Page:Football, The Association Game.djvu/75

 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