Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics
The classic history of soccer tactics— “masterful” and “deliciously nerdy” (Time Out)  

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 the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.

Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyzes 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 globalization and commercialization.
1114766782
Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics
The classic history of soccer tactics— “masterful” and “deliciously nerdy” (Time Out)  

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 the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.

Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyzes 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 globalization and commercialization.
24.99 In Stock
Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

by Jonathan Wilson
Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

by Jonathan Wilson

Paperback

$24.99 
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Overview

The classic history of soccer tactics— “masterful” and “deliciously nerdy” (Time Out)  

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 the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.

Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyzes 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 globalization and commercialization.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781645030522
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication date: 08/06/2024
Pages: 528
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Jonathan Wilson is a columnist for The Guardian and the cohost of the football history podcast It Was What It Was. He has written thirteen books, including Inverting the Pyramid, and is the founder and editor of The Blizzard. He lives in London. 

Hometown:

Newton, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

February 26, 1950

Place of Birth:

London, England

Education:

B.A., First Class, University of Essex 1973; Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1980

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword to the Revised Edition xiii

Prologue xvii

1 From Genesis to the Pyramid 1

2 The Waltz and the Tango 21

3 The Third Back 36

4 How Fascism Destroyed the Coffeehouse 53

5 Organized Disorder 77

6 The Hungarian Connection 86

7 Harnessing the Carnival 98

8 The English Pragmatism (1) 122

9 The Birth of the New 146

10 Catenaccio 159

11 After the Angels 182

12 Total Football 204

13 Science and Sincerity 219

14 Fly Me to the Moon 235

15 The English Pragmatism (2) 255

16 The Return of the Back Three 282

17 The Coach Who Wasn't a Horse 305

18 Total Recall 320

19 Ghosts and the Machine 334

20 Pressing and Possessing 363

21 The Post-Cruyffian World 385

Epilogue 405

Bibliography 411

Index 423

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