REQUIRED READING

The beautiful game is still overly reliant on conventional wisdom and half-baked truths but, as Lyttleton says in this excellent book, creative thinking is bearing fruit at clubs who are prepared to be more innovative. “I’m not looking for change, I’m looking for an edge,” reveals the former Borussia Dortmund manager, Thomas Tuchel.

The first leader in sport to address the Rulebreaker Society (a group of visionary business trailblazers), Tuchel is a believer in the speedy alteration of tactical formations in matches, and that eye contact between players is essential to team cohesion.

Lyttleton also looks at the Basque values of Athletic Bilbao, and Edge helps the reader to assess the game in a left-field way with findings about Visual Exploratory Frequency – the number of times players look up before getting the ball.

It’s a cerebral study, showing cutting edge ideas are increasingly crucial to success in 21st century football.