PBP: (EURO 08 Group B) Croatia v. Germany [R]

It would help me to respect your opinion. If you can't explain for what you criticise a player, how am I supposed to take you serious? Tell me what he did wrong and what he should have done instead and I can see if I can agree from a goalkeeper's perspective.

 

you're right, it likely won't help. I did not tape the match, so it will take me a bit to give you minute references. Both the Poland and Croatia matches will do just fine.

In the meantime, you can explain why Jens didn't have his near post covered on the 2nd goal, or alternately, if he was coming off his line for the cross, how he thought he was going to get to it considering the flight of the ball had not been established yet. In other words, how he was beat near post from a cross that was deflected ~30 yds from goal.

 

Go at 'em, Squid!!!! This one is all you, buddy!!!

CHARGE!!!

 

Re: Lehmann

53rd minute on modric

I will update this list as I find them. Tedious I realize, but you said "please".

 

If you anticipate a cross you don't cover your nearpost and you are positioned lightly off your line. When the cross turns out to be too high or too far away you move back. In this case it took a deflection, the above mentioned didn't work anymore. He was not beat by the deflection, he deflected it unluckily on the post. If it had been deflected in another way, which depends on luck, he would have gotten the credit for preventing a Poldi own goal.

And this is not about age either. Cech let a slightly deflected ball roll into his goal when he was already moving in the expected direction. The same happened to Adler at the end of the season (in the same game he was beaten at his near post as well when he just jumped past the ball) and it has happened to Buffon as well.

 

What did happen in the 53th minute?

 

modric took a shot from about 25 yards...lehmann dived and caught it but it slipped underneath his body but he was directly in front of the sideline so it rolled only to there...plus he stopped it actually crossing the line. no strikers in sight.

 

no wet nursing here.

 

Seriously.. Stop with that . Lehmann didnt play well in this game, just admit it and move on!!!

 

He certainly was able to finger-tip onto the post, which means he was less than an inch away from straight getting beaten. Less gambling by Jens and he would have at least been able to parry out of play, but at this point he was asses and elbows. Maybe Jens should do a little less anticipating and a little more securing of his line.

 

Oh, that terrible terrible situation. And because it was so dangerous it was much worse than the almost identical scene that VdS had, only that this ball almost rolled into his own goal. There have been many scenes so far when goalkeepers, including much acclaimed Cech and Ed couldn't hold onto shots. This stuff is just nidpicking to find something to criticise Lehmann.

 

Other keepers certainly make errors from time to time, as do players. This is not in question. The vital question becomes whether or not they are making too many errors, especially in routine situations.

 

But he didn't have "too many errors".
Lehmann was ok. He was not the problem in this match, the midfield was.

Who says Enke or Adler would have been perfect? Nobody knows how they would deal with the pressure.

 

This is the usual argument you get when someone tries to blame the goalkeeper no matter what. A deflected shot is an element of surprise you can't calculate or expect. Shit happens, bad luck. He was about to come out and get that cross and he would have if not for the deflection. There are goalkeeper who don't come out for crosses at all because they don't like the responsibility and fear to look bad because coming out for a cross is always a risk and a gamble. It prevents goals, though, but usually the goalies don't get any credit for it and get all the blame if the risk leads to a goal every now and then.
In this case you cannot blame him for not staying on his line. Imagine he would have done so, the cross wouldn't have been in his reach anymore because he was not close enough and someone would have headed it in. Next person cries that Lehmann is at fault because he didn't come out for the cross and stayed on his line for too long. See? You can always bend it the way you want to if you are up to putting all the blame on the goalie.

And being close to getting beaten on your post is irrelevant. He didn't get beaten and was unlucky.

Another problem is that people naturally react the most emotional way to the goals of course which seems to lead to temporary brain shut-down or at least the ability to try and judge the goalkeeper in an objective way. Not that I wouldn't understand. It's not that I never spontaneously curse the goalie when we concede but I usually feel like an idiot afterwards as soon as I am back on the floor.

 

This comes from the person who would rather see Ballack in goal and has yet not managed to give a reasonable explanation? So how do you explain that most paper gave Lahm and Lehmann the best ratings?

Sorry, but there are only those people who bashed him before going on like this.