The Moment City Lost the Cup!

For a start, I’m not a lover of deciding on the pitch in real time who want’s it and who doesn’t.

As a regular penalty taker, I wanted to know when I walked out to the pitch whether it was my responsibility or not.

Formations, corner routines, defending, none of these are dealt with in the same way, they’re not left to see how players feel out on the pitch on the day, they are carefully planned and practised throughout the week leading up to the game, why would you not treat penalties in the same way?

There is a huge psychology taking penalties.

The kicking of a ball from 12 yards with just one goalkeeper to beat is simple in physical execution, without pressure every pro player scores 10 out of 10 in training, but add in pressure from a match day, increase that with an FA Cup final at Wembley, and it’s almost all psychological.

The amount of times I’ve gone over and taken the ball from another player, being asked, “do you want it?” – and replying “yes” when inside I’m thinking “shit, no not really”

Why?

Fear

Of missing, being jeered, being culpable, being a failure.

But I always took it – And had a pretty good record in scoring them – 24/27

Why?

Because it was my job, it was my responsibility to score, I was judged on that, if I didn’t score for a certain number of games, my position was under threat.

And it is Haaland’s job to score – that’s his role

You can forget the argument of the best person at the time should be the one taking the penalty, I get that, but the best one, with the right psychological approach, should be one of the strikers.

During my time at Brentford Football Club, our left back Martin Granger, a good friend and a brilliant player was our designated penalty taker, and he was bloody good at it. I used to see him place the ball, dispatch the penalty and think, I’m bloody embarrassed I am a striker, trained to be ruthless in front of goal, and we’ve outsourcing this to a defender.

That’s what Haaland did yesterday.

The moment he gave the ball away, I thought, WOW, he doesn’t want it, he doesn’t want a free shot from 12 yards.

And in the process showed a chink in his armour, one that would have boosted the confidence of the palace players, and drained it from his own.

A chink that you would never have seen from Ronaldo or Messi.

They are utterly ruthless, call it what you want drive, desire, I have always known it by another name, ‘greed’.

The problem with greed is it has a negative bias attached to it, but it shouldn’t have. In the case of strikers, it’s a commodity that they must have.

I haven’t kicked a ball in professional football for over 15 years now, but I still know exactly how many goals I scored over the course of my 18-year career – 221

Why?

Because I was (and still am) metric driven, always looking of the next goal, because I was greedy.

The best are, how often does Alan Shearer and his co presenters talk about his Premier League record of 260 games, does he want anyone to break his record, absolutely not.

You could argue that my greed may have cost the team at times where I opted to shoot rather than make a decision to pass to someone else in a better position, and that may be valid, although I did reluctantly pass to others when absolutely necessary.

But I would counter that by saying, what is the cost to the team when your main striker decides that he doesn’t want a free shot from 12 yards?

Haaland’s decision yesterday highlighted an issue.

He didn’t have to score, but he did have to take it.

It wasn’t just a missed opportunity to score, it was a moment where a leader stepped back when he should have stepped forward.

And that’s where this moves beyond football.

In any environment, elite sport, corporate business, leaders have to lead, the moment they don’t, there is an issue.

In business, just like on the pitch, there are moments when the pressure is on, when eyes are watching, when the stakes are high.

That’s when leaders are revealed, not by what they say, but by what they choose to do, what they chose to own.

As a leadership coach, I help leaders remain authentic and driven, to know when to take the ball, when to back themselves, and when to lead from the front.

Great leaders know their job, and they don’t pass the ball when it’s theirs to take.

It’s having the courage to carry the weight of responsibility, even when you’d rather not.

Haaland, will hurt today, more for that moment than the result itself.

We always learn more from failure than success

And he will learn.

I for one, hope he steps up next time, even if he misses, (I’d rather he scored obviously) because that’s growth.