VII. — LEFT HALF-BACKS
— Gabriel Hanot | 27/06/1924 —

If there were, during the world football championship, players who went unnoticed, the left half-backs were certainly among them. Or rather, the vast majority of left-halves who stood out must have been noticed more for their notorious insufficiency than for their positive value. Thus, the Uruguayan left-half Ghierra was clearly inferior to the rest of his teammates. He was even replaced, in the match against the United States, by Tomassina, who also did not give satisfaction and who in turn gave way to the benefit of the first holder. The South American leaders before whom I emphasized the class difference between Ghierra and his partners, told me that in Montevideo there is a half-left at least as good as Andrade, but who was held back by his business in his native country.

Let us also cite the example of Sweden's Sundberg, for whom the ball and the opponent were fleeting shadows. Similarly, the Belgian Schelstraete, a career soldier, who had left the hospital the day before the tournament where he had fallen from his horse, was a cripple on the field, deprived of physical means and confidence.

Not all left-halves were so disappointing. The Spaniard Peña, the Italian Aliberti, the Czech Mahrer, the Dutch Horsten, had moments of brilliance, but also periods of eclipse, during which they disappeared from circulation and let themselves be forgotten.

Bonnardel himself, during the capital France-Uruguay match, played, if one can express it, scattered. He who usually intervenes with such aptness, hesitated between monitoring the winger Urdinarán and the offensive insider Scarone. He gave the impression of a man seated between two chairs; his action did not rise above the average. In addition, he confined himself too strictly to defense and he helped his backs rather than supporting his forwards. It is true that the liaison, the inside left Curt, behaved miserably.

However, if it were necessary to designate the left-half of the representative team of the Olympic tournament, I believe that the Bonnardel of the France-England match would deserve to be assigned to the left-half position.

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Gabriel Hanot: Best players at the 1924 Olympics