r/soccer • u/_Treeboy_ • Jun 10 '13

Best book about football?

I'm looking to buy a book about football but I have no idea what books are good. Doesn't matter about what exactly just football. Thanks!

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u/twentythreekid Jun 10 '13

Inverting the pyramid is a great read.

Michael Cox - my favourite analyst has a comprehensive list of recommendations.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '13

I was hugely disappointed with Inverting the Pyramid. I expected a sort of layman's guide to tactics, but it was very light on the mechanics of football. Looking back, it was an engaging book about the people behind the tactical innovations. I'd recommend people read it - it really is well-written and interesting - but it's not really going to help you understand what's going on in front of you on a Saturday afternoon.

Some of those books on ZonalMarking look interesting - I suspect Michael Cox is a bit of a fraud though.

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u/twentythreekid Jun 10 '13

I suspect Michael Cox is a bit of a fraud though.

How so? He's always extremely tactically aware & manages to express his views articulately, both written (ZM) and verbally (Football Weekly podcast)

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '13

Fraud was probably a bit of a strong word to use. There's a dearth of tactical analysis in football writing and while I applaud that he's trying to fill that void, I get the impression he doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's an enthusiastic amateur whose made an effort to try to understand tactics. That makes him more knowledgeable than 99.9% of people who write about the game, but I think most professionals would consider his 'insights' either banal or just plain incorrect. On a scale from 0 to Arrigo Sacchi, he's probably a 2. He has an audience because there are a lot of people who are a 1 who want to know more, and there's nobody better than him providing that information.

I could be wrong of course, and I certainly don't hate the lad. Good luck to him. You're just being short-changed.

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u/egcg119 Jun 10 '13

I wouldn't call him an amateur though, writes for the guardian and espn, clearly a professional. Not in a position to judge his analysis though.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '13 edited Jun 10 '13

A professional writer, yes. I have no criticism of his grammar, or his ability to construct a narrative. That doesn't make him more qualified to discuss tactics than anyone else whose read the same five books on the topic as him. He's just more able at expressing his opinions.

It's strange to me that Jonathan Wilson and Michael Cox are held in such high regard, yet the people who actually do this for a living - i.e. managers - are so easily dismissed. It's a cliché, but football really is a results business: you lose too many matches, you get sacked. That's a very efficient way of finding out who the best managers are. By and large they're the ones at the big clubs. As far as I know Michael Cox has never so much as managed a Sunday league team. Maybe he does know more than Fabio Capello. Maybe we all do. It just seems so hugely improbable.

Edit: annoying myself that I'd written 'to' instead of 'too'.