Best soccer books according to redditors
We found 229 Reddit comments discussing the best soccer books. We ranked the 106 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 229 Reddit comments discussing the best soccer books. We ranked the 106 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
![Tom Byer’s Soccer Starts at Home [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pJ2dDepNL.jpg)
Some bestsellers for each club on Amazon:
Arsenal: "Invincibles" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invincible-Inside-Arsenals-Unbeaten-2003-2004/dp/0241970490
Man Utd: "You can't win anything with kids" https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Cant-Win-Anything-Kids/dp/1909360414/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469542993&sr=1-3&keywords=manchester+united
Chelsea: "The Holy Grail" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chelsea-FC-Grail-Shaumik-Daityari-ebook/dp/B008MXJX2S/ref=sr_1_34?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543078&sr=1-34&keywords=chelsea+fc
Manchester City: "My Eyes Have Seen Glory" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyes-Have-Seen-Glory-Manchester/dp/178155076X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543222&sr=1-4&keywords=manchester+city+2012
Leicester City: "5000 to 1"
https://www.amazon.co.uk/5000-1-Leicester-City-Story-Champions/dp/1785781510/ref=sr_1_20?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543139&sr=1-20&keywords=manchester+city
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Liverpool: "Make Us Dream - 2013/14" https://www.amazon.com/Make-Us-Dream-Liverpools-Season/dp/1909245216
Inverting the Pyramid - Jonathan Wilson
A pioneering book that chronicles the evolution of soccer tactics and the lives of the itinerant coaching geniuses who have spread their distinctive styles across the globe.
Teambuilding: the road to success - Rinus Michels
The late Rinus Michels, FIFA's Coach of the Century, offers his unique insight into the process of "teambuilding".
The Coaching Philosophies of Louis Van Gaal and the Ajax Coaches - Henny Kormelink and Tjeu Seeverens
Louis van Gaal, Frans Hoek, Co Adriaanse and fitness coach Bobby Haarms discuss their training methods and philosophies in this book full of creative ideas for soccer coaches at any level.
Dutch Soccer Secrets - Peter Hyballa & Hans-Dieter te Poel
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.
Attacking Soccer: a tactical analysis - Massimo Lucchesi
This book examines match strategies for creating goal scoring opportunities out of various systems of play.
Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong - Chris Anderson, David Sally
Innovation is coming to soccer, and at the centre of it all are the numbers—a way of thinking about the game that ignores the obvious in favour of how things actually are.
Football Against the Enemy - Simon Kuper
Kuper travelled to 22 countries from South Africa to Italy, from Russia to the USA, to examine the way football has shaped them.
The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football by David Goldblatt is brilliant as a general history (and has a lot about Sindelar).
There are many excellent country-specific books. My favourite is Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos which has masses of obscure history (scandalously obscure, given that the country has 200 million inhabitants).
> You're copy/pasting the bit that isn't paywalled
My apologies for not copy/pasting an entire book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Matters-Supporting-Manchester-ebook/dp/B00BFYFOZ6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360963849&sr=1-1
> you unbelievable fucking prick
Final warning. Stop being insufferable - or find another subreddit.
I could see Neil Atkinson and John Gibbons doing one as they're currently promoting their book, Make Us Dream.
We need help at EVERY level, even the U-littles like your son will be in. My biggest advice for kids under 10 is to teach them that it isn't a KICKING game. It is a ball control game. We have to get every kid comfortable with teh ball and not just booting it away whenever there's pressure, especially at these young ages where winning - and thus mistakes - doesn't matter all that much.
Honestly, parents have so much power and I highly HIGHLY recommend Tom Byer's book to anyone with kids under 8 that might be into soccer. He's the guy who really sparked the Japanese to become known as a technical soccer country.
I haven't read this one yet, but the thread gives me an idea:
Let's put together a list of essential reading here, and when we're done we can add it to the FAQ.
Please add book title with link and a short description.
I'll start:
Soccernomics -- analyzes the game from the perspective of behavioral economics. A highly entertaining read. Some may find some of the conclusions a little iffy, but the chapter on penalty kicks and game theory is by itself worth the price of the book.
Soccer in Sun and Shadow -- a poetic, moving, and often hilarious reflection of a lifetime of watching the beautiful game. The book is written in short, pithy chunks, and few chapters are more than a couple pages long. But the work itself is a passionate and reverent love song for the sport itself.
Fever Pitch -- a diary of the author's life-long obsession with Arsenal, the book tries to make sense of the complex mix of agony, frustration, bitter disappointment, and fleeting moments of pure ecstasy that make up the experience of being a die-hard supporter. There is a lot about Arsenal, of course. But it's really a story about being a fan.
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Keep 'em coming ...
> Man Utd: "You can't win anything with kids" https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Cant-Win-Anything-Kids/dp/1909360414/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469542993&sr=1-3&keywords=manchester+united
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> Chelsea: "The Holy Grail" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chelsea-FC-Grail-Shaumik-Daityari-ebook/dp/B008MXJX2S/ref=sr_1_34?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543078&sr=1-34&keywords=chelsea+fc
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> Manchester City: "My Eyes Have Seen Glory" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eyes-Have-Seen-Glory-Manchester/dp/178155076X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543222&sr=1-4&keywords=manchester+city+2012
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> Arsenal: "Invincibles" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invincible-Inside-Arsenals-Unbeaten-2003-2004/dp/0241970490
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> Leicester City: "5000 to 1" https://www.amazon.co.uk/5000-1-Leicester-City-Story-Champions/dp/1785781510/ref=sr_1_20?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469543139&sr=1-20&keywords=manchester+city
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> Liverpool: "Make Us Dream - 2013/14" https://www.amazon.com/Make-Us-Dream-Liverpools-Season/dp/1909245216
ftfy
....sorry, I missed the Arsenal roast
This is not a story. The history and foundations of this club are a fact. You can continue to act ignorant and arrogant about it, but what I've just said is historical truth. If you want to read more about it,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manchester-Football-History-Gary-James/dp/0955812704
Second thing is, is it a community club today? Yes. I come from a working class Mancunian background, and yes it definitely does have strong ties to the community. I won't have some North American tell me otherwise.
The most important thing is that there's thousands of clubs in this country, and over a hundred football league clubs. Even if we were to accept that the top 4-5 clubs in this country no longer is a part of the community or that the culture of these clubs is irrelevant and just a marketing trick, they would still form the massive exception to the rule.
Though dated (pub date 2001) due to the rise in popularity of soccer in America, as well as the rise of quality in MLS, etc., this was a great read: Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism
There's a really great book by Simon Kuper called Football Against the Enemy. It goes through a lot of bigger European clubs and their history with political identities, etc. It's absolutely my favorite book about the sport that I've ever read.
Simon Kuper is one of the best writers in football. Anybody who likes this should read The Football Men: Up Close with the Giants of the Modern Game, Soccernomics or Football Against The Enemy.
Also I hate when footballers are labelled idiots. It requires extreme intelligence to be a top class player. Not "book learning" intelligence or even basic common sense, but extreme intelligence nonetheless. It's no different to how a top tier Physics academic might not be able to book a hotel room online. They are brilliant in their field, bit sometimes dim in other areas.
I posted this in the past to the same question:
Well there's a massive picture book type thing called A Photographic History of English Football which should be recommended more often than it is. It's one of those Guinness Book of Records sized books that might have trouble fitting on a shelf but it covers every aspect of the history of the English game (and thus the history of football itself). The pictures are extremely good too, especially the ones from the 1900s.
For a more in-depth study of football across the world, Simon Kuper's Football Against the Enemy is definitely one of my favourites though it's a little outdated now. However, Kuper travels round Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas interviewing key personnel in some of the bigger Clubs in the area and tells their history. His chapter on Dynamo Kiev and their Cold War era function as a funnel between East and West is worth the price of the book alone in my opinion.
In terms of autobiographies, I have always recommended Sir Bobby Robson's Farewell but not Goodbye as he tells the story of his journey from working in a coal mine in North East England to playing for his country and eventually nurturing the talents of some of the most important people in football now on and off the pitch. Most of all his personality shines through and the man is a hero to me and many others.
If you want a more technical autobiography then Rinus Michel's Teambuilding is the go to standard. Not strictly an autobiography and more a technical book but he intersperses it with his own experiences and you really get the feeling of how the greatest coach in the history of the game came to believe the things that he did.
If you like quirky but thought provoking books then Football and Chess might pique your interest. I'm a great believer in the vast similarities between chess and football on a tactical level and the author shared the same sentiment. Not the best written book in the world but it's gets your noggin ticking over and makes you reassess your ideas on the game which is always the best thing a book can really do for you.
Also as a fan of Italian football and culture, Gianluca Vialli/Marcotti's book The Italian Job is one of my favourite football books ever and extremely thought provoking on the differences in the football cultures in England and Italy and how both can learn from each other.
On the psychological side, I've recently read Inside the Mind of a Manager which was interesting. I can't say that I agreed with all of the conclusions and think the quotes were a little cherry picked but it's a good read for people who want to know more about what the modern manager actually does for a living and the people interviewed for the book are some of the best maangers alive today.
Lastly, if you really want to look at the business side of the game and how it is changing then I would recommend Ferran Soriano's book GOAL! The Ball doesn't go in by chance. Soriano is Man City's current CEO and former Barca CEO so he's certainly been there and done it on the business front and many of his ideas ion that book are beginning to be realised now. He recently did a lecture about it which skimmed over the ideas but the book delves into it deeper and tells stories from his time at Barca.
If you want more of a narrative and less of a business lecture then former Crystal Palace Chairman Simon Jordan's book, Be Careful What You Wish For is an excellent read. Be aware that Jordan is obviously bitter about his time at Palace and tries to settle some old scores here but outside of that it's a semi interesting look at his time at the Club and the problems he faced in implementing his business strategies.
You're seeing the renaissance of Japanese soccer helped by an American. Tom has implemented the culture that is now taking a strong hold there. If you read his book, it's about how soccer at a young age isn't just for winning, but playing and having fun at a young age.
https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Byers-Soccer-Starts-Home-ebook/dp/B01EHNLM5C
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Byer
This might be a good read for you: https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Byers-Soccer-Starts-Home-ebook/dp/B01EHNLM5C
There are a few, depending on what you want really...
The best place to start is DEFINITELY Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, which is his autobiography as an Arsenal fan. It came out in 1992, so doesn't have any of the Wenger era, but really helps you to get a feel of what it's like to be an Arsenal fan.
[Highbury: The Story Of Arsenal In N5] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highbury-The-Story-Of-Arsenal/dp/0752876392/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333575519&sr=1-1) (I hope I did that right, I'm very new to Reddit) is very good as a more informative history book covering the period up until we left Highbury in 2006.
Others to look for, although I haven't got around to reading either yet, are So Paddy Got Up by Arseblog, which is written by The Arseblogger and various other Bloggers and Journalists, and is meant to be fantastic.
[Arsenal: The Making of a Modern Superclub] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arsenal-The-Making-Modern-Superclub/dp/1907637311/ref=pd_sim_b_2) is meant to be very good too, and covers more of the Arsene Wenger era.
I might go and buy So Paddy Got Up now actually... or re-read Fever Pitch (again!)
You can check out The Mammoth Book of the World Cup (has all the info about world cups you could possibly want from 1930-2014). I'm trying hard to remember what book I was just recently reading that was going over this exact topic but it sounds like you are generally interested in some soccer books and with your dutch interest I would recommend (haven't read it myself) Brilliant Orange
Miracle of Castel di Sangro
Football Against the Enemy
Just came here to say that if you haven't read the book This Love is Not For Cowards, about Indios (the last team in Juarez), you should definitely check it out. Really entertaining read. Glad to see football in Juarez is back!
See, I don't know if there is an English version of this book, if so, someone please provide a link, BUT there is a book about exactly this: how football really is, what happens behind the scenes and how inhuman it has become.
They just released the new information that Neymar gets 37m/year at PSG and are releasing more and more leaks of unbelieveable amount of TB of data.
It is published by two German journalists working with a whistleblower who has access to all those informations but remains silent and anonymous for obvious reasons. Some people want him dead already. They also work with journalists from other countries so chances are good it was published in English, too:
Football Leaks
And here is the actual website with far more leaks, contracts etc. directly from the whistleblower/his informants and partners:
Football Leaks website
Amy Lawrence wrote an excellent book about the Invincibles, it's a great read.
Invincible: Inside Arsenal's Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season
There is actually a whole bunch of sociology books look at the issue of America and soccer. The "soccer mom" (which is a very American idea) is the perfect example of how soccer became established in a completely different way in America than the rest of the world, with baseball and american football being the traditional conservative sports that make up the American identity, and soccer associated with the liberal globalists.
http://www.amazon.ca/Offside-American-Exceptionalism-Andrei-Markovits/dp/069107447X
David Winner's _Brilliant Orange_. It's about Total Football and its relation to Dutch culture. Loads of interviews with Dutch legends, particularly about Ajax's wonder years and Holland's '74 WC run.
I just finished Inverting the Pyramid, simply awesome.
Zonal Marking has a bibliography page which offers several suggestions. From that list I've only read the two aforementioned books in full. I'll probably get a copy of Attacking Soccer to read next.
It's in German. If you're still interested, it's available for pre-order :
https://www.amazon.com/Football-Leaks-schmutzigen-Profifu%C3%9Fball-SPIEGEL-Buch-ebook/dp/B01N1UXJYB
Someone asked for recommended reading instead of watching the match. Badly wanted to send...
Invincible: Inside Arsenal's Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season https://www.amazon.com/dp/0241970490/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_nIjMDbC3CS3T4
I guess that's just his opinion of the team. Jonathan Wilson is a very knowledgeable journalist with a special interest in Eastern European football, so he wouldn't be rubbishing them out of spite or ignorance.
If you are interested in this subject of why soccer failed while other sports succeeded in the US, I'd highly recommend the book Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism. It's very interesting for soccer fans in the US.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/069107447X?pc_redir=1404571777&robot_redir=1
I'd recommend reading Arseblog.com every day. He writes every day and it'll help you get accustomed, I believe.
Perhaps do some digging into our North London rivalry with Tottenham Hotspur as well. The history behind, some of the big moments, that St. Totteringham's Day is the day we celebrate when we mathematically finish above them in the table, etc.
There are some good books and movies that can help you get acquainted as well, if you'd like. Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is one book, and there's a movie as well (not the Jimmy Fallon Red Sox one). Additionally, there's this book Arsenal: The Making of a Modern Superclub. It's a good look at the club and how it's changed since Arsene Wenger became manager.
This book is a great read that talks about this stuff as well.
I strongly recommend reading Paul Tomkins' Pay as You Play:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pay-As-You-Play-Success/dp/0955925339/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318780912&sr=8-1
Eduardo Galeano - Soccer in Sun and Shadow
if the politics of different european clubs interests you, this book is fascinating. i can't recommend it enough. probably my favorite book written on the sport. Football Against the Enemy - Simon Kuper
Okay, yeah was just wondering so I could compile a list. I've read a few.
These are probably books you'd find more interesting:
Behind the curtain
Tor! The Story of German football
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football (especially good for learning more about the culture within the Netherlands).
Feel free to PM for any others or questions you may have, I feel these are the main ones that come to mind but perhaps you've read them?
The best football book I've ever read was Simon Kuper's Football Against the Enemy. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
tl;dr It's a 1994 book from a young British journalist who visited 22 countries in the early '90s and wrote about their football cultures.
He examines issues like Dynamo Kiev being involved in the illegal trade of ex-Soviet military hardware, and why when West Germany's Olaf Thon gave his shirt to a Dutch player (can't remember which one) in the wake of a Dutch win over West Germany in the '88 Euro semi-final, the Dutch player subsequently used it as toilet paper.
The chapter on the Rangers vs Celtic rivalry is comparatively pretty tame. There is some pretty messed-up hatred going on in the football world.
Suggest you make this a very worthwhile purchase. It'll help prevent you from sounding completely out of touch again in future.
Making Of A Modern Superclub
An excelent read and written by someone with very close ties to Wenger.
I haven't read it yet but Brilliant Orange ticks some of those boxes:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1590200551/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1409239530&sr=1-1&pi=SY200_QL40
I found David Winner's book Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer to be a fascinating read; an examination of how Dutch culture and society shaped the landscape of Dutch football, it's both well-written and creative. Highly recommend.
You're right. I shouldn't have worded it that way so I've added a little correction. I remember reading, here I think, that the game was the first time that a lot of people saw the tension manifested as a massive act of collective violence. One thing let to another and boom big war.
If that's wrong, I bow to your superior knowledge.
Brilliant Orange is a great book. It is a history of dutch football, and links their style of football to the art, culture, philosophy, etc. of the Netherlands.
Hmm the only thing off the top of my head that would compare to 11 Rings would probably be "Teambuilding: the road to success" by Rinus Michels. http://www.amazon.com/Teambuilding-road-success-Rinus-Michels/dp/1890946737
Some titles that come to mind:
by David Wangerin
by David Wangerin
by Roger Allaway, Colin Jose and David Litterer
by Roger Allaway
by Colin Jose
by Andrei S. Markovits and Steven L. Hellerman
by Beau Dure
by Gary Hopkins
by Gavin Newsham
by Sean Reid
Read Fever Pitch for one. Also Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub is helpful. Going back through Arseblog's archives and the matchday threads on r/gunners couldn't hurt either.
http://www.amazon.com/Fever-Pitch-Nick-Hornby/dp/1573226882/
http://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-The-Making-Modern-Superclub/dp/1907637311
Link to where you can buy the book.
I assume it is The Damned United which the movie was based on?
You might also enjoy Walking on Water, Clough The Autobiography and I personally look forward to this, Nobody Ever Says Thank You.
> Any suggestions of other soccer related books is appreciated as well.
Would highly recommend Fever Pitch, Miracle of Castel di Sangro, Inverting the Pyramid, Brilliant Orange and Behind the Curtains.
[This one] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Futebol-Brazilian-Way-Life-Updated/dp/1408854163)
This Love Is Not For Cowards is an amazing read that is maybe not as explicitly about soccer as you're looking for but i still think it is in a league of its own for books about/around sports.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barca-Making-Greatest-Team-World/dp/0956497152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372787895&sr=1-1&keywords=barcelona This is pretty interesting.
Either The Damned United, as someone mentioned previously, or Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World
Yo leí el famoso inverting the pyramid, si no te jode leer en inglés (es lo que más se consigue en internet) te recomiendo: Brillant Orange y why england lose. Bien bien táctico leí hace poco attacking soccer y está bueno, aunque a algunas de las ideas se les notan los años.
Edit.
According to Alex Fynn (author of a book covering the modern Arsenal era and conductor of several extensive interviews with Arséne), David Dein's one and only purpose in life was to provide the Arsenal with a winning team. So when the board of directors proposed a new stadium, Dein instead favoured bringing Kroenke onto the board in order to build (on) a winning team. He doesn't clarify whether that would've involved Kroenke flooding the Club with wealth but - seeing as he doesn't have a reputation for doing that with any of his businesses - I personally doubt it. At the end of the day, I guess Dein and the board just couldn't agree on what to do next.
Interestingly, Fynn also tells us that whereas David Dein wouldn't exactly have 'challenged' Arséne per se, he would definitely have been able to sway Arséne's mind on certain decision because, as Arséne himself stated, 'he (Dein) would do my dirty work.' In other words, David Dein very much enjoyed the cut and thrust of transfer and contract negotiations and haggling with agents etc., making it considerably more convenient for the Club to do that kind of business.
Fynn also quotes Dein as having said that the first thing he does upon waking up in the morning is look at himself in his bathroom mirror and see the words "Build A Winning Team" etched into his forehead. The Club was his everything so I doubt that he would just randomly sell his shares and bugger off.
Really? I read that here: http://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Making-Superclub-Alex-Fynn/dp/1907637311/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342800740&sr=1-1&keywords=arsenal
It's superb. His other book, Behind the Curtain, (about football in Eastern Europe) is also very worth reading. And while I'm at it, a mention for The Blizzard.
(I promise I'm not Jonathan Wilson)
[edit to fix formatting]
This excellent book tries to answer that question: http://www.amazon.com/Offside-American-Exceptionalism-Andrei-Markovits/dp/069107447X
The basic idea is that there is only so much space for sports, and as other "major" sports solidified their positions, minor sports like soccer ended up getting pushed to the margins.
Personally, I'd say that the American Soccer League, which persisted on a smaller scale after the Soccer War / Great Depression, lacked ambition and organization and was happy to occupy a minor league role. Starting around 1960, people started to notice soccer again, due to growing internationalization, television, the world cup, etc.
just read the book.
He says this because the Dutch have a history with penalties. To lose, yet again, because your team can't execute a simple task is a black mark on Dutch football.
For quality insight into Dutch Football's dysfunction see:
http://www.amazon.com/Brilliant-Orange-Neurotic-Genius-Soccer/dp/1590200551
Definitely Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
It's a bit dry, but it's a great history of the tactics of football, and how they & the game in general spread across the world.
Even though it's about Arsenal, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornsby does a good job describing what it's like to be a fan.
I haven't read this yet, but have heard very good things about Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer by David Winner
Those are the ones that jump to my head immediately.
I liked this book:
"Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World"
https://www.amazon.com/Barca-Making-Greatest-Team-World-ebook/dp/B00736W9C6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
And really dig the artwork as well
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
Amazon Smile Link: this love is not for cowards
|Country|Link|Charity Links|
|:-----------|:------------|:------------|
|USA|smile.amazon.com|EFF|
|UK|www.amazon.co.uk|Macmillan|
|Spain|www.amazon.es||
|France|www.amazon.fr||
|Germany|www.amazon.de||
|Japan|www.amazon.co.jp||
|Canada|www.amazon.ca||
|Italy|www.amazon.it||
|India|www.amazon.in||
|China|www.amazon.cn||
To help add charity links, please have a look at this thread.
This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting). The thread for feature requests can be found here.
My list would have to include
The Ball is Round this is an amazing history of the sport. It is a very big book but very good.
The Numbers Game This has been one of my favorite soccer reads and I am surprised at how little people talk about it.
This love is not for cowards Truly an amazing story.
Amung the Thugs a fun and alarming tale of holgainism. Something I am very glad has not developed around the sport in the USA.
also if your not already receiving them you should subscribe to
Howler Magazine and
Eight by Eight
I hope this list gets you started. I have more on my list but have not got around to them.
Having just read this book, and learned about Guardiola, his attitude, intelligence and the changes he made to that team to make them such a success, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Bayern will be very close to retaining every competition they won last season, including the Champions League.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arsenal-The-Making-Modern-Superclub/dp/1907637311
A great book, especially useful in showing the ridiculous transformation since the Prem happened. I have the original edition that ends with us all set for world domination, sadly just before Abramovich used his cheat codes.
Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life By Alex Bellos and Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduaro Galeano
There’s a really fun Wenger v Ferguson documentary I watched on YouTube recently but I can’t recall the name but you should be able to find it easily.
I know you said that you already know a lot about the invincibles but I’d really recommend Amy Lawrence’s book Invincible: Inside Arsenal's Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season . Also she’s my favorite journalist about Arsenal and I’ve been reading her since I was at least 10 years (32 now sadly :() and I always find it fun to read through her old articles when I’m annoyed or nostalgic. Also Ray Parlour and Tony Adams’ autobiographies are also fun nostalgic reads because they recall a time when the club was more “local”.
Sorry I know you asked for documentaries but I couldn’t resist throwing my recommendations in
A Season With Verona sounds like a great read. I love reading books about soccer/football. Just got finished reading this book about Dutch soccer, very good read.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barca-Making-Greatest-Team-World/dp/0956497152
If you click on the link in my post it explains where the nickname comes from and most of the other questions you're asking here are addressed.
The point is that 'Man U' and 'Manchester U' were shorthand ways of referring to the club in an age where brevity was important both on Pathe news reels and in newspaper print. The post I referred to claimed they were invented as a reference to Munich and have only ever been used in that context, but it isn't true. They both predate those songs and the term was used precisely because it was already a way to refer to the club.
To stop using the term 'Man U' because people sung offensive songs using that nickname is a silly reason. The issue is the songs themselves not that they referred to the club using an established and accepted nickname for the club at the time. Would we stop calling the club Manchester United if rival fans started singing an offensive song using the full name tomorrow? Of course we wouldn't, and whilst we're at it why would the 'Man' which is still commonly used be any less offensive than the 'U' if they both originated from the same songs?
And yes, my main contention is Man 'U' has fallen out of favour because it just sounds odd nowadays with simply 'United' or 'Man United' becoming a preferred way of referring to the club. But the idea that the nickname was invented as a way to refer to the Munich air disaster (which is the claim that I am disputing and the one made in the post above) and that it has only ever been used in that context is just sheer nonsense. It's an internet myth, and – to borrow an unfortunate modern invention into the mix – it is fake news.
I get why people like to spread this rumour, and I appreciate it is done from the point of view of trying to do the right thing, but it is still utterly baseless.
Here's another article (written by Giles Oakley) making this very same point.
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/why-saying-man-u-isnt-so-bad/
You can also check out his book if you want more info on this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BFYFOZ6/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img
I believe the glue story was in Pitch Invasion. That book describes quite a bit of the Adidas history although there are numerous works which detail Dassler's early work and how he used football to expand (Sneaker Wars is another good one).
Brazil - See Alex Bellos' book. There's a chapter in there, there are also quite a few good books about Havelange's time with FIFA which discuss his nepotism with Teixeira, and there is plenty of stuff to read about Teixeira and Nike just on Google.
Just read the man's wiki entry for a taste..
Seems my bit is more downvote-worthy than attributing Adidas' success to making quality balls..
Whatever. I made a tidy profit when Qatar won the 2022 WC and I backed them at 40/1. The corruption in football is so transparent, how it works is so obvious, who benefits is entirely clear, and yet people want to argue with a straight-face that it comes down to the quality of balls..
Soccer is gay and uncool in America, sorry rest of the world. We hate this stupid gay sport.