Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

by Jonathan Wilson

That tension—between beauty and cynicism, between what Brazilians call futebol d’arte and futebol de resultados—is a constant, perhaps because it is so fundamental not merely to sports but also to life: to win or to play the game well? It is hard to think of any significant actions that are not in some way a negotiation between the two extremes of pragmatism and idealism.

It didn’t matter if a player had a defender tight on his back if all he was doing was bouncing the ball off, changing the angle of attack. “A good player runs to the ball,” Rowe said. “A bad player runs after it.”