Having invented the game, for England and its national football team, everything that has followed has been something of an anti-climax. There was, of course, the golden summer of 1966, when Alf Ramsey's radicalism in unveiling his wingless wonders in a World Cup quarter-final paid dividends. And there was the great period of English dominance on the world stage, which fell roughly between 1886 and 1900, when England won 35 of their 40 internationals . . . But before long foreign teams, with their insistence on progressive 'tactics', began to pose a few questions. And much of what followed for England constituted a series of false dawns (a thrashing of Italy in 1948; one World Cup triumph; the demolition of Holland in Euro '96), muddling through and by and large panicking under pressure. In The Anatomy of England award-winning journalist Jonathan Wilson seeks to place the bright spots in the context of the twentieth-century, where, time and again, progressive coaches have been spurned by England - technique being all very well, but what really matters is pluck and 'organised muscularity', or to quote Jimmy Hogan's chairman at Aston Villa in 1936: 'I've no time for these theories about football. Just get the ball in the bloody net.' Wilson takes ten key England fixtures - from defeat in Madrid in 1929; to Steve McLaren's evening to forget at Wembley in 2007 - and hacks back through the myth, conjecture and personal recollections, to get at the games themselves, and explore how what actually happened on the pitch shaped the future of the English game. Bursting with insight and critical detail, yet imbued with a wry affection, this is a history of England like no other before.
Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches
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'Wilson belongs alongside David Goldblatt and the daddy if them all, Brian Glanville, in the triumvirate of great British football historians. Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid is the seminal modern work on football tactics. Anatomy of England is its companion volume.' (FINANCIAL TIMES )
'Absorbing in detail... By analysing 10 England matches which sum up the prevailing ethos in the English game, Wilson's forensic examination of events on the bench are lent a broader context and perspective.' (FOUR FOUR TWO )
'[A] thought-provoking reappraisal of 10 key games in England's football history... Whatever happens in South Africa, this book should be required reading for all future England squads.' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
'fascinating' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
'Absorbing in detail... By analysing 10 England matches which sum up the prevailing ethos in the English game, Wilson's forensic examination of events on the bench are lent a broader context and perspective.' (FOUR FOUR TWO )
'[A] thought-provoking reappraisal of 10 key games in England's football history... Whatever happens in South Africa, this book should be required reading for all future England squads.' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
'fascinating' (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
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'[A] thought-provoking reappraisal of ten key games in England's football history ... this book should be required reading for all future England squads' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. 880
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Jonathan Wilson's renowned ability to dissect tactics, players and managers and boil them all down to their constituent parts is very much to the fore in The Anatomy of England, which I'd go so far as to say ought to be essential reading for fans of the English game. Like other reviewers, when we get into what in fact turns out to be more than ten games throughout the chapters (as important matches that surrounded the key ones are interpreted also), there is a lot of description of play that doesn't altogether seem necessary at times. But who can doubt that Wilson's video/DVD remote hasn't been getting a hammering because, amongst the many delights here, he reminds us of games we thought we knew (and fair few we didn't!) but which really turned on a specific moment of magic/luck/disaster etc that then shaped the collective memory of England at the time. That England weren't particularly great in the early stages of the 1966 World Cup, or that the Argentina game that year wasn't nearly as brutal as it's often remembered to be; that England were close to dreadful for parts of the 1990 tournament; that McAllister missed a penalty for Scotland in Euro 96 moments before Gascoigne's wonder goal; all of these moments are not there to remind the reader that we misremember the past for our own convenience so much as they are to construct a longer history of hope, expectation and punctured ambition. And that is the really beneficial aspect of a "serious" book about football like this one. First, it isn't always so serious as to neglect the humour and pathos of the game (much of it here involving Gascoigne!), and second Wilson enforces that point that we as fans, critics, and commentators have been round this set of houses many times before in our pleading with the national team to, just for once, get its act together. Wilson asserts that the so-called "golden age" of English football had calls for change and involved the castigation of players just as much as the Robson/Taylor/Eriksson/McClaren years had and the Capello reign continues to do. It's a smart idea for a book, it's for the most part terrifically well-assembled (especially the early games which are in many ways the most interesting)and it seriously says something about the national psyche, and not just in relation to football. Recommended.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you have read Inverting the Pyramid you won't need to read a review of this book to want to buy it. Quite simply Wilson is the best football writer around at the moment.
Even in passages which include forensic detail about a minute moment of a match he is always readable.
Football is a game which most fans think they understand but reading this book constantly made me re-evaluate my firmly held beliefs. It is enlightening, engaging and enjoyable. It made me want to get the DVDs of the matches it covers and sit down with my pause button at the ready.
A must have for anyone who calls him/her self a football fan.
Even in passages which include forensic detail about a minute moment of a match he is always readable.
Football is a game which most fans think they understand but reading this book constantly made me re-evaluate my firmly held beliefs. It is enlightening, engaging and enjoyable. It made me want to get the DVDs of the matches it covers and sit down with my pause button at the ready.
A must have for anyone who calls him/her self a football fan.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Jonathan Wilson's brilliantly entertaining book takes England's history as an international football team right back to the beginning - a game against Scotland in Partick, 1872 - and tells the story of how England became the vehicle for all our hopes and sorrows in international competition. You thought that it was a modern phenomenon for the England team to be criticised for being too much about individuals, not playing enough together, and not understanding the free-flowing continental passing game...? Think again...
The book particularly focuses on ten specific matches, beginning with England's first international defeat, against Spain in 1929. This structure really gives a focus to the material and lets you get your head round the details of each era of England players. The first two matches are known only from newspaper reports, but the last eight Wilson has watched over and over on DVD and his knowledge of the games really comes across well.
Wilson explains with great analytical force the technicalities of games and tactics, making you feel smarter than when you started reading, like a good science writer. But at the same time he has a wonderful eye for the telling detail, evoking longdead personalities; and a great dry sense of humour. I honestly can't recommend this book enough, masterful AND entertaining - how often does that happen? The PERFECT read while waiting impatiently for yet more World Cup highs and lows.
The book particularly focuses on ten specific matches, beginning with England's first international defeat, against Spain in 1929. This structure really gives a focus to the material and lets you get your head round the details of each era of England players. The first two matches are known only from newspaper reports, but the last eight Wilson has watched over and over on DVD and his knowledge of the games really comes across well.
Wilson explains with great analytical force the technicalities of games and tactics, making you feel smarter than when you started reading, like a good science writer. But at the same time he has a wonderful eye for the telling detail, evoking longdead personalities; and a great dry sense of humour. I honestly can't recommend this book enough, masterful AND entertaining - how often does that happen? The PERFECT read while waiting impatiently for yet more World Cup highs and lows.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Anatomy of England
I found so much to value in this brilliant book by Jonathan Wilson. Simply packed with insight and critical detail, this is indeed a history of our national football team England... Read more
Published 1 month ago by John
5.0 out of 5 stars
england
very interesting book
certainly gives you an insite into the day to day running
of the team, and the difficulties involved...
certainly gives you an insite into the day to day running
of the team, and the difficulties involved...
Published 3 months ago by Reggie
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Anatomy of England
This book is excellant. I am delighted I purchased and read it. A must have for any england sports fan. Very interesting and insightful.
Published 14 months ago by Noahsway
5.0 out of 5 stars
easy to use and results are amazing
this is my first pressure cooker and i am amazed by the results: vegetables taste so much better when steam cooked and everything is done in under half the time of using normal... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Andrei Ion
4.0 out of 5 stars
England dissected
Insightful and entertaining. If you've enjoyed Wilson's articles in the Guardian or his previous book, Inverting the Pyramid, you will like this. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2010 by Andrew Norman
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