Soccernomics: Why Transfers Fail, Why Spain Rule the World, and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained

摘要

This book sprang from a chance meeting of a journalist (Kuper) and a sports economist (Szymanski). Expanded by some 80 pages from the original that appeared in 2009, its theme is that close scrutiny of data, and (often) the technique of multiple regression, can explain much of what happens in the world of soccer. They dissect the "business" of the game, noting how clubs appoint managers without sensible preparation, and seldom follow the recipes taught in business schools. (Their claim that "German clubs rarely do well in the Champions League, because they focus on profits, not wins" was made before Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund contested the final in 2013!) Despite their serial incompetence, soccer clubs survive, debts and all.