Michael Moynihan: Out of sight shouldn't mean out of mind
Packie Bonner says Ireland's draw against Holland at Italia 90 looked a lot different on the pitch than on television. ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
A few years ago I picked up the book Take Your Eye Off The Ball by Pat Kirwan, an American football analyst. The subtitle explains its mission clearly enough: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look.
Kirwan made a persuasive argument in the book about training yourself to appreciate the subtleties of elite American football by using the strategy outlined in the title. Instead of automatically tracking the ball in play, the astute observer forces him- or herself to look away, counterintuitive though that seems, to trace the wider patterns in the action.
