Football: The Association Game/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII
THE FORWARDS.
The theory of forward play is, of course, to make the attack as powerful as it can possibly be without placing any undue stress on any particular part, or giving more than his fair share of the work to any individual member. The ruling principle must be a system of co-operation between the five players to produce the most effective possible working. The wings should be carefully selected with regard to their special qualifications to play outside or inside; and it is hardly necessary to add that there are special qualifications in each case in the shape of a left-footed player for the left wing, and vice versâ; of fleetness of foot for the outer place, and suchlike. It is essential that there should be a thorough understanding between the five; otherwise much of the labour is wasted. To ensure an approach to perfection, the passing must be on a definite principle, and one in which the wings and the centre are thoroughly in accord. On this "hang," indeed, "the law and the prophets."
Something more than mere unselfishness, I may point out, is requisite to be of real use. A forward may be the very opposite of selfish, but, at the same time, if he parts with the ball injudiciously and without carefully watching the movement of his own forwards, and weighing the possibilities of his passing in relation to them, his assistance is of a negative character, and, in fact, he has often been of greater service to the opposite side, A well-constituted forward team is indeed the thoroughness of mechanical precision. The attainment of a high standard in this direction is, however, it will be readily understood, only the outcome of careful thought and constant practice. Forwards, however, one and all, should be quick on the ball, as well as with their feet, full of resolution, and with plenty of decision. Modern football does not necessitate the exceptional amount of skill in dribbling which was essential to the attainment of any great reputation thirty years ago. The change in the general character of the game has caused the dribbler pure and simple to become extinct, but still dribbling is necessary to the education of a football player now, though not of paramount importance, as it was then. Nor is the possession of physical force a sine quâ non as it was in the early days of the great football revival. A player, to reach a position of any prominence, must be of good constitution and, withal, have plenty of stamina to enable him to hold his own in face of the extreme pace of a game from start to finish as it is nowadays. What I am trying to point out, though, is that tactical skill has more to do, in the present-day arrangement, with the attainment of success than of old.
Football culture, in fact, now requires perhaps a higher combination of talents; and the scientific tactics of an Association eleven of to-day are only the natural development of thought and experience. The best elevens of late years have emphatically been those who have been managed on a system carefully thought out and the result of wise elaboration. The first application of any real method in the attack, in the south at least, was by W. N. Cobbold, the old Carthusian, during his captaincy of the Cambridge University eleven of 1885. One of the most skilful forwards of the modern school, he was the first, as far as my knowledge goes, to evolve the mechanical precision which has been continued by his successors in office, and bids fair to be perpetuated in Cambridge elevens. His opinions on combination in attack are, too, of such value that it will be of interest to reproduce a portion of them for the benefit in particular of those who have passed through the preliminary stages of Association football.
"The first idea of any forward should be that he is only a connecting link in a chain which should, as a rule, be kept in line, and that the whole secret of good play lies in combination.
"As regards actual combination, my firm belief is that a judicious mixture of long and short passing is the most effective. If the ball be near one's own goal, let it be at once transferred to the outside right or left, as the case may be, and let him, in conjunction with his partner, go down the wing. When the time comes for middling (unless occasion shall have arisen before for him to pass), let him send the ball hard right across, along the ground if possible, or close to it, thus giving the centre and the other wing men all a chance. The time for middling comes, as a rule, some time before the goal-line is reached, for a forward should rarely, if ever, try to get round the last back, but middle just before he comes to him. How often is a really good run down the wing spoilt by a middle coming too late, when the backs have returned to defend the goal, or by a high centre, which an opposing back has no difficulty in heading away! Each forward must be always ready to receive the ball; and particularly let the centre place himself 
"When the time comes for shooting, the forward should not make straight for the goal-keeper, as then there will be but little room to shoot past him. A good cross shot is the best; and often, too, a shot with the outside of the foot will quite puzzle the goal-keeper, as he cannot tell to which side of the goal it is going. Some goal-keepers who are efficient at saving lofty shots will often fail at a low shot, and vice versâ. Therefore, let the forward note his opportunity, and shoot according to circumstances. When the ball is near the opponents* goal it should be kept as much as possible to the three inner men. Much time is wasted by sending it out to the outside men, and at the same time it is almost impossible for them to shoot with success if the goal-keeper is of any use. When, however, the ball is centred, say, from the left wing, in my opinion the inside right should be about opposite to the right goal-post, and the outside right should not be more than eight or ten yards beyond him, which may give him a good chance of an easy cross shot. Backs and half-backs must be able to head, and a forward ought to be able to do so, but it is not nearly so necessary for him.
"A great many forwards head too much in front of goal, and lose chance after chance, for it stands to reason that it is easier for a goal-keeper to save a shot that is in the air than to save a really fast low shot from the foot Often I have seen a good middle hopelessly spoilt by the centre (though he could but touch the ball with a tuft of hair) turning it aside harmlessly to a back or the goal-keeper, or, more commonly, behind the goal-line, when the forward beyond him would have had a clear shot In conclusion, forwards should remember to 'hustle,' that is, hamper, the opposing half-backs and backs, and endeavour to prevent them getting their kicks."
The advice of such a master of the art of attack as W. N. Cobbold will be thoroughly valued, even if it can only be fully appreciated by those who have acquired a certain amount of proficiency in the game, and have passed their "little go" in the curriculum of football. In the ordinary way, a young player will learn more by practical experience and in emulating the style and tactics of really skilful opponents than in any amount of written instruction, however capable the writer.
The qualifications for a good forward have already been enumerated. Though in the main the same qualities are required in the case of each of the five forwards, there are, none the less, attributes which are more valuable in a centre than in a wing player, and vice versâ. A centre, in particular, should be possessed of all the football virtues. He should have a certain amount of pace; but, more than all, he should be a strong as well as a safe kick, and with either foot, as well as a dead shot when near the opposite goal. As he has to do at times a lot of heavy work, and he is, as a rule, very carefully watched, particularly if he is of any exceptional capacity, he should be possessed of some weight He is, to a great extent, the pivot on which the attack works, and his play, if he is above the average, is of infinite variety. When the ball is in the enemy's half, or at any distance from his own goal, his powers are less severely taxed, although he must always be the main or connecting link in the line of attack. In such cases he has, perhaps, better opportunities of setting in his own person an example of method and, at the same time, the advantages of combination. He should be on the alert to see in the simultaneous advance of the line which of the wings is in a better position when he is in danger of any serious obstruction himself, and directly he is likely to be stopped by one of the opposite side he should pass out to the wing without the smallest hesitation. There must, of course, be discretion as well as accuracy in the passing. Whether the exigencies of the situation should require this to be long or short, as a rule it is advisable to keep the ball low rather than lift it. High kicking is, indeed, under any circumstances likely to destroy its own object In the case of a high wind it is not easy to do it to a nicety, and, moreover, if the ball is sent in the air, it gives the opposite backs a chance of getting to it and of heading it away. The changes in a game of football as it is now played, though, are so rapid that the whole secret of success is to guage the precise merits of the opposition with a certain degree of accuracy, and to adopt the play of one's self and one's side to the exigencies of each situation as it arises.
I have given at some length the general requirements to form a really good centre. The inner wing players require, in a great measure, the same qualities, as their mission is, in the ordinary course, to feed the outside men, as well as to keep thoroughly in touch with the centre. The aim of all the forwards should of course be to have the line of the advance as complete as is possible. By this I mean that when one player has the ball, the others should be able to anticipate with some degree of certainty to whom he will pass, and the time at which such pass will be made. The latter will depend in a great measure on the positions of his own forwards, on the one hand, and on the other the amount of the opposition he is likely to meet on his way to the enemy's goal.
The player on the extreme outside, known as the outer wing, should be possessed of speed, for he often gets a chance of showing his pace, and very frequently a long pass out either from the centre or even the other side of the ground enables him to get well away almost without fear of opposition until he reaches the last line of defence. The fault of many even of the best outer wing players is to stick too long to the ball in the hope of getting ultimately well within range of the goal-keeper. As a rule, such delay is fatal, for it enables the enemy's back to return in time to cover their posts, and the attack is in every sense a failure. An experienced player would instead have foreseen this possibility, and have got rid of the ball to the centre before the opposite backs could have recovered their positions sufficiently to be able to hamper him. That side is the most dangerous in attack in which the passing shows the least hesitation. Precipitancy is as much to be avoided—but the judgment requisite to attain perfection in passing is sure to come with experience. Close dribbling is neat, and dodgy play naturally appeals to the gallery. It is "magnificent, but it is not war," and forwards who affect this kind of game cannot be too soon displaced for others who are capable of grasping the great aim of the football strategist.
I have confined my remarks on the science of passing entirely to the forwards. It must not be forgotten, though, that the half-backs have something of the mission of the mounted infantry in military tactics. They have their value as offensive as well as defensive players, and, in fact, form a means of communication not only between the two wings, but between all the forwards in cases of urgency. The possibilities of forward play are too numerous to be dealt with in the limit of one chapter, and it will be sufficient for the purpose of this small volume to point out the chief essentials to completeness of combination.
One notable defect in many elevens, particularly in the South of England, is the want of attention shown by forwards in keeping off the opposite backs. The practice of obstructing—I mean legitimate obstruction, of course, by preventing him getting his kick—a back by one forward when another is making headway with the ball, is not so well carried out by many English teams as it should be. It ought to be a ruling principle, when the play is anywhere near the goal, for one or other of the forwards to impede and prevent the backs getting at the ball either by heading or kicking. Such tactics often demoralize the defence, and certainly destroy a great deal of its efficacy.
The same remark will apply with even greater force to the goal-keeper, who should be worried at every opportunity, so as to neutralize his efficiency as much as possible. The corner-kick, in particular, should be utilized to this purpose; but, under any circumstances, the goalkeeper should, wherever it is practicable, be marked by the centre or one of the inner wing players, who should rush him so as to hinder him getting a chance of removing the ball.
It may appear superfluous to add that forwards should stick to their positions. The essence of combination is systematic working, and unless there is •method the forwards cannot be doing their duty. Each player should, indeed, as a general rule, shadow one of the opposite side, and this cannot be done unless each keeps fairly well to the position assigned to him. I have said already that passing along the ground is, in a great majority of cases, more likely to be of use than when the ball is sent to any height. The advantage is that it is mostly much easier to take the pass while in full swing. It may be accepted, too, as a general principle, that short passing will be of more real use than long, and, indeed, as a rule, it is only under special circumstances that the latter should be adopted.