The Premier League is one of the fiercest and closely fought leagues in the world. Many unsuccessful title hopefuls will know that when you get an opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net you have to take it. Chances don’t come much more gift-wrapped than a penalty kick, and if your team is lucky enough to get one, you need someone who can put them away under pressure.
Alan Shearer scored the most penalties ever in the Premier league with fifty-six, and it doesn’t look like anyone will ever come close to matching that. There are, however, some highly accomplished spot-kick takers around. Here are a few of the cool customers you would want in your team to do the business when the time comes.
Eden Hazard
The PFA Player of the Year for 2014/15 had a howler of a season last time out, as did the whole of the Chelsea team. Excluding that, though, the Belgian winger is still one of the deadliest penalty takers in the league, as the video above shows. Chelsea fans will be hoping he can rediscover his past form, and regain the immense confidence that allows him to keep such composure in moments of high pressure. Chelsea will introduce their new manager, Antonio Conte after he has finished his Euro 2016 campaign with Italy. It is expected that the man who had such success at Juventus will be able to breathe fresh life into the squad, and players like Hazard.
Wayne Rooney
Rooney is the joint-25th top penalty scorer of all time with eighteen goals from the spot. There are not many people that you would rather have stepping up to do the business when it matters. The Manchester United talisman has been known to score his penalties in a variety of ways, but he normally goes for burying the ball in the back of the net with as much force as possible. United will also start the season with a new manager as Jose Mourinho is already in place at Old Trafford. The Special One holds Rooney in high regard and tried to sign the striker when he was at Chelsea. Now that Rooney has lost some of his pace, it will be interesting to see whether he makes the midfield role his own under Mourinho’s guidance.
Mark Noble
Mark Noble has converted a remarkable seventeen penalties for West Ham and has missed only one in the last seven years. Noble is a cool customer from the penalty spot and has been for many years. Surprisingly, Noble has never had a call up to the England senior team. After last season under Slaven Bilic, though, the midfielder had an incredible campaign, and many thought he deserved a call-up to Roy Hodgson’s squad for the Euros. At 29 years old, he still has a chance to make the cut in the future, and with West Ham seemingly on the rise under Bilic, has another opportunity to impress in the new season.
Yaya Toure
There is much debate over whether Toure will have a place in the Manchester City team once Pep Guardiola arrives. When Guardiola took over at Barcelona, he sold Toure to City, as he didn’t see the huge Ivorian’s style fitting with his philosophy. If Toure does move on, it will be a great loss to the league as he has been one of the most exciting players to watch during his time in England. During City’s title-winning campaign of 2013/14, he was in his finest form and became an unstoppable force in the team’s attack. He has put away eight penalties from eight attempts to date, and almost always goes for sheer power over placement. Not only is he highly adept at taking penalties, but he also isn’t bad on free kicks either. Let’s hope the huge force of nature stays in England a little while longer.
Leighton Baines
Excluding last season, Baines has been one of the most valuable acquisitions for fantasy football players for years. As a left-back, he wins points for keeping clean sheets, but his attacking nature also means he gets goals and assists at the other end. It is this fact that has made him a Premier League legend. He has taken free-kicks and penalties for Everton for a long while now and put away 15 goals from 16 attempts from the spot. This is a success rate of 93.75% and it underlines just how dangerous he is in this position. Even with Romelu Lukaku in the team, when Baines is on the pitch he is higher up in the pecking order. Baines missed a large chunk of the 2015/16 campaign through injury, but he will surely be back with a bang under Everton’s new manager, Ronald Koeman.
These guys above make it look easy, but putting away a penalty under pressure can be too much for some. Let’s take a moment to remember poor old Jason Puncheon’s howler for Crystal Palace (below) against Tottenham Hotspur a few years back. Penalty taking is an art form- some players have it, others don’t. When the time comes, you better hope that your club has a player who can keep his cool and do the business.
