What went wrong for United in the FA Cup - An insight from a sporting psychological perspective

United players consoling striker Joshua Zirkzee after he missed the crucial penalty in the shootout

On 12/01/25, Manchester United won a penalty shootout against Arsenal in the FA cup to advance to the next round. Two rounds later, they lost a penalty shootout against Fulham to get knocked out. What went wrong for United - An insight from a sporting psychological perspective

Many people think penalty shootouts are just ‘luck’, but this is overinflating the role of luck. When players and staff believe it is just luck, it reduces the control the players believe they have in the shootout, negatively affecting their performance (Wood and Wilson, 2015).

Part 1 - Context

United opted for a penalty shootout lineup of Bruno, Dalot, Casemiro, Lindelof and Zirkzee with Onana in goal. Fulham opted for a lineup of Jimenez, Berge, Willian and Robinson with Leno in goal. Straight away, there is intrigue surrounding the line-ups, with both clubs #1 penalty takers taking the first penalties. This is against what evidence may say is optimal, with a study by McGarry and Franks (2010) suggesting teams should put their penalty takers in reverse order, best penalty taker of the 5 should go last and worst of the 5 should go first.

Further factors within the environment may have contributed to United losing this penalty shootout. United are a team of high prestige and, importantly, high expectation and focus on them, but who are severely underperforming this season. As United were playing at home, there would have been an expectation for United to win this shootout and the tie. This can be referred to as a favourable public appraisal. Studies (Gibson et al, 2002 & Jordet, 2009) have found that a favourable public appraisal can lead to higher perceived performance pressure. In turn, self-regulation systems may break down and this can increase behaviour of players that can help them escape from the emotional distress (escapist self-regulation strategies). These strategies have been found to harm penalty performance (Jordet, 2009). This effect may have been amplified by United’s decision to take their penalties in front of their own fans in the Stretford end, increasing performance pressure on all United players. A study by Dohmen (2008) found that taking a penalty shootout in front of a home crowd can increase the chances of penalty takers choking under pressure (this will be explained further in part 2). A study by Jordet and Hartman (2008) found when players faced very high pressure, they were more likely to engage in avoidance Behaviours, such as avoiding looking at the keeper, and took the penalty kick quicker, looking to ‘just get it done’, resulting in lower success levels.

It is worth noting this analysis is done using post-match videos. It is impossible to identify full psychological elements without discussions with players involved, but hopefully this article can give you a small insight into the psychological side of a shootout!

Part 2 - Penalty takers

1. Bruno

Bruno began his penalty with looks at the GK as he walked up to the goal, also looking again after placing the ball, not engaging in a typical avoidance behaviour of averted gaze away from the GK. From the whistle being blown, Bruno took 4.66 seconds to begin his run-up, a long time. Bruno also never turned his back on Leno. Jordet (2009) found that players who waited for longer after the refs whistle had a greater chance of scoring. Dicks et al (2012) found that when players took pens quicker and turned their back on the GK, it increased the GK’s confidence of saving the pen. Bruno did neither of these, giving himself the best chance to score and did so. However, following scoring, Bruno had a muted celebration. Celebrating theatrically can cause opposition to perform worse and can improve teammates subsequent performance (Moll et al, 2010).

2-5. Jimenez, Dalot, Berge, Casemiro

To save some time, these 4 will be grouped together. All 4 took longer than 2 seconds to begin their run-ups after the refs whistle (average 3.27 seconds). All 4 looked at the keeper at various points during the penalty, with Dalot and Casemiro both fixating on the keeper for extended periods. All 4 also did not turn their back on the GK at any point, not displaying avoidance behaviours and scoring their penalties. Jimenez celebrated theatrically by going to Leno to Celebrate, Dalot and Casemiro celebrated theatrically but did not go to Onana to celebrate and Berge had no celebration.

6. Willian

Willian was an interesting one. He took shorter than all previously mentioned players to start his run-up after the whistle blew (2.36 seconds), as well as not looking at the GK at any point and turning his back to the GK. William was also delayed the second most of all players from taking his penalty, with a total of 41.40 seconds from Casemiro’s penalty to Willian’s. This was partially due to Casemiro speaking to the ref Following scoring his pen, as well as getting in Willian’s way as he went to take his. Willian’s behaviours suggested avoidance motivation, perhaps due to increase performance pressure as a result of the mentioned factors. Willian is, however, a very experienced player and possibly able to better deal with the increased performance pressure. Willian is also an attacker, who may be expected to be used to shooting under pressure. Willian followed most Fulham players in celebrating with Leno after scoring his pen.

Casemiro speaking to the referee following his pen and delaying Willian taking his

7. Lindelof

The first miss! Lindelof took the shortest of all players mentioned so far to begin his run-up (1.86 seconds) and avoided looking at the keeper until he had set up his run-up. Lindelof and Willian were not too dissimilar, however the key difference may have been Willian’s experience in shooting in this high pressure, whereas Lindelof as a defender had reduced experience shooting in a penalty shooutout. This may have presented the first instance of ‘choking’ in this shootout. Choking is a phenomenon in which highly skilled athletes can fail

to carry out a easy task whilst in a high pressure scenario (Beilock et al, 2001). In this scenario, a professional football player not scoring a penalty. Distraction has been theorised to be a source of choking (Beilock and Carr, 2001), with high pressure acting as a distraction. Players can no longer focus on their skill execution, but instead attribute attention to irrelevant stimuli. Interestingly, Lindelof fixated his gaze on Willian walking away as he walked up to take his pen, potentially providing further evidence of distraction leading to choking.

7. Robinson

Robinson took a very short time to begin his run-up (1.35 seconds), but did take a few looks at the GK and did not turn his back. Interestingly, whilst Robinson did score, it was not placed far into the side of the goal at all and could actually be seen as more ‘luck’ that he scored. Robinson then celebrated with Leno following scoring.

8. Zirkzee

The decisive penalty. And the clearest example of avoidance motivation as well as choking under pressure. Zirkzee displayed very high levels of agitation throughout the whole shootout, pacing earlier in the shootout whilst others took their penalties. In a photo that was

widely posted following the shootout, Zirkzee was the only player not stood upright with the others, instead crouching down below the level of other players, again possibly displaying high agitatation and anxiety. Zirkzee was delayed the most of all players before taking his penalty, with a delay of 43.64 seconds between Robinson’s and his, compared to the average of 36.54 seconds in this shootout. Zirkzee was the quickest to begin his run-up following the referees whistle, only waiting for 1.23 seconds. Zirkzee turned his back on Leno and only glanced at him very briefly as he began his run-up. Zirkzee’s whole penalty, from start to finish, appears to be a typical case of choking under pressure, with high levels of escapist self-regulation strategies and avoidance motivation. Zirkzee’s pen was also in stark contrast to the shootout against Arsenal, where he took almost double the time to begin his run-up (2.11 seconds) and was delayed for over 8 seconds less (35 seconds), eventually scoring the decisive penalty.

Part 3 - Goalkeepers

Leno

Leno repeatedly looked to distract United players in subtle ways, often standing off his line and making the players wait for him to return off his line. Leno also would jump on the spot, further distracting the players. A study by Memmert et al (2013), found distraction increases a GK’s chance of saving the penalty.