How to Watch Soccer

November 14, 2016
In this meticulous compendium of soccer tactics, formations, patterns of play, and player psychology, Gullit, who was the captain of the Netherlands team that won the 1998 European Football Championship and the 1990 World Cup, provides the perspective of a former player and coach. His guide provides an insider’s take on regional styles of play and football cultures, comparing continental football to the game as it is played in England and elsewhere. Gullit’s exhaustive examples can at times feel somewhat dense; the most illuminating moments arrive when he shows how formations, patterns of play, and regional differences in referee calls contribute to wins and losses. Gullit offers reasonable advice for players, coaches, and fans willing to sift through his many examples. For instance, “poor defenders tend to concentrate on the ball,” and individuals who want to watch a game properly are wise to shift their attention away from the ball and toward systems and patterns of play. Coaches should “start with the basics, the defense,” because what matters to a team “happens when you don’t have the ball.” Gullit’s informative guide may be too dense for those new to the sport, but players and coaches will benefit from this expert’s approach to the game.

December 15, 2016
Watching the beautiful game through the eyes of one who knows. Gullit has experienced nearly everything there is to experience in the game of soccer, at every level. A former Dutch international player and star for multiple European clubs, including AC Milan and Chelsea, the author was a world and European Player of the Year renowned for his positional flexibility and a manager who brought Chelsea its first major title in more than a quarter century when they won the FA Cup in 1997. For years, he has also been an incisive and respected TV analyst. All of his credentials make him ideally situated to explain how best to understand the world's most popular sport. Using myriad--though never gratuitous or self-indulgent--examples from his own career as a player and manager, Gullit peers below the surface and encourages readers to do more than simply watch the ball. After a few short autobiographical chapters, all geared toward setting up his varying perspectives on the game, Gullit runs through the many facets of soccer, from the systems, patterns of play, and positions to overarching strategy and nitty-gritty tactics to the various teams and players who make the game so compelling. He is not afraid to dive deep into the minutiae of soccer's fine points even as he elucidates the big picture, and diagrams helpfully illustrate certain plays or modes of play. Because Gullit originally wrote the book in his native Dutch for a European audience, his perspective and many of his examples come from both the Dutch professional game and the Netherlands national side, but this shouldn't be a negative for American readers interested in soccer; it grounds him in a particular context. A passionate insider's approach to understanding a game that seems so simple but contains almost inexhaustible complexity. Read this for background and then turn to Eduardo Galeano's poetic Soccer in Sun and Shadow for further illumination.

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January 1, 2017

Following on the publication of fellow Dutchman Johan Cruyff's soccer autobiography, My Turn: A Life of Total Football, Gullit offers an intimate guide to the sport. With success as a player and manager (notably for the Chelsea football club) as well as a trainer and media analyst, Gullit's remarkable insight blends personal experience at all levels to create a unique way to look at soccer and see the how and why of matches--almost to the point of ignoring the who. He notes that if a player doesn't fit the dynamics of a team, all of the money used to obtain that player may well be misspent. To Gullit, individual class is the crux of soccer success, a point he clarifies with examples of players fitting the system. Sections on different national teams and new developments within the sport enhance a well-written volume that is long on perspective and short on technical aspects. VERDICT With the continuing popularity of soccer, this is an ideal book for both novices or fully devoted fans to enrich viewing or simply following the sport internationally.--Boyd Childress, formerly with Auburn Univ. Libs., AL

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
Gullit, a Dutch soccer player who won multiple championships and Player of the Year honors in Europe before becoming a manager and then a pundit, adds author to his resume with this intelligent treatise on the game. Although the title implies something on the level of Soccer for Dummies, this is targeted toward fans who already love the game and know the rules but seek a richer spectator experience. After a quick career recap that reinforces his credentials, Gullit explains what to look for and how to comprehend it, a key idea being that simply following the ball will cause you to miss much of the action. Understanding systems and patterns of play, and the responsibilities of each player's position, before anticipating what happens nextor why something went wrongis just as important for an informed fan as it is for a professional analyst. Despite a fair number of diagrams, this requires real reader engagement. But fans who are neither rank beginners nor seasoned expertsthat is, most of themare bound to raise their soccer IQs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)