Why England lose

**Angus** · 21/08/2009, 7:36 AM

Not sure where this post should be, but I recommend the new book Why England Lose by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

It talks to statistical analysis of foortball, game theory in penalty shoot outs (with a brilliant chapter on Man U Chelsea in Moscow) and assorted other stuff about what teams do well etc

**tetsujin1979** · 21/08/2009, 8:48 AM

This was discussed on NewsTalk a week or two ago, came highly recommended

**bennocelt** · 21/08/2009, 9:36 AM

Originally Posted by Angus

Not sure where this post should be, but I recommend the new book Why England Lose by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

It talks to statistical analysis of foortball, game theory in penalty shoot outs (with a brilliant chapter on Man U Chelsea in Moscow) and assorted other stuff about what teams do well etc

Read a good review about it on FourFourTwo, looks like a good read...........Kuper is a quality writer

**Sheridan** · 21/08/2009, 9:41 AM

Kuper is astonishingly full of himself, has been since the over-praise of the pioneering (though that said more about the genre than the book) Football Against The Enemy. From what I've read of it, this is more specious dilettantism. Apparently his central thesis is that Premier League crowds are high precisely because the league is unequal. So why are Bundesliga crowds higher, in the most competitive of any major league?

**MariborKev** · 26/08/2009, 8:16 AM

Agreed Sheridan,

It is a "Footballing Moneyball" which I think is a flawed concept in its premise to begin with.

Baseball lends itself much more to the statistics etc where football is a much more dynamic sport. Kuper is full of himself, but he is among an small core of football writers who can actually write.......