"Sweeper Up" Is The Trend Of Modern Soccer

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31047, 30 April 1966, Page 11

"Sweeper Up" Is The Trend Of Modern Soccer

'PHE key defender in modern soccer travels under the inelegant name of the “sweeper up.” In eqiially mundane terms, he dots the i’s, crosses the t’s and sews up the loose ends. He plays in front of, alongside or behind the normal centre-half when the opposition is on attack; he must back his own forwards when they move on attack, prepared to race through the middle to unsettle the opposition defence and score while its ranks are temporarily in disarray.

This “sweeper up” goes on to the field usually with a number four or six on his back, denoting under the old order a wing-half; today, he must be all he once was and considerably more.

The present “sweeper up” tn the Canterbury team, and in his Christchurch City club side, is B. D. Gowans, elder brother of last season’s “Player of the Year,” A. W. Gowans. Canterbury, and New Zealand, would have to look long and hard to find another man with Gowans’s qualities to fill such an exacting, self-effac-ing role.

Although there are moments in a game when the “sweeper up” catches the

spectators’ imagination—that surge through the middle, that accurate pass to the wing, that long leg shot out to push the ball away from an attacker’s foot—essentially he plays an Unspectacular part. But like the “sweeper up” in the home or the street, he becomes most noticeable when his work is not done efficiently. Gowans is the ideal man for the job in the Canterbury team, and possibly only those playing with him —or against him—can appreciate to the full the amount of ground he covers In the 90 minutes of play. His plaudits are not usually the roars of delight from the crowd, but a quiet "Thanks, Brian,” from a relieved colleague he has gone to help. Gowans is the enigmatic type, the introvert who rarely shows his feelings. He would win almost any prize for sportsmanship and “gentlemanly conduct” on and off the field. But although his tackling is fair and all he does within the rules, his play is never less than completely wholehearted: he shirks nothing, neither friend nor foe, and because of that is appreciated by both.

The "sweeper-up” is now part and parcel of modem soccer, and he is also a pointer to the trend the game has taken. He is not simply a specialist but a jack of all positions, master of all. And it is this type of all-rounder who is taking over in soccer. The days of the wing who never moves from his line, the centre-forward who never strays from the middle, the full-back who never moves out of his own half of the field, the one inside-forward who plays a roaming game and the other who plays as a striker, are past. Over the years there have always been one or two players in a team who could

play equally well in all positions: today, all 11 must be able to do so. A fullback must be a forward, a forward a defender, because by the speed of modem soccers, players not so equipped will time and again find themselves out of their depth. A full-back taking the ball upfield is left a gap that transforms him into a winger or an in-side-forward: he must know how to play the part or be responsible for the movement breaking down. It is then that the winghalf must drop back to play as a full-back, the wing or an inside-forward to halfback. In time they will revert to their normal positions, but while each can

fill his new role without upsetting the rhythm of his team’s play the changeround can be made in the normal passage of the game. Tight defensive systems can be broken only by greater improvisation among the opposing forwards. The current failure to score goals in the interclub competition is being caused by controlled defensive formations mastering orthodox attacking . ideas. The goals that are being scored come from the occasional defensive error and not by, attackers powerfully and ruthlessly finishing off build-up play. And in time defensive errors will become fewer as the systems are further consolidated.