Kevin Whitcher
I am currently about halfway through reading a new novel by James Durose-Rayner titled ‘I am Sam’. It’s about the twists and turns in the life of an Arsenal supporting football documentary maker, who is making a film about the 1960s/early 70s Arsenal midfielder Jon Sammels. We will be interviewing the author and hopefully Jon himself in due course (the latter more probably in the printed fanzine itself), but in the meantime, reading the book has provided me with an excuse to look up the odd video on YouTube and the ITN news archive website.
One particular one I caught yesterday (above) suggested to me by James caught my imagination, because, in the light of Arsenal’s recent win at Manchester City (and the attendant change in tactical approach), it was interesting to hear Arsenal captain Frank McLintock as a studio guest on ‘The Big Match’ the day after a particular game in late November 1970 had been played. This was of course, the season in which the Gunners went on to win the league and FA Cup double. Arsenal had been at home to Liverpool and triumphed 2-0. After highlights of the game, presenter Brian Moore handed over to Jimmy Hill who chatted with Frank.
The conclusions from the exchange, in 2015, is that although in many senses, football may be a very different game now, on the pitch, aspects of it remain very similar, in terms of what it takes to win a game and how a successful team can come together. Anyway, should you not have time to watch the video clip above, here are the choicest bits of the exchange between Jimmy Hill and McLintock…
Describing the build up to his team’s opening goal, in which a one-two between George Graham and Jon Sammels ended in the net…
Frank McLintock: The Arsenal forwards do a lot of challenging here, putting the [Liverpool] defence under pressure.
Jimmy Hill: It’s indicative of the Arsenal method, the way in which you put defences under pressure to win the ball. I don’t think sometimes the supporters really understand this because they look upon you as a hard grinding side, but you have to win it before you can play that kind of football [referring to the sumptuous opening goal]
FM: It’s very difficult to keep these tackles [going] in if you’re diving from one player to another. You have to get it done collectively by your forwards or else you’ll just get shattered after 20 minutes. And you can see by that [first] goal, there were about three players involved. There was Peter Storey, Jon Sammels and George Graham and eventually, we won the ball, a good one-two and we finished up with the goal.
Asked about whether manager Bertie Mee has a problem in not knowing his best eleven due to a luxury of choice, McLintock responded that he did not see it as a disadvantage “in the long run. It can be [a problem] until eventually they find the perfect blend, which must be there. And it may just happen by accident. Maybe somebody gets injured and another player might come in and it might just be the perfect blend.
