Fiorentina-Milan showed Susy Campanale why not every player is equipped to take a penalty and highlighted the arrogance of those who think they can.
It irks me when I see a penalty that was saved by a goalkeeper described as a ‘missed’ spot-kick. That negates the skill of the shot-stopper and at the same time assumes a penalty is a foregone conclusion, both of which are deeply incorrect positions. If you want to see why it’s not to be taken for granted, just look at the chaos that was Fiorentina-Milan, where three penalties all went unconverted.
Of the three, the worst was taken by Moise Kean, as his finish was central and Mike Maignan barely even had to move in order to make the save. Fiorentina fans will note this was the second time this season that Kean had asked Albert Gudmundsson to let him step up, only before the Iceland international had refused to hand it over. The Viola will hope that from now on, Gudmundsson will learn to be less generous to his teammate.
One can only assume that Kean had fallen into that trap of thinking a penalty should be an easy finish for a centre-forward, but it’s a whole other skillset. That was only the fifth penalty that Kean has taken in his entire career, the second at senior level, the other being for Everton in a Cup game. You need a lot more than accuracy, this is a mind game with the goalkeeper, a battle of wills, the need to keep your nerve and be unpredictable. Anyone who has seen Kean’s finishing when one-on-one will know those are not his strong suits.
Penalty kicks are a specific skillset
The biggest controversy at the Stadio Franchi was caused on the other side, as while David De Gea deserves immense credit for saving two penalties from two different opponents, Milan coach Paulo Fonseca later revealed that neither Theo Hernandez, nor Tammy Abraham were meant to be on that spot. The designated penalty taker for the Rossoneri is Christian Pulisic, which was news to Rossoneri fans and evidently to the players too, considering he has only ever taken one for the club, last month against Venezia.
We still don’t know the details of what happened in that discussion on the pitch, whether Pulisic willingly backed down or was shoved away by his teammates. Considering the American has never failed to convert a penalty in his 10 career attempts and is on sparkling form this season, the decision to take the ball off him not once, but twice, was complete madness.
Theo Hernandez evidently had a point to prove, as he’d given away the first penalty, was wearing the captain’s armband and it was his birthday, but this selfish streak of putting himself before the team is becoming more and more unbearable. It was always there, none more so than when sulking on the other side of the pitch during the cooling break with Rafael Leao against Lazio after they’d been dropped. The left-back has now failed to convert three of his total six Serie A penalties, he has absolutely no reason to step up other than sheer arrogance.
Between them, Theo and Leao are the perfect example of why talent really isn’t enough in modern football. At least there is one saving grace, which is that Rafael Leao has never fallen into the trap of thinking he might be good at penalties. The only way he’d be effective is by taking a sprinting run-up from outside the box and grinning all the way, that might be off-putting for the goalkeeper and play to his core strengths. The rest is disastrous.
At least Abraham had a pretty good record, converting his first four Serie A penalties for Roma, but again there was no reason to go instead of Pulisic. Who made this choice and why? It wasn’t Fonseca, which means the Milan players pay barely any attention to their coach. If that is the case, then will firing him really improve the situation or just give the divas in this squad more reason to think they wield the power? His tactics require a strong work rate from everyone and he’ll never get that from the likes of Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao. Something has to give at Milan.