Record Breakers: The Tactics Behind Liverpool's andManchester City's Title Triumphs

by Robert Weaver

Record The Tactics Behind Liverpool and Manchester City's Title Triumphs and Record Points Totals lifts the lid on Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola's tactical systems and strategies. Written by a Premier League analyst, the book focuses on the seasons when these two footballing giants registered the highest points totals in Premier League history. It compares their styles and principles of play both with and without the ball, analyses the differences in the positioning of their players and outlines their specific movement patterns, all in the context of how opposition teams attempted to defend against them. Learn how Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling were used very differently from Mo Salah and Sadio Mané, how City's system got the best out of Kevin De Bruyne, and how Trent Alexander-Arnold became a unique playmaker from full-back. From 'inverted full-backs' to 'false 9s' via 'free 8s', discover how City and Liverpool's tactics reflect modern football's evolution. 

384 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2021

About the author

Robert Weaver worked as a program organizer and producer for CBC radio from 1948 to 1985, and in that role helped bring to notice such writers as Alice Munro and Mordecai Richler. A prolific editor of anthologies, he was also a driving force behind the well-known literary magazine The Tamarack Review.

He was also the editor of several anthologies including the Canadian Short Stories editions (1952, 1960, 1968, 1978, 1985) and The Anthology Anthology: A Selection from Thirty Years of CBC Radio's "Anthology".

Reviews

[Yorben Geerinckx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Verhelderende en behapbare tactische analyse van de gloriejaren van Manchester City en Liverpool! Alle belangrijke spelpatronen en -principes van beide clubs worden zorgvuldig en uitgebreid toegelicht, ondersteund door grafische voorstellingen.

Het boek bevat veel herhaling. Die herhaling is soms een zegen, maar veel vaker een vloek. Het kan handig zijn om een eerder toegelicht aspect weer even op te frissen, maar evengoed is die herhaling vaak overbodig of te frequent. De auteur lijkt te onderschatten hoeveel de lezer gaandeweg bijleert, waardoor hij veel aandacht besteedt aan herhaling. Zo wijken de analyses soms af van de essentie en wordt de vaart uit het boek gehaald.