The Art of Watching Soccer With Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit: How To Watch Soccer (2017)
If you’re a fan of soccer then Ruud Gullit needs little by way of introduction. He is one of those stars who emerged in Europe as soccer itself emerged as a worldwide commercial-, and social phenomenon in the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Among his contemporaries are legends such as Johan Cruiff and Diego Maradona, and a whole host of athletes who, like Gullit himself, have parlayed success on the ball into coaching and commentating careers. In fact a great many of the characters in Gullit’s own story should certainly be familiar even to younger fans. Albeit they would know them mainly as those grey-templed managers in three-piece suits prowling the touchlines of the top national leagues today.
The Art of War Stories
If you are such a fan then (regardless of the state of your own hairline) you would probably find the prospect of sitting around listening to the likes of Ruud Gullit tell war stories about his playing and coaching career — including 1 season as LA Galaxy head man — as something of a dream come true.
With regard to his new book, How To Watch Soccer, that would be just as well. That is because much of what Gullit conveys in this book about understanding and appreciating the game from off the field, he tends to present as a matter of his own experience on the field. The result is a book that is at times equal parts autobiography, historical analysis, and then again accessible reference to the modern game.
Directing: Where Coaches Come From
In the first instance, the autobiographical reminiscences are fascinating in and of themselves if for no other reason than as reminders that the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Ronald Koeman were not born wearing a suit and tie. At one time, these were the players dressed in shorts and cleats and even a little mud and grass.
Illusions and Reality
In the second, the analysis of match play — both from Gullit’s own career as well as current competition — helps the book achieve something beyond the baby steps of a “Soccer For Simpletons” handbook. Something which the marketing for at least the recent English translation of How To Watch Soccer, might lead you to believe that it is. It’s an easy assumption to make when the book is touted as exactly what “US viewers” need to know in order to know what’s going on when “we” watch soccer.
How to Watch Soccer, however, will not educate the US soccer fan at a high level in that way. It is more accurate to suggest that the book can be useful to indoctrinate them to a much deeper one.
The Use of Soccer Intelligence
That is the third facet of the book and the one which will bear a lot of rereading. Those sections of the book that function as tactical manual are presented in a summary style and they are likely to have you referring back to them in a random access kind of way for some time to come.
Are you curious as to what a 4-4-2 looks like from the players’ perspective and in terms of their abilities? This book will help you to understand that.
Do you want to be able to discuss how rule changes create strategic problems? This book will crystallize your opinion.
Why go short or cross high on the corner? Why build through the center? How do you compare and contrast ticka-tacka and total football?
The Art of Reading “How to Watch Soccer”
Having Gullit’s book on the table by your remote as you’re watching “footy” won’t turn you into José Mourinho by any stretch. Certainly not any more than my copy of “The Art of War”, turned me into a grandmaster at chess. (I stopped playing chess about that time Ruud Gullit was helping the Netherlands win the European Championship.)
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But, read patiently and yet not relentlessly, How to Watch Soccer will indeed help you develop a more nuanced eye for the modern game and the critical vocabulary to back it up.