THE ROUND BALL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 276, 3 September 1936, Page 3

THE ROUND BALL

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL NOTES. FORWARD PLAY. (By K.R.G.H.) The business of the forwards is to get goals. It may seem ridiculous to start a chapter on forward play with these words, but to watch some forwards play one might well imagine that they had no thought of scoring goals. The “W” Formation. Just as there are two theories about the disposition and tactics of your halfbacks, so you will find two different theories as to the best tactics to be adopted by the forwards. A great many teams favour what is known as the “W” formation, i.e., they reduce their real attack to three forwards, the centre and his two outsides, and keep the two insides hanging well back to act as foragers. This “W” formation is no new thing, it was well known to players even in the last century, but whereas in those days the two insides were never very far behind the rest of the forwards, and nearly always contrived to get up into line for the final movement of the attack. Nowadays the depth of the “W” is exaggerated. This is due, of course, to the new off-side rule, which allows the forwards to be many yards farther* up the field and the result has been that instead of a whole line of forwards working the ball up the field by means of dribbling and passing, we see the advance being conducted by means of long passes made by the insides to one of the three advance forwards. If we really wish to appreciate the change that lias taken place we have only to consult the tables of leading goal-scor-ers. You will see that the outside forwards score many more goals than the insides and almost as many as the cen-tre-forwards. This reason is, of course, that your insides are now doing the work that used to'be done by an attacking half-back, and the attack depends for its success more upon a sudden movement, i.e., surprise attack, than upon accuracy and precision of movement by the line as a whole. Dangers of the “W” Formation. With experts this form of attack may be very successful for the hall is made to do the work; that is to say there is a minimum of dribbling and running about and progress is made by means of long passes. This means that the attacks are executed veiy speedily, for obviously the ball travels more quickly than a man can dribble it. The result is that the defence is never quite sure from what quarter danger will threaten next. But, as I have suggested, it needs a very good line of forwards to exploit this method to the best advantage. In the first place, you are reducing your real attack to three forwards instead of five. Obviously, therefore, your three attackers must he something out of the ordinary, for they will often have to press home their attack against five defenders, exclusive of the goal-keeper. In the first place they must all be good shots with either foot, for though you may reasonably expect a goal now and then from your insides or from one of your half-hacks, you are relying chiefly on these three men to get goals for you. Secondly, they must have absolute ball control, so that they may be able to gather the hall in their stride and beat one, and sometimes two men. Thirdly, they should he possessed of good physique, especially the centreforward. The wing men will usually have a bit of latitude given to them and can generally get the hall under control before they are tackled, hut the centre-forward has generally a very difficult task, for he is often tackled the very moment he receives the ball and even if ho shakes him off he will probably* find he has to beat one if not, two backs. He must, therefore, be clever with his feet and possessed of a certain amount of pace, and in addition he should have two good shoulders and know how to rise them.

But even these qualities are not all. He must be a good shot, for having won his' way clear of the opposing half and backs he will generally find himself unsupported. There will be no inside forward lying handy to whom lie may pass the ball for the final shot at goal. For this very reason I doubt the wisdom of a young team adopting this plan of campaign, but if the plan commends itself to them, then I would suggest that they modify it to a certain extent and arrange that one inside forward should contrive to get up in the line for the final thrust. Thus, if your inside-left has the ball in mid-field, your inside-right should at once run up into line so that he is ready to give support to either the centre-forward or the outside-right.

Continuing on forward play, I will, in my next article, deal with “the need for drawing the defence.”

“Import a Coach.” Competent, regular and systematic coaching is needed (writes “Centre F. ’ in an exchange, discussing the lessons to be learned from the Australian visit). The oft-discussed scheme to bring a coach from England is not impracticable. At least it probably has a better chance of realisation than any proposal to receive a visit from a first-class English or Scottish amateur team, and its benefits would be considerably greater. Meanwhile, the need of some coaching by the best men and means available is urgent. Soccer here a few years ago was of a higher standard, generally than it is now. If more of the men who helped to make it so would come forward now, they could do much toward restoring it to its old level.