Former Premier League star Mark Crossley admits he would prefer to face a stutter penalty run-up as it gives goalkeepers an advantage.The stutter is one of the most polarising things in modern football – like it or loathe it, it seems here to stay.Mbappe missed a penalty against Morocco at the World Cup with a stutter run-upGettySome of the world’s best players use it to try and get a supposed advantage over goalkeepers.Stuttering during a penalty run-up can give takers a boost of as much as 10 per cent compared to traditional methods.That’s according to an analysis of five years’ worth of Premier League penalties undertaken by leading football psychology professor Geir Jordet. However, the World Cup bucked the trend. Just nine of the 19 spot kicks where a player used a stutter run-up were converted.That’s compared to 71 per cent of the penalties without it.The likes of Bruno Fernandes and Kylian Mbappe are well versed in the technique, compared the the likes of Harry Kane, who prefers a more direct approach.Nottingham Forest legend Crossley, who famously was the only person to save a spot kick from Matt Le Tissier, believes the stutter gives goalkeeper an advantage.When asked which he would prefer to face, he told talkSPORT: “I’d prefer not to face Harry Kane. I’d prefer to face the stutter because I think it gives the goalkeeper a better chance, personally. “Going back in the day, I think from what I learned, Stuart Pearce used to take penalties against me every day in training. He used to tell me about five where he was going to put them and then five where he wasn’t. That was his technique. “Then he used to ask me questions. What do you prefer? What don’t you prefer? So that’s the way we used to discuss penalty taking. Crossley saved a penalty from Gary Lineker in the 1991 FA Cup finalGetty“But in the modern-day game, when I’m watching it, and people are running up and stuttering to the ball, I believe that it gives the goalkeeper a better advantage. “The more that the goalkeeper can delay the striker, that was the only tactic that I ever used, really, was trying to delay the taker as long as possible. “Because the best penalty takers, in my opinion, like Harry Kane, if he puts the ball down, he steps back; I think a couple of times he’s done the stutter he’s missed a couple when he’s done the stutter. “But when he runs up to it and smashes it, it gives the keeper much less chance.”Crossley wanted to coach strikersFollowing retirement, Crossley went into coaching and had various spells at Chesterfield, including as interim manager.The 57-year-old thinks a huge advantage could be gained from a goalkeeper passing on their wisdom to strikers.Crossley made more than 500 appearances in his careerGettyHe continued: “As soon as I knew my career was coming to an end playing, I kind of thought, I want to give it a go as a manager, having worked for some of the best. “So I did all my coaching badges. But my thoughts were, I want to coach strikers. I want to coach the strikers that are not just goalkeepers because I believe strikers need to know what goalkeepers don’t like.“I think it can give them a massive advantage. For instance, I don’t know, a thing at the moment I’ve been thinking about is, say, a penalty. Does the striker taking the penalty against the goalkeeper know which side the goalkeeper is strongest on? Has he done the research? Do they know that? Are they getting told that? Because every goalkeeper technically is better diving to one side than the other. Do they know that information?“So I think coaching outfield players as a goalkeeper is something that passed me by. I mean I won’t be voting in coaching anymore, but it’s something that I can try to explain that I think is very important.”Overlap Daily will air weekdays at 4pm from Friday 9 October.Catch Mark Crossley alongside Duncan Ferguson every Thursday with episodes available on YouTube, Global Player and wherever you get your podcasts.