A masterful work, It's all deliciously nerdy - a cross between a coaching manual and a social history - and if its publication helps foster a flowering of interest in the tactical and analytical side of the game in this country, it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years. - TIME OUT

Facts and stats, plus anecdotes, interviews and Wilson's deft touch with football-speak, give colour to a subject that can be a little dry and all-too confusing for those watching (and often those picking the side). - CQ

For a detailed analysis of how a single striker became the norm throughout football, you had better read Jonathan Wilson's excellent new book about tactics. - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

[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

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 of tactics - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

This is a masterful piece of research and lives up to the claim to be nothing less than "a history of football tactics". Fascinating. - SCOTSMAN

A fascinating analysis of the way the game has evolved tactically from the 1870s... as a summary of the first 140 years of football tactical history, it is hard to imagine a more readable or thorough effort. - IRISH EXAMINER