Chapter 16. Planning for Victory

Not long ago a young player joined the staff of one of our First Division clubs. The manager of that club was included among the many who put considerable faith in what might be called planning for victory, on behind-the-scenes talks, with a blackboard at hand. The blackboard was duly produced and the new player was among those called upon to watch. The corks were placed in position to represent players, and the manager proceeded, in his learned way, to move one lot of corks - those representing his team - to left and right, explaining the move as he went along. At the end of the moves, the cork centre-forward was in a perfect position to bang the ball into the net.

The manager turned to the new player: 'You see how it is done, don't you?' The new player, being of the blunt outspoken type, didn't stop to think. 'It looks good', he said, 'but while our fellows were planning that goal, what were the other beggars doing?'

In that one question the new player had pointed out, in plain language, the limitations to all this planning business, this effort to win matches off the field. What the other fellows do is certainly important. Those other fellows have a way of putting a spoke in the wheel, of making a mess of the most carefully laid plans. That is the simple truth. Equally true is it, however, that many important matches have been won, almost literally, before the first kick has been made at the ball. The plans for victory were well laid.

It is fully realized, of course, that in regard to planning, the thousands of players who make up the Saturday afternoon games can't possibly copy exactly the examples of the first-class clubs. For one thing, they aren't nearly so much together during the week. But they can take a leaf or two out of the planning books of the big clubs. For example, it is not beyond the range of possibility for the players of every club to hold a brief 'inquest' after each game. Why did we win? Or, more important - why did we lose? Gould anything different have been done - something to prevent that all-important goal from the enemy inside right?

The big clubs certainly consider it worth while to hold these inquests, even getting modern science to help. James Seed, manager of Charlton Athletic, has gone so far as to have full-length films taken of matches played by his team. The pictures are duly produced, with the most interesting or vital parts run through in slow motion, at the weekly talks with the players. Valuable lessons can be learnt by playing a match over again, and within limits the players of all football clubs can do this.

Perhaps it isn't quite right to use the word 'inquest' in relation to these after-the-match conferences. It definitely is not the right word if it is translated into an inquiry to fix the blame. That isn't what the review of a match is for. The purpose is to learn something from the discussion which will be of value in future games. These talks then, are item number one as a means of preparation for the next contest. Item number two is a concentrated study of the forthcoming opponents.

During that part of the season when Cup-ties are on, with the draw often bringing into opposition clubs which do not meet in the ordinary course of the League programme, the big clubs go to great pains to plan for victory. An expert is sent to spy on forthcoming opponents; to assess, as far as possible, their style of play, their strong points and their weaknesses. Let me hasten to add that these plans don't necessarily mean that the match will be won. Both teams can't win, and as both clubs have made plans - have had their spies out - the result may depend on which club has made the better plans, or succeeds in carrying them out.

Watching your opponents isn't always infallible. For one thing, the best-laid plans can't take full account of human nature, or of match-to-match form. On the day the spy is watching, this or that player may be in sparkling form, while the star of the side may be having one of those days when he can do little right. Again, on the day the spy is watching the forthcoming opponents, the pitch may be inches deep in mud. On the day of the game for which the plans have been made, the pitch may be bone-dry, or so frozen as to be more like concrete than a football pitch. The side which has been under scrutiny will play a very different type of football on the two extremes of pitches. Even the make-up of the team may be different.

A question about the study of forthcoming opponents may be asked. If, in hope of making plans for victory in a Cup-tie, it is considered wise to send out a spy, why isn't the same thing done in relation to League matches? Part of the answer is that the teams which are met regularly in the course of a League programme are fairly well known. Actually, however, much more of this spying is done in relation to what might be called ordinary games than is generally supposed. Only when a Cup-tie is on the programme does the presence of a spy on the ground get publicity. The big clubs do quite a lot of routine spying even on regular opponents. Seldom, if ever, do Arsenal prepare for an ordinary League game without the manager and the players having in front of them a report, by a man who knows, about the way next Saturday's opponents played last Saturday.

As I previously hinted, such elaborate match-winning plans can't be made by all football clubs. But there is one simple and useful thing which can be done. Even the village team usually plays in a local league, and the various sides are met at least twice in the course of a season. Somebody connected with each of these clubs should make notes, concerning the first match, which can be turned to profitable account when the same opponents have to be faced again.

As I see it, quite apart from the question of whether the pre-match schemes work, there are two good features about this sort of planning. One is that it keeps the minds of the players alert. There is too much of the haphazard about our football of all grades. The way to develop a football brain is to think about the games. We all know that this applies to the individual; but it also applies to teams.

The second good point about this planning is that it inspires confidence. Take a young full-back who, in a particular match, has been repeatedly beaten by the outside right of the opposing side. When the lad knows he will be up against that same opponent on the next match-day he may work himself up into such a state that he is beaten before he goes on to the field. He is much less likely to get into this state if somebody who knows takes him on one side and tells him just how he can stop that particular outside right from making a fool of him. If he is made to feel that he can do it - well, he will probably go on to the field and do it. Confidence goes a long way in duels on the football field. The confident footballer is the better footballer.

The conferences and pre-match talks are worse than useless if they merely have the effect of giving a player - or a whole team - a bad attack of the jitters. Before Colchester United had risen to the heights of membership of the Football League, they did things in the Cup competition which carried them so far that they were eventually drawn against First Division sides. On the face of it they didn't really stand much chance of beating First Division opponents, but did the manager tell them so? He did not. He told the players - and told the world - of the secret plans which were being made to lower the colours of the giants, of special diet to make his men fitter than men had ever been, and all the rest of it. No need for them to worry about Stanley Matthews by day as well as by night. Here was the way to stop him.

All the scheming, the planning, the pre-match preparation may be of no avail. On the field of play they may be beaten by the better team. But if the planning has given the players confidence they won't be beaten before they go on to the field. They may even beat the better team. The Davids sometimes beat the Goliaths. Quite often the reason for the so-called surprise results is that the Davids have had so much confidence pumped into them that they are bubbling over with it. The young player who helped the Davids to win is noted and quickly gets the chance of playing in better company. Confidence is not a good substitute for ability, but it is an excellent support, and confidence is one of the things which the pre-match talks, the planning for victory, puts into the players.

So, keeping in mind the pitfalls associated with pre-match planning, the overall conclusion is that it is well worth while. One last word must be said about the plans, however. They must be made of elastic. Few matches between teams of more or less equal ability go completely according to plan. The other fellows do something they shouldn't have done, something which wasn't reckoned on. Then comes the test of adaptability: of suiting the play to the occasion. It may mean, in effect, the complete scrapping of the original plans. Yes, plans you make must most certainly have elastic in their composition.

A final question rises as to whether, in any case, planning for victory is worth while. After all, the game is the thing, isn't it, not the result.

Of course the game is the thing; but I suggest the game isn't real unless the players of both sides scheme, plot, and struggle for victory. Surely it is all wrong to approach a game with a shrug of the shoulders and the remark: 'The result doesn't matter, anyway'. The result does indeed matter. The aim must be victory, not victory by any means - fair or foul - but victory which comes from better play, better tactics, better planning. Where is the merit in victory for one side if the players of the other side care little about the result? If they don't put in all they have? My view is that every team owes it to the opponents to make every effort to win. To take any other line is to rob your opponents of most of the joys of victory.

At the end of it all there will be winners - and losers. If the losers have done their best, they will have no regrets. Rather, they will have sincere congratulations for their conquerors. That's the test of a game. Be good winners if you possibly can. If you can't, then be good losers.