Outstanding book about football, a must read.

[jarv]

For all FFC supporters, know what an intelligent bunch you all are I must recommend a book my son just bought.

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, two Americans.

For all the "stats" skeptics (including me) it goes a long way to explaining how it works and what ALL teams do now. Examples of topics are as follows....

The eyeball test and many huge mistakes in the transfer market.
The worst business in the world....but..
How Lyon won the french title 5 years in a row without spending a lot.
Safer than the bank of England, why clubs dont disappear.
Financial fair play, why it is bad for soccer.
Do coaches matter.?
Are penalties unfair? Only if you are Nicholas Anelka. An economists view.
The fans?  Loyalty, suicides, happiness.
Countries. Why England lose and others win (Spain, Germany, Brazil etc)

Statistics, some surprises...Sam Allardyce was an avid user of statistics, not just the hoof it up the field tactic. Hundreds of keepers were studied a few years ago, Craig Gordon at Sunderland, believe it or not, came out as number one. The study took into account factors such as playing behind the back 4 of Sunderland is not equal to the back 4 at Chelsea. Some normalising techniques were applied.

So, if you have some spare change, I recommend this book. I have not quite finished it but could not wait til the end to post this.

[callumc513]

Yeah, it's an absolutely excellent book! Think Messrs Klein and Khan Jr. are likely to be fans, too (-;

[cmg]

Thanks for reminding me.

Incidentally, I'm not sure about the other guy but I'm fairly sure Simon Kuper is not American. He was actually born in Africa (as, I think, was, Stefan Szymanski). He wrote the excellent 'Football Against The Enemy' (brilliant on the Netherlands v Germany rivalry) and is a big expert on Dutch football. He is British.

[jarv]

CMG, thank you for the corrections. I should have fact checked before posting. There is already too much "fake" news out there.

[love4ffc]

This sounds interesting and upon a quick Google search I found it at Amazon. 
https://www.amazon.com/Soccernomics-England-Germany-Australia-Destined/dp/1568584814