Football tactics and the history of the modern game are analysed in this in depth book which is a must for any fan of the game. Informative, well researched and highly readable.

Synopsis

Whether it's Terry Venables keeping his wife up late at night with diagrams on scraps of paper spread over the eiderdown, or the classic TV sitcom of moving the salt & pepper around the table top in the transport cafe, football tactics are now part of the fabric of everyday life. Steve McLaren's switch to an untried 3-5-2 against Croatia will probably go down as the moment he lost his slim credibility gained from dropping David Beckham; Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, was often brought to task for trying to smuggle the long ball game back into English football. Here Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the modern game, traces the world history of tactics from modern pioneers right back to beginning where chaos reigned. Along the way he looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the game, and probes why the English, in particular, have 'proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract'.

Reviews

'This tome delivers a top-class, thorough, and, most importantly, engaging discussion of football tactics. Boring topic, great cover, revelatory book. Buy it.'
MAXIM

'an outstanding work, cerebral and fully engaging...the football book of the decade'
SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

'the perfect book for an serious follower of football who wants to be enlightened, educated and entertained'
GOOD BOOK GUIDE

About the Author

Jonathan Wilson is the Football Correspondent of the Financial Times and author of the critically acclaimed 'Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe'. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation