Gareth Southgate highlighted England’s lack of penalty experience as he revealed the squad have already begun practising for a potential shoot-out at this year’s World Cup.
England lost last summer’s European Championship final on penalties to Italy at Wembley and Southgate is convinced experience played a part – an assessment backed up by his side’s statistics.
“What is apparent, in terms of regular penalty-takers for their club, we really only have Harry Kane, James Ward-Prowse,” Southgate – who missed a decisive penalty as an England player at Euro 96 – said on Monday.
“(Marcus) Rashford would have been, in terms of volume of penalties, the second highest in number, but Bruno Fernandes is their (Manchester United’s) normal penalty-taker.
“When we played Italy, their top five had taken more than 40 penalties in competitive matches. Kane is at that level and Marcus is next at 20.”
That is an accurate assessment if including Rashford’s two in the Uefa Youth League and one as part of a hat-trick in his solitary England Under-21 appearance. Kane has taken 61.
Taking figures listed on transfermarkt.co.uk for senior competitions and adding in shoot-outs, Ward-Prowse is just one behind Rashford and the only other regular England call-ups in double figures are Raheem Sterling and Harry Maguire.
Kane has the highest success rate of those players at 87 per cent, scoring 53 and missing only eight – which includes his effort in the Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark when he scored from the rebound.
Rashford is at 82 per cent with 14 out of 17 at senior level but is behind Cristiano Ronaldo as well as Fernandes in his club’s pecking order. Southampton skipper Ward-Prowse has scored 12 out of 16 (75 per cent).
Sterling has a poor record with six successful efforts out of 12 while United captain Maguire has scored six out of 10 in shoot-outs, including his last five, but has never taken a spot-kick in regulation.
Mason Mount has taken only two in-game penalties but has a decent shoot-out record, including two out of three for Chelsea this season. Reece James – like Rashford, absent from this camp but sure to be in the World Cup reckoning – scored against Aston Villa, Southampton and Liverpool on the Blues’ run to the Carabao Cup final.
Jack Grealish, one of those criticised for not stepping up against Italy though he insisted he “wanted to take one”, has scored both his shoot-out attempts but has not taken a senior penalty in regulation.
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin could return to the reckoning, fitness and Everton form permitting, and is another regular taker at club level. He had a perfect record of five from five, including two this season, prior to January’s miss against Brighton.
