Page:Football, The Association Game.djvu/82

 should never on any account be tempted to dribble. Backs, to be of real service loo, require to exercise a great deal of judgment, as they have it in their power, by going forward on occasions, to keep the opposite forwards if they get too far up off-side. Backs, moreover, have often to stand a good deal of the heavy work, and it is necessary therefore that they should have pluck as well as a certain amount of weight. As a general rule, when pressed they will find it expedient to send the ball well away to the wings. They must, too, not get so near the posts as to hamper or prevent the goal-keeper getting a good sight of the ball. The whole system of defence, though, is of such interest that it will be of great use if I give the views of perhaps the two greatest defensive players the game has produced, Messrs. A. M. and P. M. Walters, incomparably the best pair of full backs we have ever seen.

"In discussing the defence, there are essentially two systems to which alone attention need to be drawn. First, the independent, where every man acts for himself; secondly, the combined, or that system which recognizes that 'prevention is better than cure.' The independent system consists, as it were, of two ranks entirely separate from each other, in which the front rank, or, in other words, the half^ backs, bear the brunt of the attack, and it is only when their defence is broken through that the backs are brought into action. This system obviously requires that the half-backs shall not only be first-rate players, but also in first-class condition, since not being assisted by the backs until the very last possible moment, they are in a minority of three to five, in addition to which as soon as they are passed they have to get back as quickly as they can.

"In the combined system, on the other hand, there is no hard and fast line between backs and half-backs, though of