Best tactical soccer books how to#

You can listen to Sanj discuss his book, and some of the themes contained within in the below episode of the WFi Podcast. It will have the reader turning pages back and forth as the game evolves on the pages, with constant reminders of its roots. It’s a history book, a tactics book, and above all an enjoyable football book. The personalities involved, the important matches, and the philosophies behind them are discussed in a manner which is easy to digest and understand. The book takes us on a journey, literally illustrating each path and each turn along the way.

Best tactical soccer books how to#

Poorer teams need to level the playing field to take on richer ones, and dominant sides strive to learn how to break down the low block. It was also an early version of the total football, as later developed by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff.īetween 1953 and the present day, football tactics have evolved as teams look to outthink the other and adapt to various challenges. These included the false nine, and while Nándor Hidegkuti may have been more of an attacking midfielder, his role wasn’t dissimilar to those played by the modern day strikers who like to drop deep. Soccer iQ provides smarter soccer decisions intended for specific game situations. Despite the games being 66 years apart all of the teams used a back three, and the Hungary side, led by the pioneering Gusztáv Sebes, were the blueprint for numerous tactical developments. These matches range from the seminal clash between Hungary and England at Wembley in 1953, to the fixture between Manchester City and Chelsea at the Etihad in 2016. That’s not to say that this is a picture book, and the accompanying words set the scene for the matches analysed throughout, supporting the graphics and providing further clarity. In his book, Total Football – A graphic history of the world’s most iconic soccer tactics, Sanjeev Shetty ditches the wordy explanations which have become so common in tactics writing, and replaces them with clear, understandable imagery. If the great European Cup winning manager was around today, you’d wonder what he’d make of the expanse of tactical writing online, which can go into minute detail, often unnecessarily, down to describing attacking moves pass by pass or defensive positioning step by step. Brian Clough once said that “there’s so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.”