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What is the most effective type of corner kick? Is it true that rather than offering disappointing results in international soccer tournaments such as the World Cup, the English national team has done much better than the data predict? Is it possible that the Spanish and German national teams are overachievers as well? Why will the United States become a world soccer power?These are kinds of questions this book answers. With Michael Lewis’s Moneyball as inspiration and Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane a frequent commentor, the authors extract some counterintuitive insights concerning many facets of soccer: as a game and as a business. The authors, a soccer journalist and a sports economist, delve deep into the world of data that explores why soccer teams (especially in England) will never make a profit, nor should they; why the presence of foreign players in England’s Premier League improved the quality of English players even though there are far fewer English players in the Premier League; when it is time to let go of players regardless of their recent successes; when to transfer players to get the most money out of the club being transferred to; why western European national and club leagues dominate; how many goals is it worth to the home team for the World Cup; why many beliefs about effective tactics are plain wrong; how more effective tactics spread around the globe; and much more. Slow in spots, entertaining in many others, this book, the second edition released in time for the World Cup, will inform both the serious and casual soccer fan. The book could have used another round of editing to make it more readable in some sections, but even so much of it is fascinating.
After a quite promising start in the chapters considering statistics coming of age in the interpretation of football tactics, performance and the further shaping of decisions on transfers, deployment of players and plays, this book gradually becomes boring as it focuses on things such as which country has the most devoted football fans or how many people watch football on TV etc.A number of arguments are rather stretched to extremes that go beyond statistical rigour just to make the points appear more impressive. Overall, quite original (especially considering it was first published more than 5 years ago) but it grows flat in the end and a great number of topics that have to do with fandom are rather unequal compared to the opening parts dealing with the game itself.
I would argue some of the statistics in the book but great job by one of my favorite writers..
This was very informative about soccer and empire building.