Inverting The Pyramid
Inverting The Pyramid

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Publisher: Bold Type Books

Published: 2018-08-14

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1568589263

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This pioneering soccer book chronicles the evolution of the sport and how it has affected the lives of players, coaches, and fans–perfect for those who adore the timeless game. In Inverting the Pyramid, Jonathan Wilson offers a masterly global history of the world's game, from unruly beginnings to contemporary strategy. Fully revised and updated, this fifteenth-anniversary edition analyses 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. Inverting the Pyramid has been called the "Big Daddy" (Zonal Marking) of soccer tactics books; it is essential for all soccer afficionados.

The Barcelona Inheritance
The Barcelona Inheritance

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Publisher: Bold Type Books

Published: 2018-11-06

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1568588534

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From Cruyff's "Total Football" to the epic rivalry between Guardiola and Mourinho, a gripping chronicle of the rise and fall of Barcelona's dominance in world soccer. Barcelona's style of play -- pressing and possessing -- is the single biggest influence on modern soccer. In The Barcelona Inheritance, Jonathan Wilson reveals how and why this came to pass, offering a deep analysis of the evolution of soccer tactics and style. In the late 1990s, Johan Cruyff's Dream Team was disintegrating and the revolutionary manager had departed, but his style gave birth to a new generation of thinkers, including Pep Guardiola and Joséourinho. Today, their teams are first and second in the Premier League, marking the latest installment in a rivalry that can be traced back twenty-five years. The Barcelona Inheritance is a book about the tactics, the personalities, the friendships, and, in one case, an apocalyptic falling-out that continue to shape the game today.

Behind the Curtain
Behind the Curtain

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Publisher: Orion

Published: 2012-04-09

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1409109046

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'Epic... Wilson writes captivatingly with humour...anyone with an interest in eastern European sport will be consulting this book for years to come' FINANCIAL TIMES 'This fascinating and perceptive travelogue includes a fine collection of anecdotes too colourful for fiction' SUNDAY TIMES 'A blissful book, lovingly and stylishly written' DAILY TELEGRAPH From the war-ravaged streets of Sarajevo, where turning up for training involved dodging snipers' bullets, to the crumbling splendour of Budapest's Bozsik Stadium, where the likes of Puskás and Kocsis masterminded the fall of England, the landscape of Eastern Europe has changed immeasurably since the fall of communism. Jonathan Wilson has travelled extensively behind the old Iron Curtain, viewing life beyond the fall of the Berlin Wall through the lens of football. Where once the state-controlled teams of the Eastern bloc passed their way with crisp efficiency - a sort of communist version of total football - to considerable success on the European and international stages, today the beautiful game in the East has been opened up to the free market, and throughout the region a sense of chaos pervades. The threat of totalitarian interference no longer remains; but in its place mafia control is generally accompanied with a crippling lack of funds. In BEHIND THE CURTAIN Jonathan Wilson goes in search of the spirit of Hungary's 'Golden Squad' of the early fifties, charts the disintegration of the footballing superpower that was the former Yugoslavia, follows a sorry tale of corruption, mismanagement and Armenian cognac through the Caucasuses, reopens the case of Russia's greatest footballer, Eduard Streltsov, and talks to Jan Tomaszewski about an autumn night at Wembley in 1973...

The Anatomy of Liverpool
The Anatomy of Liverpool

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Publisher: Orion

Published: 2013-11-21

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1409144429

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Jonathan Wilson and Scott Murray provide a forensic analysis of ten key Liverpool games that have shaped the club's fortunes over the last century: from the long-lost triumphs of Tom Watson (a 19th-century Bill Shankly) to 1970s European triumphs over the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach and the mind-blowing 2005 comeback against AC Milan. Aston Villa v. Liverpool April 1899 Wolves v. Liverpool May 1947 Liverpool v. Leeds FA Cup final, May 1965 Liverpool v. Crvena Zvezda November 1973 Liverpool v. Borussia Mönchengladbach European Cup final, May 1977 Liverpool v. Roma European Cup final, May 1984 Liverpool v. Nottingham Forest April 1988 Everton v. Liverpool February 1991 Roma v. Liverpool February 2001 AC Milan v. Liverpool Champions League final, May 2005

The Outsider
The Outsider

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Publisher: Orion

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1409123200

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'The ever-readable Wilson explores the psychological pressures of being cast in the role of the scapegoat ... Thought-provoking and full of interesting detail ... this book scores on every level' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Aloof, solitary, impassive, the crack goalie is followed in the streets by entranced small boys. He vies with the matador and the flying aces, an object of thrilled adulation. He is the lone eagle, the man of mystery, the last defender' Vladimir Nabokov Albert Camus, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Pope John Paul II, Julian Barnes and not forgetting Nabokov himself ... it's safe to say the position of goalkeeper has over the years attracted a different sort of character than your average footballer. In this first-ever cultural history of the 'loner' between the posts, Jonathan Wilson traces the sometimes dangerous intellectual and literary preoccupations of the keeper, and looks at how the position has secured a certain existential cool. He travels to the Bassa region of Cameroon, which has produced two of Africa's greatest keepers, and also to Romania to talk to Helmuth Duckadam, who saved four penalties for Steaua Bucharest in the 1986 European Cup final. His absorbing tactical and technical insights into football history even take us back to the days when matches were contested without a man between the sticks. THE OUTSIDER is the definitive account of that most mysterious of footballing personalities - the goalkeeper.

Fear and Loathing in La Liga
Fear and Loathing in La Liga

Author: Sid Lowe

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2013-09-26

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1446496635

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‘A history of modern Spain told through one of world football's most intense rivalries’ Independent ‘Sports Book of the Year’ Sunday Times It’s Messi vs Ronaldo, it’s Catalonia vs Castilla. It’s the nation against the state, freedom fighters vs Franco’s fascists. It’s majestic goals and mesmerising skills, red cards and bench brawls. It’s the best two teams on the planet going face to face and toe to toe. It’s more than a game. It’s a war. It’s Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Only, it’s not that simple. From the wounds left by the civil war to the teams’ recent global domination, historian and expert on Spanish football, Sid Lowe lifts the lid on sport’s greatest rivalry. Lowe has spoken to the biggest names and the forgotten heroes who defined their clubs. Men like Alfredo Di Stéfano and Johan Cruyff as well as the only survivor of the most politically charged game in history, the Barcelona striker who knocked Madrid out of the European Cup for the first time ever, and the president who celebrated his club’s defining moment by taking a midnight dip in the Thames. By exploring the history, politics, culture, economics and language, while never forgetting the drama on the pitch, Lowe demonstrates the symbiotic nature of the relationship between these two football giants. In doing so he reveals the human story behind this explosive rivalry.

Employees First, Customers Second
Employees First, Customers Second

Author: Vineet Nayar

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1422139069

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Imagine a management philosophy based not upon serving a company's customers, but on serving the company's employees. Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies in India, has put such a philosophy into practice with remarkable results. His "employee first, customer second" mantra has been recognized globally as an example of organizational innovation, and was deemed a "new and radical management philosophy" ripe for the picking in the Western world by Business Week. In this book, Nayar himself describes his blunt refusal to treat the flesh and blood of HCL--its people--as "human resource" or as "intellectual capital" or even as an asset like all its other assets-and how his unique perspective led to an holistic transformation of his organization. By putting employees on top of the organizational pyramid, he argues, your company can fully realize the value created in the interface between customers and employees. This book leads managers and executives through the five core aspects of Nayar's approach, demonstrating how to create a sense of urgency, overhaul incentives and reporting structures, foster transparency in communications and feedback, provide platforms for achievement and personal growth, and finally recognize the potential of every individual in the organization. The "Employee First" philosophy should be the fulcrum of the transformation journey of any organization.

Teambuilding: The Road to Success
Teambuilding: The Road to Success

Author:

Publisher: Reedswain Inc.

Published:

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1591641489

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The FIFA coach of the Century presents his thoughts and observations on the art of Team Building in the world of soccer and beyond. 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.