Inverting the Pyramid - by Jonathan Wilson (Paperback)

About the Book

First published in Great Britain in 2008.

Book Synopsis

The classic history of soccer tactics-- "masterful" and "deliciously nerdy" (Time Out)

In this modern classic, soccer journalist Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the finer details of the world's game, tracing the global history of tactics from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, when chaos reigned. Along the way, he examines the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport and probes why the English, in particular, have proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.

Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyzes the evolution of modern international football, including the 2022 World Cup, charting the influence of the great Spanish, German and Portuguese tacticians of the last decade whilst pondering the effects of football's increased globalization and commercialization.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

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