Thread by @Jhdharrison1

#DeGea’s penalty record hasn’t been good recently & while the sample size is too small to conclude he’s bad at them his technique does seem flawed.

Preshot he pulls his foot inward in the opposite direction to his dive meaning he will always struggle to reach the corner!

#UEL

This “negative step” means his footwork actually moves him further from the corner he wants to dive to rather than closer to it!

Therefore using this technique he will always at struggle to get across to penalties which are right in the corner even if he goes the correct way!

Ironically #Henderson’s is one of the best GKs I’ve seen at using a strong “positive” step when facing PKs

Look at the ground he makes up preshot!

This means he can dive all the way to the corner & thus if he goes the right way he has a great chance of saving it!

#UEL

In this example he actually tucks his legs back in (as you can see below) because he makes up so much ground early during the pre shot phase that he doesn’t need to be at full extension to make the save.

So if #Jesus had found the corner I still think #Henderson gets there!

Here is an old thread I did on #DeGea’s struggles with penalties.

https://twitter.com/Jhdharrison1/status/1286982440054075392

& if you are interested in the flaws of negative step dives, especially when it comes to saving penalties, here is a thread I did on #Leno’s attempt at saving a PK in the #UEL

https://twitter.com/Jhdharrison1/status/1362741824578867212

& if you want to see a video which highlights the issue I am talking about, the one below is a good one & shows how even though #DeGea saved it, his dive extension only reached a point which was over 1 yard from the goal post meaning he only gives himself a chance vs poor PKs

https://twitter.com/Jhdharrison1/status/1397810620104335362