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The Philosophy of Football: In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa
The Philosophy of Football: In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa by Jed C. Davies is a product of three and a half years of research, interviews over coffee tables, bus journeys through foreign countries and the development of an idea. The idea has been a simple one: to theorise and understand the philosophy of one of the most influential football coaches in the history of the game: Marcelo Bielsa
From over 50 training sessions, theory on rotations and movement to the languages of the game and the #1-3-3-1-3 formation, Davies has explored many of the themes that merge into one to form the Argentine’s football thinking. The Philosophy of Football: In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa delivers best in its attempt to celebrate football played between lines: between the opposition midfield and defensive lines. Between enemy lines
In the eighteen chapters of Davies’ book, no page is without the theme of placing value upon a pass and tackling the war in that exists football philosophy, among those who prioritise possession and those who prioritise positioning. The infamous seven lines of play are given context within a specific playing style of ‘vertical football’
This book has been written for football coaches and those wishing to develop a greater understanding of the game on a tactical level, providing a framework to analyse the game through, but most of all this book has been written to act as a reference of the game. For this reason, examples given in the book are diverse, from The Chile National Team and Athletic Bilbao to Juanma Lillo’s Millonarios and Gary Speed’s Wales coming together to form The Philosophy of Football
From over 50 training sessions, theory on rotations and movement to the languages of the game and the #1-3-3-1-3 formation, Davies has explored many of the themes that merge into one to form the Argentine’s football thinking. The Philosophy of Football: In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa delivers best in its attempt to celebrate football played between lines: between the opposition midfield and defensive lines. Between enemy lines
In the eighteen chapters of Davies’ book, no page is without the theme of placing value upon a pass and tackling the war in that exists football philosophy, among those who prioritise possession and those who prioritise positioning. The infamous seven lines of play are given context within a specific playing style of ‘vertical football’
This book has been written for football coaches and those wishing to develop a greater understanding of the game on a tactical level, providing a framework to analyse the game through, but most of all this book has been written to act as a reference of the game. For this reason, examples given in the book are diverse, from The Chile National Team and Athletic Bilbao to Juanma Lillo’s Millonarios and Gary Speed’s Wales coming together to form The Philosophy of Football
- GenresFootballNonfiction
Paperback
Published August 20, 2016
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May 2, 2019
Much of the book is made up of self-congratulatory passages like "It was this quote from Roberto Martinez in a lecture I presented for the World Football Academy, at the Expert Meeting in South Africa 2014, that left Anson Dorrance with the urge to be the first to come up to me after the presentation, shake my hand and express an interest in further discussing some of the ideas in the presentation".
All of the sources contained within are just mates of the writer, and it goes into great and pointless detail about each of them and their tenuous qualifications. They share a raft of thoughts without any sort of narrative or flow, and are honestly no more incisive than random bloke in the pub level analysis.
Regardless of the writing style, the actual content is mostly made up of either explanations of basic tactical concepts, and 'rules' for playing football which fail to take the opposition into account. The substance of these could fit into a leaflet. The rest is made up of session plans that don't seem to be appropriate for any team I can possibly imagine. If you don't know the level, the individuals, and the opposition, you can't prescribe a meaningful program.
My standards for football books are so low that even the pointless ones tend to get two stars, but there is so much self-aggrandisement in this that I found it genuinely unpleasant.
All of the sources contained within are just mates of the writer, and it goes into great and pointless detail about each of them and their tenuous qualifications. They share a raft of thoughts without any sort of narrative or flow, and are honestly no more incisive than random bloke in the pub level analysis.
Regardless of the writing style, the actual content is mostly made up of either explanations of basic tactical concepts, and 'rules' for playing football which fail to take the opposition into account. The substance of these could fit into a leaflet. The rest is made up of session plans that don't seem to be appropriate for any team I can possibly imagine. If you don't know the level, the individuals, and the opposition, you can't prescribe a meaningful program.
My standards for football books are so low that even the pointless ones tend to get two stars, but there is so much self-aggrandisement in this that I found it genuinely unpleasant.
Displaying 1 of 1 review