Meeting A World Cup Legend

I was fortunate enough to meet George Cohen recently – what a lovely bloke! He was mostly talking about his 1966 experiences and his successful battles with cancer. He did, however, remark that too many full backs are ball watching when they should be watching the player they’re marking. This means that they can often be seen running backwards half-turned, making it easy for their opponent to get past them. He said he’s seen coaches getting players to run along narrow lines and getting them to turn on the shout of “Turn”. No wonder the great man was horrified. Surely, even the most junior of coaches must realise that this is completely useless unless wingers are made to shout “Turn” every time they attack. It beggars belief that professional footballers are being coached in this way. It’s on a par with teaching people to dribble by setting out a slalom of cones. It’s already been 46 years since England won the World Cup. Until the principles of sports vision become more widely understood and practiced, it could be at least another 46 years before we win it again. David Donner