For Soccer Fans Only

As a long-time soccer fan, I especially enjoyed reading Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski's book Soccernomics, an economic analysis of the world's most popular game. They really go into detail and  analyze everything from coaches to players to World Cups to most anything else that has to do with soccer. If you're a true soccer fan, you need to get this book.

You will learn a few secrets of the transfer market:

• A new manager wastes money on transfers; don't let him.
• Stars of recent World Cups or European championships are overvalued; ignore them.
• Certain nationalities are overvalued.
• Sell any player when another club offers more than he is worth.
• Replace your best players even before you sell them.
• Gentlemen prefer blonds (this is a good one ;-))
• including six more secrets that you'll find in the book...

You will also find out...

... if managers (coaches) really matter. 

... where to kick a penalty for the best chances of having it go in.

... which country loves football (soccer) the most (you probably won't guess this one).

... why hosting World Cups is good for you (and probably not in the way you think).

... why England loses (yeah, there's an explanation for that).

... why Spain has been so dominant (the book was written before this summer's World Cup).

... and more.

Try to guess what these two short quotes are talking about:

"You don't need to have been a horse to be a jockey." (p. 64)

"'I don't see the connection. My dentist is the best in the world, and yet he's never had a particularly bad toothache.'"(p. 65)

Some food for thought:

"The average player only has the ball for two minutes every game, so his main job is to occupy the right positions for the other 88 minutes." (p. 403)

Are you curious now? If you'd like to support this blog, get the book here or in my bookstore. Thanks!