Interesting take on who the "Masters" are by Mr. Wahl. Can't say I completely agree on who he decided to feature and why, but that's an argument best left for the pub. I did enjoy getting a bit more detail on some players but really wish this had been about higher caliber professionals. I had a hard time staying focused for some of it.

An excellent book of interviews with soccer greats, by an excellent soccer journalist. Wahl has a great writing style, and interviewed both known legends and lesser known players. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Even though I am a huge soccer fan, this was at times a tedious read for me.

Broken into segments such as Midfielders, Forward, Defender, etc, Wahl really details and outlines the strength of certain "master players" in these field positions and even how managers go about making such decisions for their players and strategies behind the calls. I really enjoyed the interview with Neuer. It was interesting to learn more about his thinking, his preferred equipment, and I was thoroughly amused by his discussion on socks.

That said, I really think this is a book you have to WANT to read. With the World Cup happening I think there will be many who really enjoy this sometimes microscope look into the popular international game.

much like Wahl's punditry, this book is at its best mild but usually inconsequential revealing US pop-commentators still have a lot to learn to speak intelligently about the game

Grant Wahl is one of my favorite sports writers and I've been reading his work in Sports Illustrated for some time. Happily, his book retains all of the qualities that make his articles great; clean, light prose that somehow still manages to be vivid.

This book seems to be a expansion on his four part Total Fútbol series for SI. Perhaps this is why I felt like these profiles worked better as separate narratives. Some of the attempts to connect the players seemed forced, particularly in the case of Christian Pulisic and Xabi Alonso. Javier Hernandez and Vincent Company worked far better as foils for each other positionally.

The writing is always most gripping when the personalities and inner thoughts of the subjects are at the forefront. The explanations of positions and roles is rather the opposite but I do understand that Wahl wanted to make this accessible to a wider audience.

I found that the interviewee largely determined the my interest the chapter. Kompany obviously has a lot more insight and experience to draw on than Pulisic, Manuel Neuer revolutionized his position, Chicharito not so much, etc. And wasn't Xabi Alonso a little hard done? His narrative is a little piecemeal in 'The Midfielders' section and snippets of his interview pop up intermittently throughout other sections of the book. Which is a shame.

If you appreciate insight into tactics and how they manifest in the minds of players and managers then you'll likely enjoy this very much! It's an interesting snapshot of the football industry.

Long-time players and fans of soccer will notice how different the contemporary game is compared to the matches played in the 1970’s and 1980’s. There are several reasons for this, most notably the changes in responsibilities of the positions and the use of analytics. America’s premier soccer writer, Grant Wahl, interviewed seven men who are the premier people in their position or job in international soccer and the result is this excellent book.

This book has been compared to the best-selling baseball book “Men At Work” by George Will. In that one, Will broke down baseball by writing about various jobs done by people in the game and wrote about how the best performers handle that job. Wahl does the same thing for soccer as he interviews the best players and management personnel. The players are American midfielder Christian Pulisic, Mexican forward Javier “Chicarito” Hernandez, Belgian centerback Vincent Kompany, Spain’s Xabi Alonso and German goalkeeper Mauel Neuer.

Their insight into the game makes for compelling reading as they each share what they do to be the best at their position. Whether it is how Kompany positions himself in relation to the opponent’s best goal scorer, the “Wow moments” Pulisic provides to fans or the drills on which Neuer works to improve his reflexes, each section is a lesson in how today’s game is played and why the sport has changed so much over the last few decades.

These changes are noted often by Wahl as he talks about positions that are no longer in vogue, such as the sweeper, or how drastically the skills have changed in order to be an elite player. This is clearly evident for a goalkeeper, where Wahl writes that shot blocking, once considered the primary job of the keeper, is now only one of several skills at which a goalkeeper must excel. Neuer’s insight backs up this assertion.

Coaching and management get the same treatment as players do in this book as Belgium coach Roberto Martinez and Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc are also interviewed and share their secrets for success as well. The biggest takeaway from these chapters was also mentioned in some of the players’ chapters. The used of advanced statistical analysis is just as prevalent in professional soccer as it is in other sports, again most notably baseball. There is even a reference to “Moneyball” in the book as much like the Oakland A’s, Borussia Dortmund does not have the same financial resources like some other clubs like Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona. As a result, they do some creative thinking in the front office and Zorc’s insight will provide readers with some new information about this part of the sport.

Written with American readers in mind, this work is truly a masterpiece of the modern game. Wahl was the first author to write a soccer book that became a New York Times bestseller with his 2009 biography of David Beckham. This book could very well become his second. If a reader has any interest in the sport, no matter how much or how little, this is a book that must not be missed.

I wish to thank Crown Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.