Personally, and irrespective of his colour, Rashford was a twat for showboating his penalty.

I'd be interested to see what the data says about the success rate of penalty takers who try to deceive the keeper in their run up versus those that don't. I would have thought that, particularly in high pressure situations, you would want to minimise any risk of error. Surely the best way to do that is to use a repeatable, consistent formula similar to place kickers in rugby? Same run up every time with a maximum of a handful of variations in aim and direction. And make sure you pick one in advance and stick to it.

It was reported in the press that England players were practicing penalty kicks just in case. Rashfords must have missed that session. Everything about his approach to the kick was unprofessional. His miss put the other two lads under enormous pressure.

His 'showboating' was eyeballing the best keeper in the competition till he committed himself to jumping to the left. Then, with the goal at his mercy, Rashford hits the post.
I bet 20 times out of 20 he puts it inside the post practicing penalties, but that's not the same as doing it in front of 60,000 people in England's biggest game for 55 years.

If I have an issue it's with the manager bringing 2 players on so late that they hardly get a kick, just to take penalties. Southgate was right to put his hand up for that, but Dave Challinor did the same with Luke Molyneux and got away with it!

Being the top penalty taker at St George’s academy is a bit different to an high pressure final in front of a big crowd.

The missed penalty's were piss poor.
Indecisive with very little power.
Fine margins between being a hero or the stigma of being remembered for letting the nation down.
The huge wages will cushion that blow tho.
A bit disappointing that the media have turned it into a racist agenda.
They got a bit of grief like Batty Southgate Pearce etc did.
Football fans are fickle.
Hindsight hey.
Anyway the main thing is the Pools r back in the League.
UTP.

THIS ^ Pools up Or England Champions. UTP!!!!

Criticising players for poor penalties is fine, but racist death threats are not a bit of banter.

this happens quite a lot in penalty shoot outs including subbing the keeper. we all know a couple of inches either way could have changed our season at the end and same with england. same thing can be said about blocked shots or deflected goals as well as a keeper saving or not saving a shot.

as i have said on another thread why is it always marcus rashford who is the poster boy of hate. two others missed em without the same bile thrown at them with some actually making excuses for their misses. has the lad done something really bad in the past that i have missed or been swept under the carpet that only a few know about. for me he is hardly a divisive character like lewis hamilton.

Southgate said it was his choice and his alone who took the penalties he should have chosen more experienced players to take them and if he put subs on earlier we may not have got to them

The local club here were doing £2 a pint during every England match. Getting to final and then extra time meant that, on top of all the previous matches, I was in no fit state to care whether England won. The only downside for me was that the kebab shop was closed on the way home.

Glad England were in the final. Disappointed they lost. Embarrassed about the reaction to losing.

Rashford was the only one who tried to be clever with his penalty. During his run up I was thinking "what the f**k is he playing at". At least the other two took them without the showboating and they were just unlucky the keeper guessed correctly.
The thing is Rashford usually takes his penalties properly, why he chose the biggest stage of his life to act like a twat is beyond me.

Indeed. I can live with and sympathise with the other two lads who missed. I just didn't like the arrogance of Rashfords pathetic attempt. I would feel the same if it had been Grealish or any other player irrespective of skin colour.

I heard a comment this morning about the country of origin of these abusive messages, someone stating in one case only four out of fifty seven originated in the UK. Anyone else heard this.

Gareth Southgate has said it .Twitter picked up on it i think.

On the news last night 80% of identifiable abusive messages came from abroad

but from which country or do they not want to say for some reason.

agree. however i,d like to bet we,ll see a similar thing happening with an opponent next season who takes a penalty. the rashford approach is hardly the first time we have seen this.

I'd hope that the Pools players this season will stay with the tried and trusted 'hammer it down the middle' approach.
If it gets saved, so be it. We won't criticise. Better saved than missed.

Funny that, because all 5 of the penalties Pools scored in the Play Off final shoot out were placed. Danny Elliot even does some showboating of his own to commit Covolan to his dive. Don't remember anyone complaining about that

Penalty taking is a test of nerve more than anything else. Nicky Featherstone placed his too, but Covolan guessed the right way. Probably he'd been studying videos of Nicky's previous successful pens last season. One thing's for sure, if he tries blasting them all down the middle this campaign, he'll soon get rumbled.

They didn’t say which countries were involved.

The commentators said that the Italian keeper had something like a 68% success ratio with penalties. That's an incredible statistic & puts the odds firmly in his favour

Take a penalty like shearer. Goalies neck height either side with reasonable power. No saving it even if the keeper gueses the correct side.
Practice that and it's in.

Richie Barker's style of aiming for the keepers teeth with the maximum amount of power worked well for Pools.
Years ago penalty's were delayed goals.
Not anymore.

I remember Joe Willets taking three in one game against Darlington. Scored two direct and the third on rebound after goalie saved it. Must have been early fifties.

well we,ll have to say the same about the keepers that play for us next season. it will make em think when taking them. what always gets me with keepers is that they all have to try to guess which way a player will place a penalty even though they have a reputation of blasting it down the middle.

I wonder what Diane Abbott and Double Figures have to say about this.

Once heard Jermaine Jenas say while watching a penalty shoot
I hope a black player dosen't miss one.

when did that happen. should have been a sacking offence even if said as a joke. we all know what would have happened if a white ex footballer had said the same thing hoping a white player would not miss one.