Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics - Hardcover

Wilson, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752889958 ISBN 13: 9780752889955

Publisher: Orion, 2008

Synopsis

For soccer fans, following, discussing, and arguing about the tactics a manager puts into play are part of what makes the sport so appealing. This fascinating study traces the history of soccer tactics back from such modern pioneers as Rinus Michels, Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Catenaccio, and Herbert Chapman. Along the way, author Jonathan Wilson, an erudite and detailed writer who never loses a sense of the grand narrative sweep, takes a look at the lives of the great players and thinkers who shaped the game, and discovers why the English in particular have proved themselves so “unwilling to grapple with the abstract”. This will be a modern classic of soccer writing that followers of the game will dip into again and again.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan Wilson has been the Football Correspondent of the Financial Times, and currently writes for The Independent and Independent on Sunday. Behind the Curtain was his (very well received) first book.

Review

'A masterful work, It's all deliciously nerdy - a cross between a coaching manual and a social history - and if its publication helps foster a flowering of interest in the tactical and analytical side of the game in this country, it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years.****' TIME OUT - Book of the Week 'Facts and stats, plus anecdotes, interviews and Wilson's deft touch with football-speak, give colour to a subject that can be a little dry and all-too confusing for those watching (and often those picking the side).' GQ 'For a detailed analysis of how a single striker became the norm throughout football, you had better read Jonathan Wilson's excellent new book about tactics.' -- Patrick Barclay SUNDAY TELEGRAPH '[A] fascinating history of tactics, a book that is guaranteed to enhance your football watching; your team may still lose, but you'll have a far better idea why they did.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'This must surely go down as one of the most revelatory sports books of the year, as well as one of the best, who would have thought that a book charting the history of football tactics and strategy, from the 1870s to the present day, could be so engrossing and entertaining.' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Absorbing and informative' GUARDIAN ON-LINE 'A gloriously readable, eccentric and informative trawl through the changing tactical mindsets and formations that have helped shape the beautiful game.' METRO 'You will never read a more entertaining or erudite history of tactics' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - Christmas Books 'This is a masterful piece of research and lives up to the claim to be nothing less than "a history of football tactics"... Facinating' SCOTSMAN - Books of the Year 'a fascinating analysis of the way the game has evolved tactically from the 1970s until the last season... as a summary of the first 140 years of football tactical history, it is hard to imagine a more readable or thorough effort.' IRISH EXAMINER

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752889958
• ISBN 13: 9780752889955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320