Legendary former Arsenal goalkeeper has slammed those that favour a stuttered run-up when taking penalties, such as Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, with the Gunners great pointing out that those taking such an approach can end up looking like a “kn*bhead” when they miss.
Italy international Jorginho fluffed his lines badly when stepping up to the spot against West Ham recently, with a tame effort during a London derby rolled into the arms of grateful Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Seaman, who faced plenty of rivals from 12 yards in his playing days, has never been a fan of those indulging in mind games and takes great delight in seeing any failures make players that should know better look decidedly foolish.
Why has Seaman hit out at Jorginho and Co?
The former England international told the ‘Seaman Says’ podcast when reflecting on a shocking penalty miss from Jorginho – who has registered 17 of his 19 Premier League goals for Chelsea from the spot: “In a way I would sometimes like it, (when players tried a stutter penalty) because I would just be like ‘right I’m not moving, let’s see what happens’.
“But when it goes wrong, like in Chelsea vs West Ham, how bad does he look? Fabianski just fell on it didn’t he, it did not even sting his hands.
“When it goes wrong, they look really bad, but as much as Fabianski’s save looked so easy, if he dives the other way, he isn’t getting it, he outfoxed him. Even though you would be sort of relieved that they missed, you would then think, ‘oh what a kn*bhead’.”
Seaman added on an approach that has become increasingly popular in recent times: “It’s annoying because you find it is a bit of a lack of respect.
“John Aldridge was the first one that I remember doing it in the league. He would run up, do the little stutter, and then place it, but it was only one foot. He would just stop himself and then hit it.”
What is Jorginho’s penalty record?
While the Brazil-born Italy international got things badly wrong against West Ham, he has earned a reputation as one of the more reliable penalty takers in world football.
Across his career to date, the former Napoli star has successfully converted 38 spot-kicks.
Of those taken during normal time, so not including shootouts – with Jorginho missing against England in the final of Euro 2020 – he has failed to find the net only seven times.
He has missed just three times in the Premier League and once in the Champions League for Chelsea and will likely remain Thomas Tuchel’s go-to man despite questions being asked of his approach every time that it does not come off.
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