Madam, - How refreshing to see the word "dribble" in an article about football. Sportswriters rarely seem to use the word nowadays, which is probably a reflection on the English game. Expressing his admiration for his compatriot Robinho, the new Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, said: "He tried to dribble many times" (Sports Weekend, August 23rd).
When I started following football in 1966, shortly after England won the World Cup for the first and only time, there were many fine dribblers in English football: Charlie Cooke at Chelsea, George Armstrong at Arsenal, Eddie Gray at Leeds, Rodney Marsh at QPR - and of course, the greatest of them all, George Best at Manchester United. It was a great pleasure to see them running at defenders, teasing and tantalising them with their exquisite ball control.
In the modern game, Cristiano Ronaldo isn't a bad dribbler, though he's too tall to excel at the art and his style is rather unconventional. I look forward to seeing Robinho, if Chelsea can prise him away from Real Madrid, adding some excitement to the English Premier League and forcing sportswriters to use this much underused verb more often. - Yours, etc,
JOE PATTON,
The Court,
Dunboyne,
Co Meath.