These five books are the perfect starting place for any student of the game. They will aid you in better understanding of tactics in Football Manager.
These five books are the perfect starting place for any student of the
game. I hope you find them helpful and enjoy developing your understanding
of the game.
- [message]
- Affiliate Earnings
- As an Amazon Associate, FM Blog earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on our site. Your support helps us continue delivering top-quality content for our readers.
Inverting the Pyramid
Any self-respecting tactician should have read this book. Jonathan Wilson’s part-tactics guidebook, part-history of the game, is a seminal work on the evolution of tactics, showing us who the true innovators of the game were and ultimately why the game looks the way it does now. The latest edition has been updated for the fifth anniversary and features some of the most interesting and thought-provoking analyses you’re likely to come across. For example, you might know Barca’s tiki-taka takes its roots from Total Football pioneered by the Dutch but did you know they both took inspiration from London in the 1930s and Glasgow before that? Wilson’s ability to trace these influences through the history of the game makes for an insightful and intelligent read.
Zonal Marking
Michael Cox’s Zonal Marking is my favourite football book ever. As something of a parallel to The Mixer, Zonal Marking journeys through the periods of football dominance enjoyed by different European nations, from the early 90s to the 2010s. A fascinating and enlightening read, Cox talks us through the players, managers, clubs, national sides and - most importantly - tactical ideas that shaped football in Europe and who was really the dominant forces, despite what the trophy counts might say. This book will challenge your understanding of what’s happening in football while showing the evolution of the ideas that are so prominent in today’s game.
How to Watch Football
Quite simply: when someone with the experience and intelligence of Ruud Gullit offers you an insight into how they see football, bite their hand off. Gullit’s otherworldly versatility and intelligence led him to a long career at the very top of the game, playing in some of the finest club sides the game has ever seen, a phenomenal trophy haul, 66 caps for the Netherlands, and a plethora of personal accolades including a Ballon d’Or. His book lifts the lid on the art of reading the game and will forever change your understanding of the hidden patterns of football.
The Numbers Game
Moneyball meets Freakonomics in Chris Anderson’s and David Sally’s ode to the numbers that underpin the game we love. This was the very first statistics book I ever read, and it opened my eyes to a new level of analysing football. Everything from long throws and short corners to un-sexy transfers and sensible recruitment is on the table and ultimately achieves what any good football stat should: it tells you everything you miss when you only watch the game.
Soccernomics
Simon Kuper is one of the most respected journalists in football. Stefan Szymanski is a leading economist and consultant to sports governing bodies. Together, they tackle the universal truths of the beautiful game. Like The Numbers Game, they unveil the truths you’re missing and show us why some countries appear to be so far ahead of the curve. This book feels like peeking behind the curtain while simultaneously making the secrets of success seem so obvious you’ll wonder how you missed them for so long.
