Out damned spot! In praise of the penalty

It's been a good week for penalty incidents. First Southampton's Fraser Forster put off Liverpool's James Milner by standing right in front of him as Milner attempted to place the ball on the spot. Forster towered over Milner and just his sheer size must have intimidated the left-back. Then James Ward-Prowse delayed things further by taking a drink from a bottle in the back of the goal, receiving a yellow card. When Milner did finally get to take the spot kick he hit it hard and low, but Forster guessed right to pull off a fine save, having successfully out-psyched the taker. It's wasn't quite Corinithian spirit, but most fans do like good bit of gamesmanship. 

Perhaps the most famous bit of penalty gamesmanship was Liverpool's Bruce Grobbelaar performing his "'spaghetti legs" routine — wobbling his legs in mock terror —  in the 1984 European Cup Final, forcing AS Roma's Graziani to graze the top of the bar with his kick. More recently in the Bundesliga in 2015, Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz slyly damaged the penalty spot by raking his studs on the turf. Cologne's taker Anthony Modeste slipped on the area Hitz had damaged and missed. Hitz later apologised and was, bizarrely, billed £89 by Cologne for damaging their pitch. 

This week we also saw Riyad Mahrez have a penalty ruled out for Leicester at Man City for taking two touches. As his standing foot slipped Mahrez inadvertantly kicked the ball against his other foot while shooting. Although he still netted referee Bobby Madley disallowed it, proved that all referees are really the spiritual descendants of Blakey from On The Buses. Madley was technically correct, but since Mahrez wasn't trying to get an advantage, most footbal fans would have preferred him to pretend he hadn't seen it and let the goal stand.

The final penalty drama came with a penalty shoot out between Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield in the Play-Off Semi-Final. Huddersfield custodian Danny Ward saved Forestieri's penalty and then provided the memorable sight of a goalkeeper in pink kit running the length of the pitch to do a knee-slide before the delirious Terriers' fans. Of course an £80 million final or vital Premier League points shouldn't really depend on whether your man bottles it from ten yards or the keeper performs a little skulduggery or makes a great save — but it's certainly fun for the rest of us. 

Should Leicester drop Vardy and Mahrez?

A postman called Lee Chapman (not the old Leeds striker) got a lot of publicity last year for doing his round dressed as Jamie Vardy and then joining in Leicester’s title-winning celebrations. This season it’s been tempting to wonder if Lee Chapman has actually replaced Vardy in the Leicester line-up, as the once-prolific striker has only scored five goals all season. Vardy almost joined Arsenal in the summer and though he did the romantic thing by sticking with Leicester, he might now be wondering if he should have gone. He’s been suffering from a lack of service and the loss of Kante’s brilliant tackling and counter attacking instincts, but Vardy today looks like a player woefully short of confidence.

Vardy’s taking a touch too many where once he was firing in first-time volleys such as that unstoppable goal against Liverpool. The winger turned striker is now 30 and perhaps had the season of his life last time round, destined never to be repeated. Perhaps he might benefit from a rest and coming off the bench against tiring teams where he could regain his pace and confidence. But for the moment maybe Ranieri should give games to more prosaic strikers such as Slimani, Okazaki and even the wantaway Ulloa.

HUTH SORRY NOW

The decline of Mahrez has been equally alarming. Admittedly he made a great chance for Slimani at Swansea, but he still looks unwilling to take on his man. Perhaps Ranieri should apply the old Harry Redknapp school of coaching, and insist he gets in at least ten crosses a game and goes on a set amount of dribbles into the box. He looks like a player who needs to hear some home truths.

Another worry for Leicester is that Morgan and Huth are creaking at the back. Huth was let go by Mark Hughes at Stoke because he was felt to be past his best. He responded with one final season of abrasive defensive brilliance, but now at 32 he’s not the force he was and has been further restricted by the clampdown on tugging and pulling at corners. His partner Wes Morgan is 33 and is also fighting against time. Was it the form of Kante as a defensive shield that made them seem so solid last season?

No-one in football would want to see Ranieri sacked after last season, but with the club facing up to a relegation fight now is surely the time to bring in some hungrier younger players.