Michael Cox (18)

The Mixer by Michael Cox (who currently runs the excellent Zonal Marking podcast on the Athletic) was a book that I thought would get boring really quickly. Coming into this book cold, with only an elementary knowledge of footballing tactics, I was not let down.

The Mixer takes you from the early days of the Premier League, and documents the changes that took place on the pitch and off the pitch: for example, how the backpassing rule change impacted teams significantly, or how Arsene Wenger for the first one to bring a complete fitness overhaul to the Premier League. It goes through phenomena like the rise and fall of tiki-taka football, or how false-nines began to gain prominence in the Premier League.

It strikes a balance between the jargon and the overall narrative, and masterfully explains a complicated tale of tactical evolution through a mix of insightful anecdotes, a deep understanding of footballing history, and an overflowing love for the game.

The Mixer is the perfect book for a passionate fan looking to dig a little deeper into the game that they love and cherish. It will most likely change how you view the current state of the Premier League, and will definitely transform how you view a football match.… (plus d'informations)

I really enjoyed The Mixer! It covers the history and development of the Premier League from a tactical point of view. For example, there are chapters on inverted wingers, midfield trios, the Makelele role, tiki-taka and pressing. As the author goes through each tactical development, he gives lots of examples, and he explains how and why the tactical development came about. The examples give you a good sense of many of the important games of the PL as well, so it is also a sort of a history book.
I am only a casual follower of the PL, but nevertheless I found this book fascinating. Many books on football are mostly history books on what happened, but in The Mixer the tactics are also described really well. It's a thick book, and it took a while to get through, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is hard to pick favourite parts, but the chapter on Leicester stood out for me. Really excellent book!… (plus d'informations)