Slovenia 0 – 0 England: Player Ratings

Gareth Southgate’s men will probably look back at this game as a point earned rather than 2 points lost, as their own sloppy mistakes allowed Slovenia a number of guilt-edge chances which they should have converted.

Pre-match talk was dominated by the omission of England captain Rooney, who has performed well below par for England in his recent appearances. However, there was little change in the quality of performance as England lacked any unison going forward.

Slovenia

Oblak – 8 – Showed his class with a string of good saves and all-round goalkeeping. His save from a powerful Lingard shot oozed quality.

Struna – 6 – Neutralised the threat of Lingard but struggled more with the pace of Rose.

Samardzic – 6 – Was a solid performer in the middle of the park, who did not allow England to get past him easily.

Cesar – 6 – A strong aerial presence and showed great positional sense which compensated for his lack of pace.

Jokic – 7 – A great defensive performance, did not allow Walcott any space at all and defended well against Walker.

Verbic – 6 – Industrious down the right flank and battled well but did not have the required quality in the final third.

Birsa – 7 – Got forward well to offer support to Ilicic and found spaces in the England midfield.

Krhin – 7 – Battled like a warrior throughout, was physical in a challenge and had an opportunity to score.

Kurtic – 8 – The standout midfielder in this match, he almost scored in the first half when his first half effort hit the post and his pinpoint delivery at set pieces caused England all sorts of trouble.

Bezjak – 6 – Was a constant danger for England and almost scored in the first half.

Ilicic – 7 – Perhaps should have won it for his team but he lacked the clinical edge when the opportunity presented itself, but caused problems for the England defence nevertheless.

Subs

Melvja – 4 – Came on for the injured Cesar, he defended well enough but a poor clearance gave England a chance that Rooney failed to capitalise on.

Omladic – N/A – Didn’t have the time to make an impact on proceedings

Kronaveter – 5 – Could not replicate his heroics from the last match and was booked for a foul against Rose.

England

Hart – 9 – Hart saved his teams blushes on a number of occasions tonight, after sloppy mistakes from his teammates and poor marking from set pieces. He also produced a great save that will long remain in the memory.

Walker – 6 – Was solid defensively but lacked end product going forward which was disappointing because he got forward with purpose.

Cahill – 4 – He looked nervy at times and is clearly struggling with form. But persevered to help his team keep a clean sheet.

Stones – 5 – Looks better every time he steps on the pitch, looks more assured than his more experienced counterpart but on occasions tonight was caught out in possession.

Rose – 6 – Offered an outlet for his side when going forward and when Verbic broke in behind he was able to utilise his electric pace to cover.

Dier – 4 – Was left exposed at times and made a bad error that could have cost his team a goal.

Henderson – 4 – He tried to impose himself on the game but played far too deep to make any impact and gave the ball away cheaply.

Walcott – 4 – Made positive movements off the ball that created space for his team; but on the ball he was wasteful, his crosses did not find their mark and failed to get the better of Jokic.

Alli – 6 – Did not quite come off for the Spur’s midfielder tonight as he failed stamp his authority in the final third, however

Lingard – 5 – Did not link up as well with his teammates as he did against Malta and was ineffectual in the final third. He forced a good save from Oblak late on with a powerful effort.

Sturridge – 4 – Did not hold up the ball to his teammates and failed to make the right decisions in divisive moments.

Subs

Townsend – 5 – Was bright when he came on and injected the team with much needed impetus.

Rashford – 5 – He was far more dynamic than Sturridge but was left frustrated by his teammates, as he didn’t receive the ball after making promising runs.

Rooney – 5 – His experience settled his side down and made the right decisions when he was on the ball.