Inverting the pyramid

£12.99

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 looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport and probes why the English, in particular, have ‘proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract’. This edition of a footballing modern classic has been fully updated to include the development of gegenpressing as pioneered by German coaches such as Ralf Rangnick and Jürgen Klopp, and its subsequent influence on the world game. It also analyses the tactical evolution of Pep Guardiola, the increasing alternatives to possession-based football and the changing role of the goalkeeper, as well as investigating the trend of full-backs developing into midfielders and the consequent return of three at the back.

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Description

MASTERFULTime Out
REVELATORYScotland on Sunday
GLORIOUSLY READABLEMetro
FASCINATINGIndependent
EXCELLENTTelegraph
ABSORBINGGuardian

Winner of the British Sports Book Awards
Football Book of the Year

The fifteenth anniversary edition, fully revised and updated, of Jonathan Wilson’s modern classic.

In the modern classic, 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 looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport, and probes why the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.

Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyses the evolution of modern international football, including the 2022 World Cup, charting the influence of the great Spanish, German and Portuguese tacticians of the last decade, whilst pondering the effects of football’s increased globalisation and commercialisation.

Additional information

Weight 0.4 kg
Dimensions 19.6 × 12.8 × 3.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

512

Language

English

Edition

Fifteenth anniversary edition

Dewey

796.3342 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K