Igor Thiago

Igor Thiago

He needs to work with Manu Sotelo and the goalkeeping group. It’s all about spotting the moment the ‘keeper transfers his weight onto the foot he’s going to launch himself from in that fraction of a second before he dives.
 

Igor Thiago

jlove said:
He needs to work with Manu Sotelo and the goalkeeping group. It’s all about spotting the moment the ‘keeper transfers his weight onto the foot he’s going to launch himself from in that fraction of a second before he dives.
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Is it something you can teach, surely we have others who are brilliant at it already?

Thiago is fast becoming a legend and the pens bump the stats up brilliantly, but I am not sure he is near to being our best taker to be honest.
 

Igor Thiago

mhead bee said:
Is it something you can teach, surely we have others who are brilliant at it already?

Thiago is fast becoming a legend and the pens bump the stats up brilliantly, but I am not sure he is near to being our best taker to be honest.
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That’s a different issue; my guess is that there are better penalty-takers in training but, in a match (especially in the final minute) you need players with the right mentality.

I see no reason why it can’t be learned, although some players will take it on board more easily than others. The list of penalty takers should be in special training to observe that weight transfer moment, which may also benefit the ‘keepers.
 

Igor Thiago

Apart from the natural anxiety that's normal for any penalty, I was always fairly relaxed that both Ivan and Bryan would score. I have to say though with Igor, I am almost completely the opposite as it does look like if he gets it wrong - like Saturday - it's going to be a comfortable save most times. I don't advocate taking them off him but he definitely needs to work on his technique.
 

Igor Thiago

jlove said:
That’s a different issue; my guess is that there are better penalty-takers in training but, in a match (especially in the final minute) you need players with the right mentality.

I see no reason why it can’t be learned, although some players will take it on board more easily than others. The list of penalty takers should be in special training to observe that weight transfer moment, which may also benefit the ‘keepers.
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I would hope Dams, Jenson, KLP, Hickey or Dango have the bottle and I am sure they would. Teaching Igor for his career benefit is one thing, but letting someone who has a real technique to bury it would make sense.

But it is having someone who has a technique, with Igor it feel like he stutters the run but it is still a 50/50 guess and he has been lucky so far. He is not sending the keeper the wrong way, the keeper has just gone the wrong way. I prefer it if the odds are stacked in our favour.
 

Igor Thiago

mhead bee said:
with Igor it feel like he stutters the run but it is still a 50/50 guess and he has been lucky so far. He is not sending the keeper the wrong way, the keeper has just gone the wrong way.
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If that was the case, over time he’d score 50% of the penalties he takes.
 

Igor Thiago

jlove said:
If that was the case, over time he’d score 50% of the penalties he takes.
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Maybe he will, but maybe he will be lucky and score more than he misses, but its still a 50/50 bet if he is just rolling one way or the other with no attempt to outwit the keeper.

I always preferred the KOC way of doing it, hit it hard and high, don't give the keeper the chance.
 

Igor Thiago

We had some decent pen takers against Villa. Like with any player, there'll be competition to take the main pens taker role from him should it prove to be an ongoing issue.
 

Igor Thiago

Les Beeavinu said:
Which would be appalling.
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So far, to the best of my memory, all of Igor’s penalties this season have been close to the position where the keeper was standing at the time. This obviously makes it easier for the keeper and more likely that he will make the save.
I feel Igor should hit the ball harder and aim for a corner.
 

Igor Thiago

detours said:
Regarding penalties, I don't buy into the "if you score it, it's a good penalty" mantra. Unless you're doing the keeper dependent penalty – a la Ivan and Bryan etc, you've got to be powering it, or placing it into an unsaveable area – which neither Thiago or Schade appear to do based on what we've seen (based on a very small sample tbf). Sidefooting it into a saveable area with no regard to where the keeper is diving is just treating a penalty like a lottery, and not something elite players should be doing.
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I did raise this a while back, and it's since looked like he was throwing in a stutter to fool the goalkeeper. I'm not so sure now. Sidefooting it and giving yourself around a 1 in 3 chance (left/right/centre) means he proably won't miss many penalties, but they'll get saved every now and again.

He has an 81.25% conversion rate. Ivan's was 96%, Bryan's was 92.33%. We've been spoiled when it comes to penalties.
 

Igor Thiago

Les Beeavinu said:
Apart from the natural anxiety that's normal for any penalty, I was always fairly relaxed that both Ivan and Bryan would score. I have to say though with Igor, I am almost completely the opposite as it does look like if he gets it wrong - like Saturday - it's going to be a comfortable save most times. I don't advocate taking them off him but he definitely needs to work on his technique.
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Entirely agree. The odd thing is that he’s got to the age of 24 (?) as a professional footballer and this seems to be his technique… it seems to need addressing and hopefully is. I don’t mind when someone else takes pens but always nice to have your no.9 racking up the goals!
 

Igor Thiago

Let's not overreact here. He has missed 3 out of 16 penalties for us and Brugges which puts him marginally above average as a taker. I agree there is something a little unconvincing about them but when we took him off penalty duty against Sunderland that didn't work out too well either.
 

Igor Thiago

jbee said:
Let's not overreact here. He has missed 3 out of 16 penalties for us and Brugges which puts him marginally above average as a taker. I agree there is something a little unconvincing about them but when we took him off penalty duty against Sunderland that didn't work out too well either.
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Fair point!
 

Igor Thiago

Les Beeavinu said:
Apart from the natural anxiety that's normal for any penalty, I was always fairly relaxed that both Ivan and Bryan would score. I have to say though with Igor, I am almost completely the opposite as it does look like if he gets it wrong - like Saturday - it's going to be a comfortable save most times. I don't advocate taking them off him but he definitely needs to work on his technique.
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This
 

Igor Thiago

mhead bee said:
Maybe he will, but maybe he will be lucky and score more than he misses, but its still a 50/50 bet if he is just rolling one way or the other with no attempt to outwit the keeper.

I always preferred the KOC way of doing it, hit it hard and high, don't give the keeper the chance.
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Did he ? I only recall two pens by kev, one he didn't take and the other he took the following week that was low into the corner
 

Igor Thiago

The more he practises the luckier he will get. But then how many professional footballers miss the goal by the next postcode when shooting ?
 

Igor Thiago

Looking at his penalties for Bruges he didn't seem to have a constant technique but put his foot through several. The technique he is using this season is consistent but not in evidence for Bruges. So has developed his current technique himself or has been coached to do it, since similar to Bryan's it would suggest the later.

View: https://youtu.be/Epy-hwGM9dM?si=N45NdqjHrkZMzmVT
 

Igor Thiago

jlove said:
Which will have its own inherent risk.
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Keepers watch how people taker pens, if I was facing Igor right now I would stay in the middle then dive where he places the ball. If yo did that with Toney or Bryan the ball would be in the net before you moved, I reckon with Igor you would save a few as he would blink first.

If KO was taking one, you know you have to not only guess right but dive full stretch to get near it.
 

Igor Thiago

hanworthbee said:
Did he ? I only recall two pens by kev, one he didn't take and the other he took the following week that was low into the corner
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I think you get the point being made, if you don't, just read back a page or two and I am sure you will get it.
 

Igor Thiago

brentford born & bred said:
Looking at his penalties for Bruges he didn't seem to have a constant technique but put his foot through several. The technique he is using this season is consistent but not in evidence for Bruges. So has developed his current technique himself or has been coached to do it, since similar to Bryan's it would suggest the later.

View: https://youtu.be/Epy-hwGM9dM?si=N45NdqjHrkZMzmVT
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Not the best examples were they, most of them were weak side foots down the middle, two were saved and one hit the keepers foot and just trickled in.
 

Igor Thiago

Les Beeavinu said:
Apart from the natural anxiety that's normal for any penalty, I was always fairly relaxed that both Ivan and Bryan would score. I have to say though with Igor, I am almost completely the opposite as it does look like if he gets it wrong - like Saturday - it's going to be a comfortable save most times. I don't advocate taking them off him but he definitely needs to work on his technique.
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Maybe the anxiety levels increase when the same player takes a second penalty. I mean.... I went low left last time do I go the same way again ? or opposite ? This could be a factor. I was hoping that when Jensen had the ball that he would take it. It's about confidence as much as technique I feel.
 

Igor Thiago

Does a run up from one side or the other give the game away? Running in from the right and right-footed makes it more difficult to shoot right, so the keeper would guess left (ie, to his right).
If we put Hickey on penalties, then the keeper wouldn’t know which foot he was using, never mind which side he was going to put it!
 

Igor Thiago

jlove said:
That’s a different issue; my guess is that there are better penalty-takers in training but, in a match (especially in the final minute) you need players with the right mentality.
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I think it also likely extends to mentality outside of the kick itself. As the number 9 of the squad, there's likely some greater psychological benefit for Thiago knowing he's the guy who is relied upon to score goals no matter what. Even if that costs an extra goal or two over the course of a season from the spot, if that instills extra confidence that creates a positive impact the other 99% of the match, it's likely worth it.
 

Igor Thiago

PNWbee said:
I think it also likely extends to mentality outside of the kick itself. As the number 9 of the squad, there's likely some greater psychological benefit for Thiago knowing he's the guy who is relied upon to score goals no matter what. Even if that costs an extra goal or two over the course of a season from the spot, if that instills extra confidence that creates a positive impact the other 99% of the match, it's likely worth it.
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More importantly it gets him goals and that breeds confidence. Nearly half his goals this season have been pens but all everyone sees is a 11 goal striker who is one of top scorers in the league.
 

Igor Thiago

It’s all about bluff when it comes to taking a second penalty in the same game. That applies to both the keeper and taker. That’s why I would advocate a different taker for penalty number two, unless you’re Harry Kane.
 

Igor Thiago

tinman said:
It’s all about bluff when it comes to taking a second penalty in the same game. That applies to both the keeper and taker. That’s why I would advocate a different taker for penalty number two, unless you’re Harry Kane.
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… and that different taker generally will not have been the subject of detailed reporting by the opposition analyst for their ‘keeper.
 

Igor Thiago

What did his injury look like? Just a slight knock? Bad one?
 
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