situations where red is too harsh and yellow is meaningless.
They should only give penalties for denial of goal scoring opportunities
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