Anatomy of England (eBook)

In-depth look at ten crucial games that shaped England. From the moment England's superiority on the world stage began to crumble (a 4-3 defeat in Spain in 1929) through many a false dawn (Italy 0-4 England, 1948, the dismantling of the Dutch at Euro 96) and humiliating lesson in the finer arts of the game (Hungary 1953, West Germany 1972) the history of England's national football team has never been less than than colourful. With a forensic eye, and fascinating critical insight, Jonathan Wilson peels back the layers of ten crucial England encounters to reveal the high highs and the low lows of following England. Wilson has written with great authority on football tactics and the game in eastern Europe. Here he trains his eye on key moments that have shaped the course of the English national team, never losing sight of what actually matters in football: the events on the pitch.

---

'A masterful work...it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years' TIME OUT'[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 SUNDAYHaving invented the game, everything that has followed for England and its national football team has been something of an anticlimax. There was, of course, the golden summer of 1966, and 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.In THE ANATOMY OF ENGLAND Jonathan Wilson seeks to place the bright spots in context. 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 and explores 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 none before.