Football & how to play it, etc

20
FOOTBALL DESCRIBED
a backward angle, I put all the other for-
wards ou-side, so that it does not nia.t,ter
which of them is in position to net the ball
as it comes across. To be able to centre on
the run is no mean feat, but to keep all
one's own forwards on side at the same time
is ever so much better. This is a matter cf
real importance. How often do we seu cx-
treme wing forwards make brilliant runs
for three parts of the field, only to send
past or dally at the corner flag until the ball
is taken from them when by the slightest
exercise of judgment they could have
centred the ball as I have shown, and so
seen their work crowned by a goal.
What Constitutes a Good "Winger "
To
be a successful wing player, one must
be fast rather than tricky. Should one's
own goal be besieged and the ball come out
from a defender, it invariably goes to the
extreme winger, for it is to him the whole
side look to raise the siege. One sharp,
fleeting run from him nullifies all the work
of the other side, and if there be another
forward up to support him it may be the
turn of the other side to defend their goal.
And this brings me. to an oft-debated
problem—Should extreme wing players
come back and help their hall-backs? Most
emphatically I say no. If the hard-wrought
half-back requires help, let him get it from
the inside forward. The outside man re-
quires all his strength and stamina for
those long, punishing goal-to-goal runs of
which I have just spoken. And how can a
player
go
back tol extricate his half--ba,ek
from a difficult position, work the ball be-
tween,
say,
a. couple of opponents, and then
set off on a 70 yards' ruri, after having been
charged or otherwise mauled for possession
of the ball? It cannot be done. A soldier
cannot at once be a skirmisher and a mem-
ber of the regular firing line; and no more
can an extreme wing player carry war into
the enemy's ground and at the same time
go back and defend his own territory. An
extreme wing player is an attacker all the
time, and should leave the defending 'to
others.
Speed is Necessary.
While speed is everything to an outside
man, he must also be an expert dribbler,
though not to the extent of an inside or
centre-forward. He is not so often called
upon as they to weave. his
way
through his
opponents' lines. But he must have that
command over the ball which will prevent
his over-running it or his waiting opponent
getting hold of it, while, of course, he must
be able to pass and centre accurately on
the run. Unless he can do this he will avail
uothing, even if be have the speed of a
Duffy or a Downer. To deceive your op-
ponent is, of course, the first principle of
every one. The forward who hopes to de-
ceive the opposing half or full back must be
possessed of a, fair amount of skill and judg-
ment. He Trust have a number of tricks
up his sleeve, as it weze, and work them.
judiciously. Thus, if he feints to pass an
opponent on the inside, and instead slips
round him on the touch-line, he will have
the sense to vary that before the trick be-
comes stale. Similarly, if he sprints round
the full back at the corner flag and gets in
an accurate centre, he will not attempt this
on every occasion. The back will soon
learn to wait for your final " dart" past, and
will throw himself at you to block your
passage; in which case you will simply
deaden the ball; touch it to one side, and
you will have a clear road for goal.
Sundry Hints.
Any advice on shooting should come from
inside forwards. It is the business of the
extreme forward to make openings, and of
the inside men to turn them to account.
Any hints I give there are meant
particularly for extreme forwards
only. Practise centring on the run.
Learn to trap the ball dead.
Never give the full back much scope to get
rid of the ball. Don't sacrifice dribbling
power for speed, else you will often lose con-
trol of the ball. Always keep to the touch-
line. Keep the ball low, and pass with the
side of the foot. Always lie a little in ad-
vance of your inside inan. Never shoot
from the corner flag ; always centre, as I
have told you, backwards, not squarely or
€orward. Be unselfish.
New-Skin has been descrir,ed as a God-
send to footballers, and many assert that
there is nothing better for patching up
wounds, scratches, and scrapes such as they
are bound to suffer from. It is a waterproof
liquid court plaster, and has antiseptic
qualities which effectively destroy all geiins
that may be on the wound. New-Skin
causes quick healing, and
it
has the advan-
tage of adhering so firmly to any wound
that the place can be washed with soap and
water like the surrounding skin without be-
coming detached.
The Great Scottish National Weekly
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