Zonal Marking, Michael W. Cox
Zonal Marking, Michael W. Cox
1 Rating(s)
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
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Zonal Marking
From Ajax to Zidane, the Making of Modern Soccer

Author: Michael W. Cox

Narrator: Colin Mace

Unabridged: 14 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/13/2019


Synopsis

A mazy dribble through the recent history of European soccer, showing how shifting styles and influence have shaped the game.

In the early 1990s, the Dutch footballing philosophy was worshipped across the continent. Then the baton passed to the Italians, who clearly boasted Europe's strongest league. But when France started winning everything at the international level its national academy became the template for others, until suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Europe's most revered player and manager both hailed from Portugal. Next, Barcelona and Spain won everything during a very obvious four-year period of dominance, before tiki-taka's decline meant Bayern and Germany took control. Finally, Europe's most successful coaches found themselves competing in England, introducing a brilliant cacophony of styles to the Premier League.

Zonal Marking is a glorious travelogue through soccer's triumphant styles and characters.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Stanislav on June 14, 2019

This is one of the best football books I've ever read. Michael is of course renowned on the internet for looking at individual football games and analyzing them well beyond the typical questions of whether a goal was "stunning" or a red card was "unfair". He looks at patterns - running patterns, pas......more

Goodreads review by Anzig on August 25, 2019

Cheesy. Michael Cox was impressive in the 5-star book The Mixer. However, I found Zonal Marking is kind of repetitive to The Mixer. If you have read The Mixer, no need to read this book. It feels like a consolation goal to The Mixer.......more

Goodreads review by Sebastian on December 12, 2023

Very mixed feelings. But I'll start with a bit of context - I like football a lot, I enjoy watching matches (more on TV than at the venue), but I'm very bad at "reading" tactics. What does it mean? I understand tactics (4-3-3, 4-4-2, ...), I understand the positions & roles they play - but all of th......more

Goodreads review by Sourya on July 14, 2020

Excellent book. Might be the best footballing book I've ever read. Features tactical analyses in great detail along with minute-by-minute match descriptions, all written in very free-flowing and subtly passionate language. This book describes modern football – born in 1992 (the year I was born) afte......more

Goodreads review by Alex on February 12, 2022

Another amazing overview of football history from Michael Cox. I probably did prefer The Mixer, but Zonal Marking gave a wider insight into why modern football is where it is. The descriptions of goals and teams had me constantly YouTubing 90s videos of Serie A and Dutch football stars I had never s......more