ORTH
— Hugo Meisl | 19/10/1920 —

The spectators, who were otherwise enthusiastic about free kicks, corners, penalties and points in the championship games, left the fight more or less apathetic. All attention was focused on Orth.

The more one observed Orth, the more pleasure and delight one found not only in this magnificent footballer himself, but in the art of football in general. Now that the thousands upon thousands, free from club fanaticism, were able to watch a worthy representative, continuously really first-class football, countless of these locally blinded club supporters realized what modest pleasures of their favorites they had to be content with every Sunday.

Orth seemed to please everyone, the layman, the professional, the aesthete, and the naturalist. For some, his first tremendous goal was inspiring, while others were enthusiastic about his body movements.

Orth's strongest quality is his solid understanding of the game. He counts on the weaknesses of his partners and opponents. He sees and feels the flight and course of the ball in advance. This allows Orth, who doesn't seem to break a sweat, to get possession of the ball more often than any other wildly struggling player. The ability to place, a direct consequence of the comprehension challenge, counteracts any unnecessary expenditure of strength in Orth. Orth, who is technically far ahead of his partners, dribbles a lot less than them. He knows the situation exactly before he comes to the ball, and if the leather reaches him, he does not hesitate to use it immediately in the most appropriate way. That is why his actions, which are in themselves quite simple, are so peculiar. With the very simplest deflection of the ball with his foot, which can also be easily carried out by many other footballers. Upper body or head, Orth looks much more successful than others with the most exotic and strenuous running, jumping and jostling actions. The game of football is a science, and the simpler and more unselfishly one pursues it, the easier one achieves one's objectives.

In the absence of the excellent British professionals, Orth can serve as a good example for us in this regard. However, most of its benefits can only be obtained through intensive training. Orth's stopping, low mid-pass, body tricking and headplay are all skills that can only be acquired through tireless systematic practice, and then only by the most mentally and physically fit young players. Orth has had no equal partners since Schaffer and Kálmán Konrád left, at most Schlosser, and he no longer belongs to the most inmodern school. Orth is one of the few footballers who shoots from the joint and who also masters the ball in all positions with both feet. You could never perceive the damned unreliable snitching in Orth; his pure instep kicking is a feast for the eyes.

We're not that lucky right now to use any of our best footballers as a comparison to Orth. Wieser, Kuthan or others may be relatively more direct, but Orth is currently unmatched for style and class.

Where there is light there is also shadow and Orth also revealed some serious weaknesses that have prevented him from being a full force in the top-flight English league these days. It would take months, maybe even longer, of training before Orth, like the Danish Middelboe, could find his way into the British hard and fast professional game. As I said, Orth is technically excellent, but too slow and too soft. Whether his often inconvenient lagging behind is due to inadequate support from his half-backs and full-backs is beyond discussion here. But one has to state that Orth, despite the dazzling performance, is only an emergency forward. He is, and every sensible footballer must see this, not an ideal forward due to a lack of speed and penetrating power, but a half-back, in which capacity he is able to render invaluable services to a club and representative team. Orth has excellent skills as a half-back, and when MTK and Hungary have full-fledged forwards again, teams with Orth as a half-back will come into their own.