Meta Tactic

Football is on the brink of a tactical revolution. The introduction of artificial intelligence into other sporting codes such as chess has produced a conflict of interest between the data-driven scientists and the intuitive mastermind coaches we admire. The modern coach is at the mercy of technology, while players have evolved into dangerous thinking machines. Will we soon witness computers implementing strategies in our favourite sport? This book delves into the tactical parallels and nuances shared between football and chess with reference to a technologically adept generation of footballing pioneers. To hypothesize and theorize is the greatest joy of sporting enthusiasts, and this book feeds that hunger by discussing the properties of controlled chaos, tactical impermanence, prophylactic play, and the role of decision making in a game of pattern recognition.