Strikers That Don’t Step Up To The Plate

So, a couple of English teams went out of Europe last night on penalties. No big surprises there.

But there’s one thing I hate about penalty shoot outs is who steps up to take one. All too often strikers ( you know, the people that are paid to be calm in front of goal and score) bottle it and don’t even take a penalty.

Such was the case with Everton last night. Where was Andy Johnson for Everton. Surely, he should have taken one of the first couple of penalties for the Toffees ? After all, scoring goals is what he is paid to do. Phil Jagielka (who missed one) is not.

It irkes me a great deal that managers always seem to allow the players to decide whether or not they want to take a penalty. The end result is that brave players with less skill in front of goal end up taking them while certain strikers hide away at the background.

All strikers should be made to take part in penalty shootouts. Otherwise, they’re just gutless glory seekers.

Stand up and be counted, for Christ’s sake.