Page:Football, The Association Game.djvu/73

, 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 [sic] the precise merits of the opposition with a certain degree of accuracy, and to adopt the play of one's