Chapter 17. Moves Which Win Matches

The history books are vague as to the actual date when the idea of kicking a bag of wind around first made a popular appeal. What we do know, however, is that more than sixty years have passed since the start of League football. That is a long time. Part of the trouble with our football of to-day is that too many players of too many teams accept it as a fact that during the years in which the game has been played everything which can possibly be done with a football has been done. It hasn't, you know. To assume that there is nothing new under the sun, no new tricks to be tried, no new moves to be worked out, is a mistake. The Dynamos from Russia taught us things about how the game can be played which we had never even thought of. Of course we are pretty quick to learn, but it is nicer to think that we can be the teachers of new ideas rather than the learners. And, of course, we have taught the world much of what it knows about football. Some of the moves worked in unison by the two Stanleys of Blackpool, Matthews and Mortensen, have been planned while the midnight oil was burning. When the Blackpool team has an away match on the programme, these two players share the same bed-room at any hotel where the players stay, and it follows that they talk football.

In the season in which they won the First Division championship, the Tottenham Hotspur men brought much variety in tactics to their programme of games. Not all their ideas were new. Some were old with a new twist, but they did at least surprise opponents. One particular move brought them eight goals in the course of a single season. Now a difference of eight goals in a season may well mean the difference between a championship won or not won. There was nothing complicated about the Spurs' goal-getting move. When the side was awarded a free-kick, say somewhere about the half-way line, the players of both sides took up positions around the penalty area towards which they knew the ball would be driven. One Tottenham player, outside left Leslie Medley, stood away from the general assembly, seemingly taking very little interest in what was going to happen. As full-back Ramsey took the kick, however, Medley started on a quick run towards goal, the object being to meet the ball with his head as it swerved over from the free-kick taken on the right. Provided the kick was accurate and the timing of the forward run just right, the outside man, with a high jump, would get to the ball first. He was on the move, running in. It follows that being on the move, he could get up higher than opponents who, of necessity, were standing more or less flat-footed waiting for the ball to come over. Those extra goals duly materialized, with some near misses thrown in.

This particular goal-getting dodge is based on two points. First comes the accurate placing of the ball from the free-kick, The second is that the kick calls for perfect timing by the player running in to meet the ball with his head. Neither of these skills presents tremendous difficulties, or even extraordinary ability.

What I like about it is the difficulty it presents, even when it it has been 'rumbled'. The move was successfully carried out against the Austrians at Wembley last season, the variation being that it was the England centre-forward Lofthouse - deadly with his head - who stood off, over on the left, until the ball was actually in transit towards goal from Ramsey's foot. Lofthouse raced in, met the ball perfectly, and the Austrian goalkeeper was helpless. Some of the Austrian defenders were so staggered that they thought Lofthouse must have been waiting in an offside position. He wasn't. He made the run in from behind the defenders.

Of course, efforts will be made, by thinking players, to find the answer to the known moves, but in trying to close one door another may be left wide open. The other side may even change their team in the attempt to find the counter. The England selectors did this recently. It was known before the Austrians came to this country that their centre-half wasn't a centre-half at all, rather a wanderer, moving frequently among his own forwards. In choosing the side to oppose Austria, the England selectors actually planned their team, switching Billy Wright to the forward line, with the admitted objective of preventing these dashes up the field by the Austrian centre-half. A series of injuries prevented the England plan from being put to the test. Many people were sorry about that, and I was left to debate with myself whether, if the original idea of giving Wright the job of watching the Austrian centre-half had been in operation, that centre-half would have been prevented from making a goal for his side.

It will be gathered from what I have said that I am not keen on the idea that tactics should be arranged, primarily, with a view to stopping the other fellows from carrying out their ideas. The team which dictates the policy has the initiative; and that is worth much.

When the Scots knew that the England team had Stanley Matthews in it, ways and means were thought out to prevent the England winger from doing his stuff. Two men - not one -were detailed to check Matthews. The England reply to that was intelligent. For considerable spells in one of the matches in which England and Scotland met, Matthews was almost completely starved, the left-winger rather than the right-winger being continually served with the ball. Stanley Gullis, the England captain, was pillored in some quarters for what was called the deliberate neglect of his star winger. But what was the use of giving the ball to a player who was so well covered and watched that he had little chance of doing anything really useful? Moreover, the 'starving' of Matthews for periods meant that the Scots defenders, whether they liked it or not, were gradually lured away from Matthews, and he was forthwith given the ball only when he had an odds-on chance of doing something really useful with it.

Some years ago Sheffield United won a Cup Final by a similar tactical move. The left-wing pair, Billy Gillespie and Fred Tunstall, were known to be the danger men of the Sheffield United side. The Cardiff City team laid their plans to scotch that left wing pair. The Sheffield reply was to do most of the attacking on the right wing, even Gillespie himself working over to that side of the field rather than keeping in close touch with his partner. Yet it was Fred Tunstall who scored the winning goal in that final, getting his chance when a switch pass was made to him at the time the Cardiff defenders were concentrated on the other.

I have mentioned a Tottenham Hotspur free-kick move which led to many goals for the side. Many free-kicks - especially those just outside the penalty area - come to nothing because referees are apt not to insist on the regulation keeping opponents ten yards away from the ball on these occasions. Even those who do measure out the ten yards allow the defenders to move up towards the ball before the free-kick is actually taken.

Much more frequently, however, such free-kicks are wasted because so little thought is put into taking them. If the defenders - may-be seven or eight - are lined up to block the way to goal no good purpose is served in banging the ball straight at them. One useful move, on such occasions, is for the player who shapes to take the kick to jump over the ball instead of kicking it, and for another player coming up behind him, to 'have a go'. The move may have the effect of creating a break in what was 11 solid line of defenders. An even more effective dodge is for the kicker of the ball - by arrangement with a near-by colleague - to make a short pass instead of a full-blooded shot. Talking of free-kicks, note well the instructions to referees that these should be taken as quickly as possible. I wish more of our referees would observe and carry out these instructions.

Before Arsenal played Huddersfield Town in the Cup Final of 1930, due note was made by our players, in conference, of the fact that the appointed referee was one of those who did permit free-kicks to be taken quickly. Plans were made accordingly. In due course a free-kick was awarded to Arsenal in the Huddersfield half of the field. In a twinkling Alex James put the ball in position, slipped it to Cliff Bastin, and then ran forward for the return pass. Before the Huddersfield Town defenders had even sensed the danger the ball was in their net from the boot of James. The move, thought out in advance, had come off. The Huddersfield players protested that the ball had been kicked off before they were ready, and I believe that Cup Final goal is still a sore point with Huddersfield people who remember it. But why should the players of a side which has broken the rules be given time in which to take up positions enabling them to escape the consequences of their own rule-breaking? Anyway, if the referee is the sort who allows a free-kick to be taken quickly, make use of the kick in the Alex James way. It can be a match-winning move. What I would do to the opponent who prevents the free-kick being taken quickly is nobody's business.

The one thing necessary to make use of the quick free-kick is the understanding between the players concerned. This applies to other match-winning moves. Last season I saw Bolton Wanderers score a goal very easily, and also very cleverly. Centre-forward Lofthouse wandered away from his middle position over to the left-wing. From there he passed the ball along the ground, square, towards Webster. As the inside left shaped to get the ball under control, the defenders, quite naturally, moved to cover him. Instead of gathering the ball, however, Webster allowed it to run on. And there was inside right Moir, all on his own, unmarked in a position to gather and shoot. Even the opposing goalkeeper was out of position, having moved to the place between the posts where he thought the ball would be most likely to go if Webster delivered the shot.

In short, the defenders in general were deceived. It is thus that matches are won. Watch that expert full-back, facing his own goal, sorely harassed by a forward of the other side. The goalkeeper advances a little. The full-back makes a dumb show of getting out of trouble by passing the ball back to him. As certain as night follows day, the worrying opponent will then be 'kidded' into turning away from the man with the ball to intercept the ball when it is passed back. But it isn't passed back. The full-back turns in the opposite direction, thus making for himself time to make a calm clearance which can be of real value to his side. There are some footballers who send a postcard to their opponents with the details of intentions clearly set out. By all means send the post-card, but having sent it, do something entirely different.

Has it ever occurred to you that there are fellows who play what is called a 'blinder' even though only touching the ball occasionally? It can be done. The centre-forward can do it, and here is a typical move which can be recommended by reason of the goals which have accrued from it. (I have seen Tom Finney, the Preston North End winger, helped to several goals in this way). The ball is passed to Finney, and as it goes in his direction the Preston centre-forward runs off, ahead of the winger and towards the side-line. The centre-forward calls for the ball, but he doesn't really expect the call to be answered, doesn't even want it to be. As he runs towards the touch-line, :he probability is that he will be chased by the opposing left jack or by the centre-half, or even that both of them will move n his direction. If this happens, Finney can then cut into the i) pen space, carrying danger to the goal with him. Should the opponents, being wise to the decoy move, decide to ignore the centre-forward, then the ball can be duly passed to him, and the extreme winger, cutting in without the ball, is in a position to make use of the return pass. Quick, slick moves, double purpose affairs even, designed to split wide open even the best organized of defences! The moves which win matches...

From the kick-off the ball is passed forward to the inside right, who plays it sideways to the left-half. These moves give time for the right-half to run far up the field into position to receive the long pass at shooting distance.

A two-man effort which produced a quick goal from the kick-off in a Cup Final. Instead of the usual short pass, the centre-forward hit the ball hard over to the wing, where it was taken up by the outside man, who made ground. The centre-forward was in the penalty area ready for the cross from the wing.

Fig 10

Don't forget, either, that in any match, the sooner you get the other fellows worried and flurried the better. This idea was always in the forefront of the Arsenal plans.

One move is mentioned to illustrate the point. It being Arsenal's turn to take the kick-off from the centre of the field to start the match, our centre-forward set the ball rolling in the orthodox fashion - a short pass to an inside wing man. That insider would then back-pass to a wing-half. While this was happening, Jack Crayston, the other Arsenal wing-half, was racing up the field as fast as he could go, past the opposing centre-half. The ball was then banged in his direction.

Sometimes the move worked as if the other fellows weren't fully awake. More important was it, so far as the run of the play was concerned, that it had our opponents wondering what in the world we were up to; wondering what we were doing, instead of concentrating on what they intended to do. Get the other fellows on the hop - quickly!

I am always sceptical of the stories we read each football season about some side having broken the record in the time taken to score from the first kick-off. The claim is sometimes made that a goal has been scored in fewer seconds, from the sound of the first whistle, than it would take a fast runner to get from the centre-circle to within shooting distance of the goal even if he didn't have to worry about the ball. All the same, it is true that goals have been scored in double-quick time, and the value of such quick goals can scarcely be overestimated. There is no good excuse for getting into a rut even when it comes to the kick-off. There are good reasons for trying something different.

The other day, chatting over old times with Tommy Glidden, the former winger of West Bromwich Albion, he told me of a kick-off plan, thrashed out before-hand, which put the Albion players in the way of receiving Cup-winners medals. Twice in the same match the move was tried. Once it nearly came off, and once it did come off. Taking the first kick from the middle of the field circle, centre-forward 'Ginger' Richardson didn't just tap the ball to a near-by pal; instead he sent the ball forward, with a long kick, over to the left-wing. Moving ahead as the ball was kicked, outside left Wood ran on to it, and made quick progress with it as centre-forward Richardson raced up the middle. The ball was swung back from the wing, into the penalty area, and Richardson met it with his head. Almost literally, the ball was in the net from the centre of the field with two kicks and one header.

Glidden's memory of the rich haul from that unorthodox kick-off suggested another tactical point. If the other side has scored a goal, it isn't a bad idea to roll up your sleeves in the effort to get your own back before the opposition has fully recovered from their natural excitement about scoring themselves.

Some players get tremendously elated over the scoring of a goal. One of the most striking of football pictures impressed on my mind is connected with the goal by which Charlton Athletic beat Burnley in the Cup Final of 1947. Chris Duffy, the Charlton outside left, seized on what was little more than a half chance to send the ball into the net. As he saw it lying there he threw up both his hands. Then, as his colleagues rushed in his direction to offer congratulations Duffy started an amazing run, in the direction of his own goal, darting this way and that until he got to left back Shrieve, around whom he threw his arms, and the two of them gave a good imitation of a war dance. All very natural, very human, too. I wonder, however, if, just then, those Charlton players were in the right mood to hold up a Burnley attack if the side which were then a goal behind had put everything into an effort to get level again.

It isn't easy to keep cool when you have just got your noses in front in an important match, but the effort to cultivate calm is worth while. It does of course, offer a good chance to get in another blow before the enemy have recovered from the one dealt out to them.

As for the players who have just had the goal chalked up against them, they must remember that the way back is not by panic, but by making an extra effort in which every member of the side doesn't rush all over the place trying to do the job which should properly be done by somebody else. In the battle of wits, the players who keep their heads are the likeliest to get through on their feet. A move here, a counter-move there.

A few final words on the subject of tricks and dodges which win matches. However good the move, it will lose much of its value if it is continually repeated. Brains are not the exclusive possession of the players of one side on the football field. The others will do some thinking too. The way to success is to out-think them. Try things - new things. Opponents who spend their time guessing are on the road which ends in defeat. Your job as an individual, your job as a member of the team, is to get them guessing - wrong.