REVIEW: Why England Lose and Other Curious Phenomena Explained

I nearly wrote a review of this before I had finished it – it was so good. I’m glad I didn’t though. Read on for an explanation for that somewhat weird comment…

OK – the good bit. This is one of the best football books I have read. High praise indeed. It is excellently researched, well written, engaging and above all really interesting. It is essentially ‘Freakonomics for Football’ (hence the initial release as ‘Soocernomics’) – that is, a book that ties real-world micro and macro-economic factors into football. I appreciate that sounds a bit (very) dry; but in reality it’s not dry at all.

Take some of the topics they examine – of course the eponymous ‘Why England Lose’ (which is actually a little misleading and I suspect chosen as the title to shift copies) but also why a London club has never won the European Cup, why Lyon are freakishly successul (relatively), which country is most successful relative to GDP, which country has the most loyal fans, why major tournaments aren’t actually economic boons, what are the best transfer strategies, how upbringing affects ability, etc. The way it is linked back and forth with real footballing events and stats makes compelling reading.

However – and this is why I am glad I didn’t write a eulogy half way through – the book does trail off somewhat. The first 200 or so pages are an absolute pleasure, but then it does begin to drag – whether it’s boredom with the novel (as in new) approach to writing about football, whether it’s that the points become less and less interesting (i.e. they used up the good ones at the start) whether the repeated veneration of Arsene Wenger and Billy Beane becomes tiresome, I’m not sure – but I definitely enjoyed the first half of this more than the second.

That said, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to any (slightly obsessive/geeky) football fan, as there is a lot of interesting material and intriguing analysis.

Certainly a good book, perhaps a great one – all I can say is read it and make your own judgement. 8/10