Reddit reviews Soccer Systems and Strategies

I wouldn't bother with Zonal Marking; Cox is one of those enthusiast amateurs who people in the game generally think is full of shit as he uses completely insane causality that feeds into his somewhat already decided opinion.

Inverting the Pyramid isn't about tactics, it's more about the history of tactics. You can see how they developed but it doesn't really tell you more than that. Knowing the history behind how the atomic bomb was developed doesn't mean you could build an atomic bomb.

When you say "the type of stuff they'd do in a course in coaching" the two above things are absolutely miles away.

As far as what to read, it's one of those things that you'll know what suits your mental model better as you immerse yourself in it. I have always admired Jens Bangsbo as a writer and as a professional and his book Soccer Strategies and Systems is a good jumping off point for new learners. He also wrote one years back called Defensive Soccer Tactics or something which was pretty good.

I would recommend staying away from books by Massimo Lucchesi. They are generally of poor quality and not really indepth.

If you are a Real Madrid fan or somebody who watched them a lot, there is an excellent series of books looking at Mourinho's tenure there, you can find it here. In fact many of the books you find in this shop are pretty decent

Read the manual.

Inside of it, there is a ton of advice on playing the game beyond simply cataloging what options do what.

Then you can read the following for in depth advice and tips:

FM First Team Unofficial Football Manager 2011 Guide

A decent free guide. The website of the guys who made this is gone... Uploaded it for everybody.

Tactical Theorems '10

This was made for 2010, but is still very very very relevant. On other forums, people will usually just tell you to read it.



There are tons of guides out there for every possible aspect of the game. I found the following useful:

Lower League Guide

Financial Guide

Understanding Tactics and the 'Manchelona'

The above site has several other guides worth reading. Check it out.



Also, beyond the above FM specific stuff, there are a number of books out there that can help you in FM:

The 90 Minute Manager

Soccer Systems and Strategies