Customer Reviews

The Art of Soccer

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my current favorite book on soccer.

The quotes from Sun Tzu (The Art of War) are very appropriate. The book goes from the very general, a thorough discussion of space and its importance in war and on the pitch, to the very specific.

Catlin concentrates much more on the concept of roles as opposed to positions. When teams recognize that functional roles are much more important than positions and when the team members learn that they should be interchangable, the dynamics of play can become much more interesting.

Also helpful is the fact that the most important points are clearly highlighted, making it easy to focus on each of them as a teaching point.

I have developed a fairly large soccer library, and this book, even with its flaws, is one of the best. Clif Brittain

Most soccer books describe soccer skills and tactics in either a "how-to" or "what it is" presentation. This book covers the reasoning behind specific tactics. This book explains why specific strategies and tactics work. This book is a must have for any coach or player.

There are some good insights in this book (and some really nice pictures). However, I was put off by the author's tone, which is pedantic and mildly condescending, and I was unimpressed by his grocery-list application of the insights to the game. The Sun Tzu quotes were appropriate but gratuitous, and the author does not apply the simplicity which has made "Art of War" such a classic. Where "The Art of War" is about fifty pages (including third-party commentary), "The Art of Soccer" is about four times that length.

Brevity would have greatly improved this book. The real insights (primarily regarding the importance of using space in effective soccer) were covered fully in the first chapter or two; the details in the later part are covered more eloquently and carefully in other works (see "Coaching Soccer Successfully," by Roy Rees et al ...

For an intermediate coach or player this book could be quite helpful, but I suggest skimming rather than reading it.

If you are coaching soccer and know the basics and you are ready to take your team to the next level this is the book to take you there. It is very informative and gives coach's a real understanding of the changes a team must make to get to the highest level of competitiveness.

This book is one of the few books I've seen on just tactics of soccer. It provides some good insight as to how to teach the individual to analyse a 1v1 situation, and a coach how to prepare a team. It is extremely well organized like a text book.

This is the only book I've found that breaks the game of soccer into it's primary components showing how to think about the game. This is useful for the player and coach (U11 or so and above).

If you are involved with a team which has the basics of feinting, dribbling, and passing, then this book will take you to the next level of understanding of how and why positioning should work. As the author points out early, 10 minutes after a game starts you can't tell whether the team is using a 5-3-2 or a 3-4-3 because the game is really about space and how to set up spaces, manipulate it, and work into it. Really a great understanding of the game as it is played and not as a bunch of X's and O's. You MUST read this book if you coach or play U-12 or above.

This is an excellent book that helps develop a greater appreciation and understanding of the tactics and strategies that underly the "beautiful" game. The main thrust of the book is the idea of space and how to create use and deny it. There are excellent illustrations and diagrams showing exactly how this is accomplished. This is superb book packed with insight and great value. The best soccer coaching book I've read 5+ stars.

This is a fantastic book that explores the why behind the strategy/tactics of soccer and is geared towards the more advanced coach/team.

The main tenet of the book is the use of space or, more specifically, how to exploit, create and deny it. The author does this effectively using Sun Tzu's principles and lots of diagrams to illustrate his points. It's also one of the few books that talks about and explains how to implement the Dutch total football system. I'm not really sure how practical this is as few teams have ever run it successfully but the ideas and concepts are compelling none the less. The only teams that I've seen implement this system successfully were the Dutch team in '96 Euros and the current Barcelona team both of which were/are coached by Frank Rijkaard. I was to young to appreciate the great Dutch teams of the 70's.

On the negative side, some of the visuals are hard to follow and somewhat dated, lots of NASL action, but they are very instructive. The author does also tend to be a little long winded.

I think this book presents an ideal in soccer tactics/strategy (soccer nirvana). The effectiveness of such a concept is debatable (the Italians have 4 World Cups and their system is the antithesis of this one), but there is no denying the quality/creativity of play produced from utilizing such a system.

I've coached soccer off and on and have recommended this book to just about everyone I've met. Of all the soccer books around I can honestly say that this is the best book on soccer that I've come across. Like the other reviewers this is the one I continuously grab at the beginning of each soccer season. When I first started coaching I found this book in the library and I really liked it. Sadly to say that our public library only had three copies. The following season and the season's thereafter it became harder and harder to obtain the book. I am happy to say that I not only have a copy for myself; but I got one for my daughter and her coach!

A wonderful book for anyone wanting to know all about the game. Dr. Catlin is a genius.