ENGLAND have been given their five-point plan to win penalty shootouts at Euro 2024.
The Three Lions stumbled into the knockout stages in Germany with a narrow win over Serbia before drab draws with Denmark and Slovenia.
But from now on, starting against Slovakia in the last 16 tomorrow, there must be a winner - with games going to the dreaded penalties if level after extra-time.
And that will bring up painful memories for England fans, from Italia 90 and Gareth Southgate's Euro 96 Germany woes right through to the last Euros final, where Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma broke English hearts.
However, expert football psychologist Professor Geir Jordet PhD has told Southgate and his players what they can do to give themselves the best chance of victory in any shootouts - as well as a rogue, bold suggestion for the manager.
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Jordet has spent 25 years studying psychology in the beautiful game, has worked as a consultant for Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Ajax and recently released his book, Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shootout.
Ahead of England’s showdown with Slovakia, he told SunSport his five-point plan to be successful from the spot…
1. START PLANNING LAST YEAR
Jordet: “Tip number one, start preparing last year. So basically, start preparing this a long time ago.
“I don't know what they've done but I hope they've done that for England's sake.
“It's about planning for the opposition's penalty takers but also ‘how do we win the psychological game against each opponent?’
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“Some teams will for sure plan this. I'm very curious to see if England do as well.”
2. SMART SOUTHGATE LEADERSHIP
Jordet: “Southgate needs to be very smart with his leadership right before a shootout.
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“He will have two minutes to influence his players as effectively as possible and he has to do better than I've seen him in the past, where he has taken very long and not been very assertive in his decisions.
“This is the time to show his players that he has a plan and get confidence across to the players within those two minutes. That is critical.”
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3. DICTATE AS A TEAM
Jordet: “The team needs to have a plan for how to dictate and decide the penalty shootout from a team perspective.
“It's very common to look at a penalty kick as an individual performance but it's really a team performance.
“They need to have a plan for the goalkeeper to hand the ball over to the taker.
“Maybe even plan to have the goalkeeper walk with the penalty taker into the penalty area to basically create a two-versus-one situation against the other goalkeeper.
“They need to know how to dominate the centre circle, how to support the players who come back and maybe missed.
“Most shootouts are won by a team that has missed one penalty or more. So even if you miss once, it's not over.”
4. ‘BULLETPROOF’ INDIVIDUAL ROUTINES
Jordet: “Have really good, individualised and rehearsed pre-shot routines.
“Every player who takes a penalty needs to have a bulletproof, polished way that they prepare the last seconds before they take the shot.
“Because if they can focus on their small behaviours and thoughts, they're more likely to be able to resist the stress and more likely to score.”
5. SHOOT YOUR SHOT
Jordet: “The shot itself of course is something that they should have practised, both individually and under as extreme stress conditions as you can make.
“Training with mild anxiety will help prepare to perform under high anxiety.
“I hope this team has tried to simulate penalty shootouts in training.
“They don't need to replicate it 100 per cent. It's not going to be possible to recreate a Euros final penalty shootout but if they can do it 20 per cent, it's going to have a benefit for your performance.”
AND A JOR DROPPING IDEA…
Jordan Pickford is Southgate’s Mr Reliable No1 between the sticks.
But Jordet actually suggested the idea of bringing on a different goalkeeper - just like when Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal subbed on Tim Krul at the 2014 World Cup.
Jordet said: “Will Jordan Pickford be the goalkeeper? I think so.
“But it's interesting when England has another goalkeeper in their squad who statistically has a much better penalty-stopping record than Pickford. And that is Dean Henderson.
“One could consider making a late substitution for a penalty shootout. I doubt that they dare to do it in case it fails.
“The pressure is even higher but it would be a very ballsy move. I'm curious.”
The stats are fairly conclusive, too.
Pickford has saved eight of 62 penalties faced, most recently for Everton against Leicester’s James Maddison, but none for the senior England team.
That works out at just shy of 13 per cent saved while Henderson’s record is three times better.
The Crystal Palace stopper has also saved eight - but only faced 22, totalling a 36 per cent save percentage.
Aaron Ramsdale, meanwhile, is on three out of 26 or 12 per cent.
Whoever is in goal, though, Jordet is ready to see plenty of mind games from the England goalkeeper.
Jordet added: “There are so many mind games in penalties ranging from visual distractions like dancing around, scuffing up the spot, confronting the taker, stealing the ball, trash talking.
“What probably is my favourite is subtly delaying everything.
“When the taker is ready to shoot but the goalkeeper is nowhere to be seen.
“By doing that, they're letting the penalty taker just stand and marinate in their own stress, which is horrible in a high-pressure situation, but this is all planned deliberately from a very cunning goalkeeper.”
- Geir Jordet’s book, Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shootout, has a foreword by Arsene Wenger and is available now from Waterstones and Amazon
