Inverting the Pyramid

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 football in years. * TIME OUT *
Facts and stats, plus anecdotes, interviews and Wilson's deft touch with football-speak, give colour 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 football, you had better read Jonathan Wilson's excellent new book about tactics. * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
[A] fascinating history of tactics, a book that is guaranteed to enhance your football watching; your team may still lose, but you'll have a far better idea why they did. * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *
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 football tactics and strategy, from the 1870s to the present day, could be so engrossing and entertaining. * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *
Absorbing and informative. * THE GUARDIAN *
A gloriously readable, eccentric and informative trawl through the changing tactical mindsets and formations that have helped shape the beautiful game. * METRO *
You will never read a more entertaining or erudite history of tactics * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
This is a masterful piece of research and lives up to the claim to be nothing less than "a history of football tactics". Fascinating. * SCOTSMAN *
A fascinating analysis of the way the game has evolved tactically from the 1870s... as a summary of the first 140 years of football tactical history, it is hard to imagine a more readable or thorough effort. * IRISH EXAMINER *
Here, for the first time in decades, is a top-notch football book, on how football is actually played on the pitch. -- Simon Kuper, bestselling author of Soccernomics & Barca