You grasp of English and your articulation of it is impressive. Your grasp of Football, though, less so. Sorry. Ki had one intention when he got the ball in that position and he had three options. Dribble, shoot or pass. Regardless of which option he chose, closing him down puts his eyes on the ball and forces him to reassess his options or to change his first decision. That's why "Pressure" is the first principle of defence. It's not there to win the ball back first. It's there to force the 1st attacker to get his eyes on the ball and not see his options in front of him, then to force him to turn, and at any time in between, if the percentages favour it, tackle it away from him. No matter how you wish to twist my assertions with flowery language, I've already stated my case - that goal was a combination of 3 or 4 errors which all combined to allow the original shot to be made which directly led to the goal. If any one of those errors was corrected, the goal probably doesn't happen. This is football. This is why we coach it. This is why we study game film the Monday/Tuesday after the game, and this is what drives our future sessions - to correct errors that were easily corrected in the first place. 5 yards is too far away at the top level. If you think it's not, fair play to you. There's a reason Barca and now Bayern developed brilliant teams, and it is because of the intensity of their pressure as much as the quality of their passing. Now if anyone wants to disagree with my assertion that Lucas could have been closer, that Gerrard could have taken a better angle of cover, that Henderson could have marked Giaccherini, and that Moses could possibly have done better to get behind the ball, they're perfectly entitled to. Give reasons as to WHY Lucas was correctly positioned at 5 yards away. Give reasons as to WHY Gerrard didn't have to cover at a better angle. Give reasons as to WHY Henderson didn't have to mark Giaccherini. But don't hide behind "ex-post-facto-bisto" language tricks. Show me why you think I'm wrong. I'll be happy to learn something new.
In all honesty, I am singularly interested in Lucas's contribution to Sunderland's goal.
Ideally, even before the fact, Lucas ought to have been a bit closer to Ki, and ought not to have been so easily fooled by Ki's 'fake' to his (Ki's) left. In fact, I think that the latter was his gravest error. If he doesn't go for that (it wasn't THAT good of a 'fake') he would have been in a much better position to react a bit more aggressively to Ki's ultimate move.
In all candor, I thought Lucas was too slow to change direction and recover from his having "bought" Ki's 'fake'.
There, hopefully in less flowery language. 1-3 yards (the ideal pressure defense distance) or 5 yards away (his actual distance), had he not over-committed to his right (LL's right) he'd have been much more likely to nip that move by Ki and shot, etc. in the bud.
Having rewatched the incident a number of times: Lucas reacts to Giacherini's run (Webb is actually also behind Lucas, in the same area as Giacherini enters). Gerrard, having tracked a run and effectively handed it off to Sakho, nonchalantly half-recovers and sorta maintains shape, but not really. Henderson really does sweet eff-all in response to Giacherini's move. He effectively doesn't move more than 1 yard from his original position when the pass arrives at Ki's feet. Ki deftly switches from possibly attempting the through pass to Giacherini to attacking to his right (Lucas' left). The gap between Lucas and Gerrard has not been closed by much by that time. Lucas in practice hands off responsibility for pressuring Ki to Gerrard. The latter, upon realizing that Ki is about to shoot, belatedly attempts to close the distance and to stick a leg out to possibly block Ki's shot. He fully extends his leg after the ball is already past him. Skrtel who, by now, has finally moved up to be in line with Sakho and Toure (both of whom are marking Sunderland players) reacts to the shot by making what can only be described as a comical attempt to block it with his body and/or legs. The ball goes right through him, having bounced once, and then bounces again about 2 yards away from Mignolet. Skrtel's comical attempt to block a shot right at him has left him on the ground. He obviously cannot track Giacherini. The latter, unimpeded and untouched, follows up Ki's shot, picks up the rebound and deftly puts it to Mignolet's left and into the goal.
Ranking of 'fault' in terms of importance:
Skrtel (2)
Gerrard
Lucas
Mignolet
Sequence of "fault":
Lucas
Gerrard
Skrtel
Mignolet
Skrtel
The only ones who have legitimate 'excuses' are Lucas and Mignolet. Gerrard is slow to react.
Skrtel was:
1. Slow to get up in line with Sakho and Toure in the early buildup (it worked backwards for Sunderland) of the move
2. Incompetent in blocking Ki's shot
3. Unable (because of 2) to cover Giacherini or
4. Unable to react to the rebound off Mignolet of Ki's shot.
Conclusion: Skrtel messed up. He also managed to block the vision of Mignolet.
