As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naïve and simple-hearted than we suppose. And we ourselves are, too.


“Golden ages, almost by definition, are past: gleeful naivety never lasts for ever.”
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics

“And there, in a moment, was laid bare the prime deficiency of the English game. Football is not about players, or at least not just about players; it is about shape and about space, about the intelligent deployment of players, and their movement within that deployment. (I should, perhaps, make clear that by ‘tactics’ I mean a combination of formation and style: one 4-4-2 can be as different from another as Steve Stone from Ronaldinho.) The Argentinian was, I hope, exaggerating for effect, for heart, soul, effort, desire, strength, power, speed, passion and skill all play their parts, but, for all that, there is also a theoretical dimension, and, as in other disciplines, the English have, on the whole, proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract.”
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics

“My dear lady, in my experience of ill-doing, Providence leaves the work of conviction and chastisement to us mortals—and the process is often fraught with difficulties. There are no short cuts.”
― And Then There Were None
― And Then There Were None

“To thee, to thee, O my beauty, my fire! Thou hast been burning in my heart all these futile years. If my life were a piece of gold it would come out of its trial brighter, but it is a trodden turf of grass, and nothing remains of it but this handful of ashes.”
― 5 Best Short Stories
― 5 Best Short Stories

“In football,’ he said, ‘the tactics adopted must always be in relation to the ability of the men on the side to carry them out successfully. Because of this, it is hard to lay down hard and fast rules.”
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
― Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
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