Soccer Lover’s Book Guide
The Soccer Lover’s Book Guide series reviews and rates books that tell the story of the beautiful game. Here is a book which takes a look at soccer from a different view – the mathematical adventures of the game of soccer.
Soccermatics – Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game
Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game – who thinks of soccer and math in the same sentence? Enter David Sumpter – a professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, where he runs the Collective Behaviour Research Group. Sound a bit distant from the X and O’s of soccer? Not really.
Why do some players succeed where other’s fail? Perhaps it is their innate sense of space and distance along with their soccer prowess. Why do some defenders always win where others can no consistently beat their opponents? Whether you want a better understanding of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar or Luis Suarez or you just want to help a player you know improve and master their game — the book is well worth reading.
How do you get 50,000 football fans singing the same line? It starts with just one loudmouth who decides it’s time to taunt the opposition. A few of his friends join in and a few seconds later the ground is filled with the sound of ….” MATH: This contagious behavior and fan hype can be explained and predicted.
Sumpter is originally from London where he studied his PhD in Mathematics at Manchester and has held academic research positions at both Oxford and Cambridge before heading to Sweden. Where others see a failed pass, Sumpter sees mathematical reasoning and opportunity.
“Welcome to the world of mathematical modeling, expressed brilliantly by Sumpter through the prism of soccer. Soccer is indeed more than a game and this book is packed with game theory. After reading this book, you will forever watch the game with new eyes. Soccer is the most mathematical of sports–riddled with numbers, patterns, and shapes,” said the Bloomsbury recap.
Regardless if you just want to sound smart and repeat one of the many factoids in the book or if you have yearning for the deeper side of the game’s stats – this book discusses the cat and mouse game between the defender and the attacker in a captivating and personal style.
What is the book really like?
The Soccer World in Motion: the information explosion — a real look at the challenges facing managers and coaches today in the era of detailed video game analysis, insight into the contagious spread of fans clapping and a bit on the odds of gambling on players and teams … all wrapped up in an easy-to-read “journal” style writing which comfortably takes the reader on a wonderful, eye-opening journey into the game of soccer. Plus a whole lot more.
Want to know …
- How is the Barcelona midfield linked geometrically?
- What’s the similarity between an ant colony and Total Football, Dutch style?
- How can probability theory make you money at the bookies?
Most sports fans spout club rankings, the average number of goals scored per game and perhaps performance indexes. Soccermatics – Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game answers the nagging question … is there is more to success than one can easily see from the armchair. And, yes, there are line drawings of soccer fields and players in the book.
Soccermatics – Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game comes out this Spring: May 31, 2016. Bloomsbury is accepting pre-orders
