Books by John McNicoll

Although the footballing world is littered with superstar players, some take it upon themselves to drag their respective teams to glory. From Lionel Messi to Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo to the original Ronaldo, 'Il Fenomeno', this is the story of those special players. Relive the past glories of players and teams from the past.

An Ode to Four Four Two examines how coaches in Europe, and particularly England, settled on the 4-4-2 formation to build iconic teams which would dominate both domestically and in Europe. Some of the biggest clubs in world football used the system to devastating effect; while smaller clubs employed the formation to outperform expectations.