Thread by @CalvinEmeka

What I am reading. (Apologies @DoubleEph)
Absolutely fascinating book on tactics and what the managers that employed them said was their reasons. Hopefully one day I will have a sit down with @Zonal_Marking and discuss some of the stuff in there

@dwinnera's book Brilliant Orange gets a good plug.

Still on #ZonalMarking
"I was a defender who wasn't really a defender" - Ronald Koeman.
Fella scored 239 goals in his career. That is ridiculous. More than Patrick Kluivert!

This Part 2 and how Marcell Lippi's Juve influenced football at the time was rivetting read.

At the core of #Lippi and #Juve's style was Flexibility.

The man who coached Nigeria to our first #AFCON triumph is actually credited with being responsible for the "evolution of Portugal as a serious football nation". Wow.
Otto Gloria. According older cousins who used to go watch the Eagles training then he "only sat down shouting"

I remember when Iheanacho was being courted by European clubs I was adamant he would have been better served going to Portugal. I am stunned by these Anderson figures leading to his transfer to United. #ZonalMarking

Portugal and wingers but no proper striker. At least none since the days of Fernando Gomes. They created one - Nuno "Gomes" 🤣🤣🤣

This Transition. Never noticed the Iberian link actually.
At the bottom, the start of a rivalry....

...rooted in rejection it seems

I had always wondered why Pep Guardiola the footballer finished at the top level at 30. Football tactics and demands changed - dramatically. His words in 2004. #ZonalMarking

Fitting that it took Guardiola - the manager - to help pull football tactics back to a time when technique rather than size made the player. I remember not being a Xavi fan when he played 4. But further forward in the no 8 he was just wicked - simple.