Universality - The Blueprint for Soccer's New Era: How Germany and Pep Guardiola Are Showing Us the Future Football Game (Soccer Coaching)

Interestingly written, well-researched survey of how increased athleticism, fitness and technical ability, plus thecreative genius of a few coaches at the top of the sport (especially Pep Guardiola) have transformed the sport of soccer over the past two decades, focusing particularly on their impact on strategy and tactics.The author traces the modern (and future) trends in the game to the influence of the great Ajax and Holland sidescoached by Rinus Michels, and featuring the great Johan Cruyff.A chapter is devoted to the evolution of each position, how they've changed, are now played and might be played in the future. The author offers abundant theory and opinion, but it is very informed and based on careful study and observation of the game as well as knowledge of the influential teams and coaches of the past twenty years or so. The book is now a few years old, but in a way that only adds to its interest, in that the reader can and see how accurate some of Mr. Whitehouse's predictions are.

Absolute must-read for coaches and fans. Provides a concise, digestible history of football's tactical evolution since the Cruyff/Ajax era and then uses that as a base to build upon more modern tactical evolution, with a specific focus on Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side and a club's worth of players that are able to handle any tactical responsibility handed to them. This, Whitehouse believes, is where the game is going, and I'm inclined to agree. Knowing that, it's up to us, the fans and the coaches, to have our future players train with the ability of being able to handle any responsibility on the pitch. For how to accomplish this, I would recommend Mr. Whitehouse's first book, The Way Forward.

to much biased towards Pep Guardiola but great book.Nice analises of game development in recent times.I recomend for football fans

Not particularly informative, and I felt the author was grasping when he tried to shoehorn many of the modern players mentioned into the roles he claims are becoming more common. There are a lot of weird and under-explained comparisons, like the insistence that both Mourinho and Guardiola are proponents of the modern Universal player.The book is also desperately in need of an editor who can help the author chain his arguments together more clearly, and who could help with the typos and grammatical errors. Some interesting ideas but not worth the cost at $10.

Nice overview of recent developments in soccer tactics. However, it could have been written in half the words and said just as much. Flatters to deceive by not providing the detail you hope for.

Well written account of approach of bop level teams

One of the best soccer books I've read

So good that I got Matt down to my youth football club to deliver a 'coaching the coaching' sessions. Insightful and thoughtful; thre is a balance to the arguments that are made and the practical examples make this book very accessible. A relevant read for any football and football coach. And follow Matt on Twitter too...

A good read, covering a broad range of tactical and technical phenomena within the modern game. However including so much meant the book fails to go into much depth and even accuracy on some assertions. When speaking of the Jose Mourinho impact on Didier Drogba "he evolved his game from a classic number 9 target man to a much more dynamic forward" however in an recent BBC interview Drogba himself claims the Portuguese manager adapted him from striker looking to run in behind into a more static target man. I came across many examples like this in the book.The volume of tactical issues covered make this a worthwhile read however the lack of depth on any specific nuance means anyone who considers themselves a student of the game will see this as revision rather than learning.

I read Mathew Whitehouse’s previous book, ‘ The way forward’ in June of this year. And absolutely loved it. So naturally I was looking forward to ‘Universality’.Without overwhelming you 'Universality' puts you through a crash course over the last 20 years of the modern game. With constant references to the top coaches/visionaries i found myself constantly engaged studying at how their philosophies over the years are all linked.From someone who has just booked up for his UEFA B and keen to soak up as much tactical knowledge as possible. I soon found out Universality was the perfect book for me.I would recommend this to anyone who wants to find out more about the people behind making the Beautiful game, Beautiful!

Incredible information on the past, present and future of the game. A joy to read and something I shall read again in 5-10 years time, just to see what comes true and what doesn't. As the sport is so unpredictable! You will not be disappointed with the read I can assure you. If you are a coach, especially within an elite environment producing players for the modern game, it is an excellent insight as to what attributes your players should be taught.Enjoy and thank you for writing another great book.

Great book