Ok, some major discoveries through this book... The earliest teams played in attack-oriented formations (such as 1-1-8 or 1-2-7) with strong emphasis on individual dribbling skills... Preston North End created the more cautious 2-3-5 system. (Cautious? LOL). Then we got Herbet Chapman, the Arsenal legend of all time who created the WM formation, featuring 5 defenders and 5 attackers; 3 backs and 2 halves in defensive role, and 2 inside forwards assisting the 3 attacking forwards. Amazing, right? Despite my knowledge in football (I thought I know a lot, LOL), there are still some new stuff to dig out from this book. This is an evidence on how beneficial a book can bring to a reader. So, for those who slammed me for reading so much; well, I gain all the way except losing some of my leisure time... Net winners, right? LOL.
However, I thought the coverage is not details enough. Overall, this is just a "guide"... In precise, a guide in very "general" way. As such, readers who are familiar with world of football may find this book very inadequate. For example, the author missed out tons of great players in the "Past Soccer Greats" such as Dennis Bergkamp, Raul, etc. Meanwhile, the author selections of "Current Stars" created a lot of confusion when Michael Ballack and Landon Donovan were in while tons of Barcelona tiki-taka personnel were left out cruelly. Well, judging a player is something subjective. However, since it is a "guide"; any irrelevant info could be misleading to some football newbies.
Then, we got this very simple introduction on football tactics and formations. I am very disappointed when the author did not dig further into the "Total Football". With the book published before the famous Tiki-Taka, it is fine for the author to omit the said beautiful tactics. However, you do not leave out "Total Football" as that was the masterpiece of skills that certain teams are still deploying at the moment. Finally, since the author have topics on "Past Soccer Greats" and "Current Stars", what about the managerial section? In my humble opinion, managers are the real soul and architect of a club. Hence, there is no reason not to talk about it...
To be frank, it took me less than 48 hours to finish this book. Besides the leisure of reading what I love, there is some food of thoughts... First, the corruption being mentioned throughout the book. Although not being emphasized, it is really something to ponder about. After all, sports lost its identity thanks to the series of corruptions. Then, we see the ups and downs of famous football clubs around the world. The two obvious examples are Arsenal and Ac Milan. The said two teams were famous clubs those days. Now, the Gunners were hit by the stadium and the stubborn Professor (The current owner as well) who view football as a pure business. The Rossoneri itself was a reflection from the economic slump and inflationary wages. So, in contradict, one club tried to survive on its own while losing popularity as it simply cannot compete with big clubs in Citeh and Chelsea. On the other hand, the Italian seems moving backwards as they just cannot hold on (and buying in) with star players who demanded higher salaries.
Overall, this is a nice book for me since I am a football die-hard fan. Although some flaws, I rated it at 6/10. To sum it up, it is a "leisure" book... When we are stuck in the holiday mood, this kind of books serves its purpose.... LOL!
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