Ivan Toney, the no-look penalty and why it is like landing a plane

Ivan Toney’s no-look penalty has such a success rate that more and more players are using it. Sport psychologist Michael Caulfield, whose advice Toney has leant on during the European Championship, says it has had an impact similar to the Fosbury Flop in high-jumping.

As shown in the shoot-out win over Switzerland, Toney’s way of taking a penalty is audacious. His eyes never leave the goalkeeper and he shoots right-footed without looking at the ball.

But his ice-cool way of taking penalties is no surprise at Brentford, where he has worked with Caulfield. Toney has honed his penalty routine over four years at the club and he has an almost perfect record. It can be revealed his only miss for the club came after wind moved the ball in his run-up, with analysts spotting the freak movement after his miss against Newcastle two seasons ago.

Otherwise, it has been a perfect penalty record for Brentford, which included using the technique in the Championship play-off final to get to the Premier League.

“I think he has helped change the way penalties are perceived,” said Caulfield. “It’s not quite the Fosbury Flop, but sort of is. Or the double-handed backhand when it first came in. He has honed his own craft. It’s his penalty, he owns that penalty. There aren’t many now doing the 10-yard run-up. He’s refined it to a fine-art.

As he said after the game, that is his routine. And they do practise a lot, with goalkeepers. If you think about it logically, there is not a lot that can go wrong. If he keeps his eye on the goalkeeper, very few stay absolutely still.”

Toney has cited Caulfield when talking about “controlling his emotions” against Slovakia, when he was brought on in the fourth minute of stoppage-time with barely any time left to make an impact. The 28-year-old played a role in both goals during that win, then was among England’s penalty heroes against Switzerland.

Caulfield says Toney’s penalty record is down to the player himself and the faith he has in executing his technique under pressure.

“Pressure comes from scrutiny and to replicate it under that scrutiny,” he said. “Compare that to Covid football when there was no feedback from a crowd.

“It is complete trust [in the technique]. The one I refer to is landing a plane – a pilot lands whether it is a nice night or a windy night. They have a process they completely trust under the most intense pressure, which is a penalty shoot-out in a global event such as the Euros. That is why it is not a lottery. It is a psychological and physical skill.”

Toney took his no-look penalty in the most lucrative game in football – the Championship play-off final – and also at a European Championship. The skill-level involved in taking a spot-kick means the xG – expected goal – of a penalty has gone up to 0.79 from 0.74.

Caulfield helped Toney develop the penalty during his time at the club, while team-mate Bryan Mbeumo also uses the same technique.

“When Bryan first arrived, they became friends off the pitch and formed a partnership on the pitch,” he said. “Bryan used to take the long run-up penalty and try to blast it. It was interesting to hear [Alan] Shearer and [Gary] Lineker talking about picking your spot, not changing your mind.

“The current penalty takers are not of that ilk, they are not the Julian Dicks-types. Bryan had a penalty against Watford with the last kick of the game when Ivan wasn’t playing, Bryan’s penalty was a replica of Ivan Toney’s.”