Secrets of the Premier League and European football
The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines. By Michael Cox. HarperCollins, 486 pages; £16.99.
The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success. By Daniel Fieldsend. Arena Sport; 255 pages; £14.99.
ON THE opening weekend of the Premier League in 1992, all but 13 players were from Britain or Ireland. In the 25 years since, the top tier of English football has been transformed into the sport’s most globalised—and lucrative—domestic competition. As Michael Cox, a football journalist whose writing often focuses on tactics, shows in “The Mixer”, the Premier League’s sporting evolution has been mostly driven by foreigners.
In the league’s early years Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianfranco Zola were all revolutionaries. The three brought a dazzling skill to the game, and excelled at playing “in between the...Continue reading