[Rupa]

Knezevic made a terrible mistake not marking Rooney for the third goal also...10 men really fcuked us this game, it seemed like england would score everytime down the pitch.

We need 3 points in the Ukraine to save face, gain some confidence, show that this was an off day and put the english under pressure in their "easy" fixtures.

I can't really agree with this, if its anyone's fault its Corluka's and Srna. Corluka was going up the field when Srna was stripped on the side line there(why the hell he was playing with the ball like that is anyone's guess :rollani. Pokrivac(was just subbed on seconds ago) came down toward Jenas, but Knezevic had to wait and see if Jenas was gonna go bye Pokrivac, because there was same space, or was he gonna cut the ball back(and let Pokrivac go bye him) and try for a shot himself. He had to wait for a decisive move by Jenas. I think he was positioned as well as he could be, he was in no mans land- its was by inches that he missed that ball. You would think Niko Kovac would have moved somewhere into that area by then- because he should have responsibilites at the top of the box area.

edit: I forgot Niko Kovac came off for Pokrivac, I guess i can't hold that one on him. Sorry I forgot, me bad, I was making something just now when it occurred to me that Kovac was substituted . We'll let N.Kovac go this time :smileani:

 

[Rupa]

He placed himself between the man with ball at feet and the goal, thus acting like a second keeper instead of marking the open man, that open man then got the back pass in a central position and scored.

Had Knezevic kept between his man (Rooney) and the ball, he would have forced a bad pass or a much more difficult shot from a tighter angle from Jenas. Clear mistake IMO.

I've looked at the replay about 10 times now I'm not sure he could of done better(unless he had longer legs or bigger feet then maybe :howler Plus the ball was tailing away slightly from Knezevic, and kicked at that pace, the only way he could have gotten to that ball was if he had left Pokrivac to fend for himself. Because Pokrivac had to take a steeper angle to stop Jenas and was further away, thus Knezevic needed to be an intial deterent and play the passing lane at the same time. Even if he got a greater touch on the ball, Lampard was right on the edge of box a slight distance behind Rooney and he may of ended up with it(if it deflected off Knezevic somehow or jenas passed to him because Corluka wasn't on top of him). Either way, the blame should rest with Srna and Corluka for heading up field before the ball was properly controlled/cleared IMO.