Inverting the Pyramid

The History of Football Tactics

By: Jonathan Wilson

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Paperback | 20 October 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
528 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.5 x 13 x 3.5

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'MASTERFUL' Time Out

'REVELATORY' Scotland on Sunday

'GLORIOUSLY READABLE' Metro

'FASCINATING' Independent

'EXCELLENT' Telegraph

'ABSORBING' Guardian

Winner of National Sporting Club Book of the Year, shortlisted for William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

The fifteenth anniversary edition, fully revised and updated, of Jonathan Wilson's modern classic.

In Inverting the Pyramid, Jonathan Wilson pulls apart the finer details of the world's game, tracing the global history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning when chaos reigned. Along the way, he looks at the lives of great players and thinkers who shaped the sport and probes why the English, in particular, have 'proved themselves unwilling to grapple with the abstract'.

This edition of a footballing modern classic has been fully updated to include the development of gegenpressing as pioneered by German coaches such as Ralf Rangnick and Jurgen Klopp, and its subsequent influence on the world game. It also analyses the tactical evolution of Pep Guardiola, the increasing alternatives to possession-based football and the changing role of the goalkeeper, as well as investigating the trend of full-backs developing into midfielders and the consequent return of three at the back.

Industry Reviews

[A] fascinating history of tactics, a book that is guaranteed to enhance your football watching; your team may still lose, but you'll have a far better idea why they did - INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

This must surely go down as one of the most revelatory sports books of the year, as well as one of the best. Who would have thought that a book charting the history of football tactics and strategy, from the 1870s to the present day, could be so engrossing and entertaining - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

A masterful work; it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years - TIME OUT

Absorbing and informative - The Guardian

A gloriously readable, eccentric and informative trawl through the changing tactical mindsets and formations that have helped shape the beautiful game - METRO

You will never read a more entertaining or erudite history - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

A masterful piece of research... Fascinating - SCOTSMAN, Books of the Year

A fascinating analysis... it is hard to imagine a more readable or thorough effort - IRISH EXAMINER

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