TOP 10 BOOKS ON TACTICS

1. Football and Chess: Tactics Strategy Beauty

Why are football and chess 'beautiful games'? Do top football coaches read the pitch as a chess player reads the board? What is the connection between Jose Mourinho's defensive cunning and Grandmaster Wilhelm Steinitz's 'principles of defence'? The global popularity of football and chess remains unmatched by any other game. In this book, Adam Wells argues that stereotypical views of the games have concealed a deep connection between them. The first study of its kind, this book explores a rich world of tactics, psychology and aesthetics. Structural principles are analysed using real life examples to show how these connections play out on the board and in the field. This book is accessible to fans of either game, including football fans with no previous knowledge of chess. Readers will see how chess can be a pulsating, dynamic game, whilst appreciating that football shares much of the mystery and structural beauty of the world's greatest board game.

2.  FC Barcelona - A Tactical Analysis: Attacking


FC Barcelona: A Tactical Analysis - Attacking A Team from Another Planet! A Tactical Blue-Print of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona Team This book is an exclusive and groundbreaking study of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team. This information and analysis of one of the most successful club sides in history has been in high demand and it is finally here! The attacking play of Barcelona is admired by every coach, player and fan in the world. Each player movement and passing combination is broken down in detail for every coach to apply these tactics to their own team. Here is the chance to learn to play the 'Bara way.' We now have a full analysis of Barcelona's tactics which have been so important to their success. The book shows Barca's 4-3-3 system of play, each player's responsibilities, positioning and movement within every possible phase of play. Terzis Athanasios is a Tactical Professor of Football and has compiled an extensive assessment of Barcelona's attacking play after over 1000 hours of studying all the games from the 2010-11 season. Guardiola's team has won 3 La Liga championships, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 4 Spanish Cups, 2 Super Cups, and 2 FIFA World Club World Cups. The book starts with the characteristics of the players and the philosophy of Barcelona and builds into a comprehensive overview of the offensive tactics employed with clear diagrams and detailed descriptions. Included: - Attacking against opposition pressing in the 1st stage - Attacking in the 2nd and 3rd stage on the right and left hand side - Maintaining possession - Awareness and decision making - Retaining balance - Transition Play - Build-up and combination play - Movement of runs and creating space - Plus a lot more - SEE FULL BOOK CONTENTS BELOW This gives football coaches an unbelievable chance to learn how Barcelona play and employ their tactics to maintain possession, create chances and score goals. Barcelona is by far the best attacking team of the modern era and now you can see how and why this is the case.


3.  Soccer: Modern Tactics

A comprehensive look at modern zone formations through the eyes fo the author and ten high level professional Italian coaches. Arrigo Sacchi (Milan, Italian National Team), Marcello Lippi (Napoli, Inter, Juventus), Walter Novellino (Venezia, Napoli, Piacenza), Carlo Ancelotti (Parma, Juventus), and Renzo Ulivieri (Parma) are among the impressive list of contributors to this valuable coaching reference.


4.  Dutch Soccer Secrets

What is the secret of Dutch Soccer? How can a nation of about 16 million inhabitants regularly produce world-class players like Cruyff, Haan, van Basten, Rijkaard, van Nistelrooy, van der Sar, van Bommel, Robben and van Persie, as well as world-class coaches like Michels, Cruyff, Beenakker, Advocaat, Stevens and van Marwijk?What lies behind the successes of Ajax Amsterdam, of Louis van Gaal and of Dutch soccer manager Guus Hiddink?This book is a first attempt to present expert knowledge of internationally proven useful and effective Dutch soccer coaching in theory and practice, based on qualitative data collection.The authors outline the theory and practice of the “typical” and sometimes unique Dutch content, methods, organization forms and elements of educational knowledge, including the training philosophy of the KNVB (Royal Dutch Soccer Federation), selected Eredivisie and internationally renowned Dutch soccer coaches; unique technique training content and methods (Coerver, Meulensteen and Frans Hoek Methods) and tactics training (position play and pressing forward); innovative forms of play and testing for soccer-specific conditioning training; the new Ajax coaching model “Heroes of the Future” and interviews.


5.  Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics

Soccer fans love to argue about the tactics a manager puts into play, and this fascinating study traces the world history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, where chaos reigned. Along the way, author Jonathan Wilson, an erudite and detailed writer who never loses a sense of the grand narrative sweep, takes a look at the lives of the great players and thinkers who shaped the game, and discovers why the English in particular have proved themselves so “unwilling to grapple with the abstract.” This is a modern classic of soccer writing that followers of the game will dip into again and again.


6. Soccer Strategies: Defensive and Attacking Tactics

Aimed primarily at intermediate and advanced coaches, this book examines the principle formations used in modern soccer and the need to fully understand them all of one is to adapt to game situations using counter-active tactics. The author discusses such offensive topics as support, width, penetration, mobility and improvisation. Defensively, Chapters include: Three Man Defense, Four Man Defense, One Forward System, Two Forward System, and Three Forward System. Well organized and clearly written, this is an outstanding coaching book.

7. Calcio: A History of Italian Football

The first history of Italian football to be written in English, 'Calcio' is a mix of serious analysis and comic storytelling, with vivid descriptions of games, goals, dives, missed penalties, riots and scandals in the richest and toughest league in the world. 'Calcio' tells the story of Italian football from its origins in the 1890's to the present day. It takes us through a history of great players and teams, of style, passion and success, but also of violence, cynicism, catenaccio tactics and corruption. We meet the personalities that have shaped this history - from the Italian heroes to the foreigners that failed, the model professionals to the mavericks. 'Calcio' evokes the triumphs (the 1982 World Cup victory) and the tragedies (Meroni, the 'Italian George Best', killed by his number one fan), set against a backdrop of paranoia and intrigue, in a country where the referee is seen as corrupt until proven otherwise. Calcio is no longer a game. It is sometimes difficult to define it as a sport. It is certainly big business and a fanatical civic religion. There is no moral code here. Winners are always right, losers always wrong. This history of Italian football reveals all about the richest and toughest league in the world.

8. Football/Soccer: History and Tactics

In many parts of the world, football ("soccer" in the U.S.) represents a way of life. Roughly 150 million players register for professional or amateur leagues and roughly two billion people of all ages across the globe enjoy football recreationally. Few people, however, know the origins of the game or understand how its tactics evolved. This informative work traces the historical development of football and its team tactics from 1863--the year the English Football Association was founded--to the present. It describes significant formations and trends, identifies the major reasons for tactical changes, and introduces the most influential leaders in the sport. Also included are a glossary of relevant terms, a history of the World Cup, and a biographical list of famous players of the past. This essential resource for coaches, players, and fans will foster a greater understanding of and appreciation for the world's most popular team sport.

9. Teambuilding: The Road to Success


Rinus Michels is the father of Dutch total football. In this book of him all the facets of the team building process, including team tactics and psychology, are included down to the minutest detail. Also included is how youth talent, per age group category, should be developed. And finally, how to set up training sessions to achieve the best results. All the chapters are interspersed with examples from Rinus Michels' personal experiences as a trainer. At the same time he gives a reference framework for everyone who is, on a daily basis, involved with the team building process: from youth and professional coaches to managers in the business world. Because of these unique examples, most of which were never published, this will be a fascinating book for anyone involved in a team building process.



10. Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, and Why the US, Japan, Australia, Turkey-and Even Iraq-Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport

Why doesn't the United States dominate soccer internationally...and how can it?
Which is the best soccer nation on Earth?
Who has the most passionate fans?
What impact does soccer have on suicide rates?
Which sport will dominate the Earth? NFL or the English Premier League?
Why are the people who run soccer clubs so dumb?

These are some of the questions that every soccer fanatic has asked. Soccernomics answers them. Written with an economist's brain and a sports writer's skill, it applies high-powered analytical tools to everyday soccer topics, looking at data in new ways, revealing counterintuitive truths about the world's most loved game. It all adds up to a revolutionary way of looking at soccer that could affect the way the game is played internationally.