Inverting the Pyramid

“A fascinating history of tactics, a book that is guaranteed to enhance your soccer watching; your team may still lose, but you’ll have a far better idea why they did.”–Independent On Sunday
“A masterful work. It’s all deliciously nerdy–a cross between a coaching manual and a social history–and if its publication helps foster a flowering of interest in the tactical and analytical side of the game in this country, it could be the best thing to have happened to English soccer in years.”–Time Out
“Absorbing and informative.”–Guardian
“A fascinating analysis of the way the game has evolved tactically from the 1870s… as a summary of the first 140 years of soccer tactical history, it is hard to imagine a more readable or thorough effort.”–Irish Examiner
“A gloriously readable, eccentric and informative trawl through the changing tactical mindsets and formations that have helped shape the beautiful game.”–Metro
“Facts and stats, plus anecdotes, interviews and Wilson’s deft touch with soccer-speak, give color to a subject that can be a little dry and all-too confusing for those watching (and often those picking the side).”–CQ
“For a detailed analysis of how a single striker became the norm throughout soccer, you had better read Jonathan Wilson’s excellent new book about tactics.”–Sunday Telegraph
“This is a masterful piece of research and lives up to the claim to be nothing less than ‘a history of soccer tactics.’ Fascinating.”–Scotsman
“This must surely go down as one of the most revelatory sports books of the year, as well as one of the best, who would have thought that a book charting the history of soccer tactics and strategy, from the 1870s to the present day, could be so engrossing and entertaining.”–Scotland on Sunday

Jonathan Wilson is a columnist for The Guardian and cohosts Libero and the football history podcast It Was What It Was. He has written thirteen books, including The Power and the Glory, and is the founder and editor of The Blizzard. He lives in London.

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