Read 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 World's Most Popular Sport (2009)
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 World's Most Popular Sport (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Been meaning to read this forever, so rather than sit and day-drink between WC games one day, I walked down to the Tattered Cover and finally picked it up. Short, essay-sized chapters on topics that footy fans expound on with great certainty, that these guys (one a football scribe, the other an economist) put to the test. Which side to go during PKs. Why soccer teams don’t, and shouldn’t make money. Do coaches make a difference? Buy this, "The Ball is Round", some beer or gin, and the MLSLive package, and watch soccer become a favorite American sport. Thank me later. #curriculum #reporting A numbers-heavy way to get across a few ideas about football: Football success is partly proportionate to the size of population you draw a team from and decisively related to money spent, with some exceptions. The most successful football is played in Western Europe, which exports coaches. These have reformed British football and are bringing new populations on board; watch out for Iraq. Some countries that are not at the top of the Champions League are nevertheless extremely enthusiastic about football, notably Norway. Secondary cities have tended to be better at football than megacities where there is more to do. And, most interestingly, British fans are not as loyal to their teams as they like think they are.
What do You think about 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 World's Most Popular Sport (2009)?
Good book that digs in to the statistics of soccer.
—kristina
A bit dry, but lots of interesting tidbits inside.
—Jacqueline
