Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

Deep and detail analysis of the beautiful game. Evolution and development of formations from the end of XIX century to present. It answers all tactical questions any coach can have. Very nicely written book I would recommend to anybody who likes FOOTBALL.

This book is for any soccer fan who wants to understand the nature of the game and the different formations and evolution of the most beautiful game in the world. Simply fantastic!!!

This is an excellent book, well-written and well-researched, about how the game has evolved in different parts of the world.

This is simply an extraordinary tome. It provides a thorough, dispassionate, yet thoroughly engaging, history of the tactics of football. From the chaos of the fields of nineteenth century England to the modern day Premiership and Serie A, Mr. Wilson traces the development of the beautiful game in each different region with an understanding of how the regional culture created the style of play. As an American, who played high school soccer in a 2-3-5 in the 1970's, to understand how and why that system went out of vogue in Europe in the 1920's (!) was an eye opener. Further, the implications for the state of the game in the United States and the glaring need for the development of a national "style", for instance a fusion of Latin and Western European tactics, is appallingly obvious.

Outstanding. The book traces the evolution of soccer tactics throughout the world, with recurring chapters on England, continental Europe, Russia, Brazil, and Argentina. The journey begins in England and Scotland in the 19th century, then expands outward. Wilson masterfully weaves together the stories of some of the most famous teams, the formation they used, and how they played. He writes with the eye for detail of a historian and the writing skills of a novelist. Social and political tie-ins are noted as well, such as the Central European soccer culture of the 1920s and 30's that had strong Jewish roots, the influence of the Brazilian military government in 1970, and of Dutch liberalism in the late 1960s and 1970s and the great Ajax/Holland side. The quality of his writing far exceeds the norm for sports journalism, whether he's writing about Hungary in the 1950's, the France of Zidane, or Mourinho's Chelsea. If you've ever wondered about the subtle differences among different formations, such as 4-3-3 vs. 3-5-2 vs. 4-4-2 vs. 4-2-3-1, and the variations within those formations and why they evolved, or for example the playing style of Argentina in 1978 vs. 1986, this is the place to come. The book dates to late 2008, and includes insights about the formations and playing style of recent and contemporary sides (Roma, Man U, Chelsea, AC Milan, African Nations Cup 2008).