Simon Kuper''s first book, Football Against the Enemy, won the 1994 William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize and is widely acknowledged as one of football''s seminal books. Simon writes a weekly sports column in the Financial Times and has previously written football columns for The Times and The Observer.Stefan Szymanski is Professor of Economics and MBA Dean at Cass Business School in London. Stefan has a global reputation and has acted as a consultant to government and to major sports organisations such as the FIA (motor sport), UEFA (football) and the ICC (cricket). Stefan Szymanski is Professor of Economics and MBA Dean at Cass Business School in London. Stefan has a global reputation and has acted as a consultant to government and to major sports organisations such as the FIA (motor sport), UEFA (football) and the ICC (cricket).
"Many explanations [of England's poor form] can be found in the
book Soccernomics in a segment entitled "Why England Loses." (This
is well worth a read for any English football fan; essentially, you
overvalue your football heritage and undervalue the benefits of
innovation.)"
--Stephen J. Dubner, co-author Freakonomics on the Freakonomics
blog "Fascinating."
--VanityFair.com "The authors take what 'everybody' knows about
success and failure in soccer and subject it to rigorous empirical
analysis embedded in good stories that carry the narrative
along...Highly recommended. All readers."
--Choice "Soccernomics [is] a sharply written and provocative
examination of the world's game seen through the prism of economics
and statistical data. It demolishes almost everything that most
soccer fans believe about the game and how professional soccer
teams should operate."
--Globe & Mail (Canada) Oh, Rooney's the best. [My son] Ben thinks
that England might be in the top four, but that's it. He knows the
starting line up of every European team. We're reading this very
interesting book about football together, you know
Soccernomics.
--Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Birds of
America
"Since the publication of the first edition of Soccernomics there
have been several attempts to copy its content. Yet few authors in
the world of soccer writing can tell a human story like Simon
Kuper, and even fewer academics can write an understandable
narrative with numbers like Stefan Szymanski. Together the two men
raise the bar again, bringing new insights to an already great body
of work that is accessible and interesting to the quant and casual
reader alike... I highly recommend you pick it up for yourself,
even if you have already read the first edition. You will not be
disappointed."
--Zach Slaton, Forbes (online) "[Q]uite an entertaining read."
--Simply Futbol "[W]onderful book."
--Pro Soccer Talk (NBC Sports blog) "Soccernomics... remains
essential reading for anyone seeking an analytical take on the
game."
--Keeping Score (TIME Soccer Blog) "Soccernomics is the most
intelligent book ever written about soccer."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"With Soccernomics, the FT's indispensable Simon Kuper and
top-flight sports economist Stefan Szymanski bring scrupulous
economic analysis and statistical rigor to a sport long dependent
on hoary - and, it seems, unfounded - assumptions...Gripping and
essential."
--Slate.com, Best Books of 2009 "[The book] is a sporting tale in
the Freakonomics mode of inquiry, using statistics to come up with
fascinating conclusions."
--Independent (UK), Best Books of 2009 "[Szymanski and Kuper]
entertainingly demolish soccer shibboleths...Well argued and clear
headed."
--Financial Times, Best Books of 2009 "Using data analysis, history
and psychology, [Soccernomics] punctures dozens of clichés about
what it takes to win, and who makes money in soccer - and in sports
in general."
--Associated Press "[Kuper and Szymanksi] do for soccer what
Moneyball did for baseball--put the game under an analytical
microscope using statistics, economics, psychology and intuition to
try to transform a dogmatic sport."
--New York Times "[A] must read for any fan of the business of
soccer..."
--Footiebusiness.com
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