'A brilliant book... essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how Guardiola has transformed and dominated modern football ' JAMIE CARRAGHER'An intelligent and provocative book about one of the most fascinating and confounding figures in all of sport' FINANCIAL TIMESA spectre is haunting European football. Watch almost any game, no matter the level, and you will notice it. From inverted full backs to extreme high lines, ...

'A brilliant book... essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how Guardiola has transformed and dominated modern football ' JAMIE CARRAGHER'An intelligent and provocative book about one of the most fascinating and confounding figures in all of sport' FINANCIAL TIMESA spectre is haunting European football. Watch almost any game, no matter the level, and you will notice it. From inverted full backs to extreme high lines, ...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND A FINANCIAL TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024'The best book on football I have ever read' Daniel Finkelstein'Fascinating and educational. An enjoyable and informative read' Sir Kenny Dalglish'Deserves a place among the great modern books on football' Sam Wallace, chief football writer, Telegraph...

‘The most coveted coach in the world’ Financial Times‘A treasury of anecdotes and insight’ GuardianOne of the greatest football managers of our time tells the story of his illustrious career through his record-breaking seven Champions League wins.Carlo Ancelotti has won domestic titles in all of Europe's top five leagues, with teams including AC Milan, Juventus, Paris St Germain, Bayern Munich, Che...

Well written and thoughtful. Takes us on a tour of some of Europe's most innovative football thinkers - Financial TimesThe future of football is now.Football's data revolution has only just begun. The arrival of advanced metrics and detailed analysis is already reshaping the modern game. We can now fully assess player performance, analyse the role of luck and measure what really leads to victory. There is no turning back.No...

Fully revised and updated, this beloved classic explores the history of soccer tactics, with fresh insights for fans, captains, and coaches worldwide.In this modern classic, soccer journalist Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the finer details of the world’s game, tracing the global history of tactics from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, when chaos reigned. Along the way, he examines the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport and probes why...

'Football looked at in a very different way' Pat Nevin, former Chelsea and Everton star and football media analystFootball – the most mathematical of sports. From shot statistics and league tables to the geometry of passing and managerial strategy, the modern game is filled with numbers, patterns and shapes. How do we make sense of them? The answer lies in the mathematical models applied in biology, physics and economics.Soccermatics brings footbal...

Moneyball meets Freakonomics in this myth-busting guide to understanding—and winning—the most popular sport on the planet.Innovation is coming to soccer, and at the center of it all are the numbers—a way of thinking about the game that ignores the obvious in favor of how things actually are. In The Numbers Game, Chris Anderson, a former professional goalkeeper turned soccer statistics guru, teams up with behavioral analyst David Sally to ...

Making the Ball Roll is the ultimate complete guide to coaching youth soccer.This focused and easy-to-understand book details training practices and tactics, and goes on to show you how to help young players achieve peak performance through tactical preparation, communication, psychology, and age-specific considerations.Each chapter covers, in detail, a separate aspect of coaching to give you, the football coach, a broad understanding of youth soccer development. Each topic...

What can Roger Federer teach us about the secret of longevity?What do the All Blacks have in common with improvised jazz musicians?What can cognitive neuroscientists tell us about what happens to the brains of sportspeople when they perform?And why did Johan Cruyff believe that beauty was more important than winning?Matthew Syed, the 'Sports Journalist of the Year 2016', answers these questions and more in a fascinating, wide-ranging and provoc...

UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 2021/22 SEASONTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERThe behind-the-scenes story of the Marcelo Bielsa revolution at Leeds United and their first season back in the Premier League after sixteen years of hurt.FEATURING FRESH PERSONAL INSIGHT FROM MARCELO BIELSAOn 27th February 2022, after 170 matches in charge, promotion to the Premier League and some of the most ex...

It started with a question, "What are the fundamentals of football?"Whilst there are hundreds of books that look into the specific principles of coaches like Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, and Marco Bielsa, there is no core, distilled text on the key principles of the game.Until now.Join best-selling author and coach – Peter Prickett – as he puts football under the microscope and breaks it down into its constituent parts. By addressing the two primary phases – in-poss...