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6 months ago
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A penalty shootout ritual that England must follow has come to light ahead of the summer's European Championships.
A shootout has long been something that England fans have feared ahead of men's competitions, with a number of failures such as Italia 90 and Euro 96 leaving lasting scars on the minds of supporters.
Perhaps none more so is the 2020 Euros final at Wembley, however, when Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed from the spot as supporters were left heartbroken in defeat.
Fortunes have somewhat improved in recent times, however, with the Three Lions progressing in the 2018 World Cup via a shootout win over Colombia and just months later beating Switzerland on spot kicks in the Nations League.
The minor change in fortunes could be down to one man, and that is Gareth Southgate, with the manager adopting a specific method to help his side in shootouts, as explained by Gary Neville on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Gary Neville has explained England's penalty ritual put in place by Gareth Southgate (pictured)
The Three Lions have had mixed success over the years, with some failures living long in the memory
There have also been some successes, with the 2018 World Cup shootout win over Colombia marking somewhat of a turning point
'When I interviewed Anthony Gordon, he told me what Gareth [Southgate] does,' Neville said. 'He pulls three players at the end of practice, takes them to a quiet area, they have a penalty, and they take three each.
'They have to pick a side, decide where it's going to go, and that's what they do.'
Neville went onto explain the difference to when he was involved as a player in the England team, which lasted over a decade between 1995 and 2007.
'What we did, when we worked out we had to practice them, we'd have 10 players in one half, and 10 in the other, and we all took them,' he said. 'What Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McLaren did was whoever had the most penalty successes would be chosen as taking penalties for the game.
'That's why Jamie Carragher was brought on, he didn't miss one. We went through a phase of not [practising], then we went through a phase of some did, some didn't, and then we went through a phase of everyone doing it as if it's a competition.
'It was interesting seeing how Gareth did it because he has had some success with it. Just taking three players in a concentrated way, making them focus and do it properly.'
Neville (left) revealed that Newcastle's Anthony Gordon (right) detailed the process in a recent interview
England' penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the final of the last European Championships was a low point for the team in shootouts
The Three Lions have a number of club penalty takers in their ranks, including captain Harry Kane
England now have a number of club penalty takers in their ranks, including captain Harry Kane, Cole Palmer and Ivan Toney.
Saka has also been on Arsenal penalties for the majority of the time since the Euros final, sharing the duty with Martin Odegaard, while Marcus Rashford has taken some kicks for Manchester United.
England could be involved in a shootout if they progress from their group at the summer's competition, with the Three Lions set to face a third-place side if they win their group or the winner of Group A if they come second.
Should they finish as one of the best third-place teams, their potential path is a little more cloudy.
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