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- Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the Worlds Most Popular Sport
Selected Product: | Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the Worlds Most Popular Sport, ISBN:9781568584256 | |  |
| | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com Why do England lose? Why does Scotland suck? Why doesn’t America dominate the sport internationally...and why do the Germans play with such an efficient but robotic style? These are questions every soccer aficionado has asked. Soccernomics answers them. Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game works, Soccernomics reveals the often surprisingly counterintuitive truths about soccer. An essential guide for the 2010 World Cup, Soccernomics is a new way of looking at the world’s most popular game. |
Average Customer Rating:  Excellent Read and Offers Surprise Truths About The World's Game Offers some very interesting insights into the world of soccer. While some compare it to Michael Lewis's "Moneyball", it differs in that "Moneyball" deals more with baseball at the micro level, while "Soccernomics" deals with soccer at a macro level. There is a lot of statistical analysis of national teams, but no analysis of individual players. In essence this is one of the difficulties of soccer, as it does not naturally lend itself to extreme statistical analysis like baseball does.
My main argument with the book is that it treats the NFL as the US's main export sport. While the NFL is undoubtedly the most popular league in the United States, this is a recent phenomenon. Baseball has traditionally been "America's Past Time" and thus is the sport that the United States spread around the world, although not to the same level that the English spread soccer.
One analysis that I wanted to read about was the success of Latin American teams. In particular an analysis of Mexico and Brazil. Both countries are soccer crazy and have very large populations, but Brasil has won five World Cups and Mexico none. It would be interesting to see an analysis of why this has happend, but the book mainly deals with European teams. Smart, Intelligent, Soccer Writing The most intelligent book on football ever written. A fascinating plunge that tackles the games misconceptions, dispossessing the perceived wisdom of the elites, and the fanciful hopes of the hopeless. Everything from the stretch including fascinating analysis of the link between suicide rates and a nation's soccer success, and the growing muscle of soccer in lands frozen out for decades. Read a cracking insight into the mind of Guus Hiddink, the Merlin of the modern game. Simon Kuper is an outstanding soccer writer, unmatched. Linking up with Stefan Szymanski, they've pulled on a winning strip with this book. A must have for all futbol fans.
Alan Black
author of Kick the Balls: An Offensive Suburban Odyssey | |
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