Book Report - The Mixer

SportsBooks
Written By Ryan Vaswani

NOTE: This is a work-in-progress post with more details to be added over the upcoming weeks.

Michael Cox's The Mixer tells the story of tactical innovation through the first 25 years of the English Premier League's existence, following the key players and managers who pioneered the modern game.

It is a story of overwhelming foreign influence, an abundance of creativity, and relentlessly finding comparative advantages. The following report aims to serve as a reference, tracking the important innovations, characters, and quotes that help to color this history.

With Cox's brilliant research and writing guiding the way, this report can hopefully serve as a quick reference template to get you up to speed on a quarter century of Premier League history.

Part One - In the Beginning

Image Detail (from left to right): Peter Schmeichel, goalkeeper at Manchester United; Eric Cantona, midfielder at Manchester United; Kevin Keegan - manager at Newcastle United

  • The Takeaway
    The back pass rule, introduced during the Premier League’s inaugural season in 1992, was transformative, effectively creating the conditions for the modern game. Getting to the modern day, however, was a domino effect; goalkeepers were the first to be affected, in turn changing the characteristics needed by defenders, and so on.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Back Pass Change - Goalkeepers are not allowed to use their hands if the ball was deliberately kicked to them by a teammate.

    Key Individual(s)
    Peter Schmeichel

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United

    Key Quote(s)
    ”    Goalkeepers in the Premier League's first couple of seasons were therefore significant for two clear reasons. First, the change to the back-pass law meant they broadened their skill set and became all-rounders rather than specialists, a development subsequently witnessed in every other position. Second, there was a concerted shift towards foreign players at the expense of homegrown talent, another process that would be replicated across the pitch. Goalkeepers were traditionally considered outsiders, but now they were leading the way into football's modern age.” - Michael Cox, 18

  • The Takeaway
    English football, far more than its European peers, was a game defined for decades by its rigidity. Goalkeepers save. Defenders defend. Strikers shoot. Stick to your role. Foreign imports like Eric Cantona changed everything, displaying an unexpected versatility.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Technical Footballer

    Key Individual(s)
    Eric Cantona

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United

    Key Quote(s)
    "Cantona, more than anyone else, popularised technical football." - Michael Cox - 19

    "The references to philosophers and artists worked precisely because he was a footballing genius who boasted guile, creativity and unpredictability. He thrived upon space between the lines and was a creator as much as a goal scorer, boasting the Premier League's best-ever assists-per-game record. He loved chipping goalkeepers, he casually rolled home penalties, and he produced a succession of outside-of-the-foot flicks and elaborate, stabbed, dinked passes to teammates." - Michael Cox - 21

  • The Takeaway
    Blackburn and Newcastle, two of the most successful clubs in the mid-90s, were emblematic of the attacking but naïve style of football that English teams were practicing. Though these teams would dominate domestic competition for a time, they displayed virtually no tactical insight, losing consistently to far inferior European competition.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Positive Football, but Tactical Naivety

    Key Individual(s)
    Kenny Dalglish
    Kevin Keegan
    Faustino Asprilla

    Key Team(s)
    Blackburn
    Newcastle

    Key Quote(s)
    "Were my full-backs too adventurous? Yes! Were my centre-backs too skillful, better going forward than back? Yes! But that is what we built." - Kevin Keegan

Part Two - Technical Progress

Image Detail (from left to right): Juninho, Brazilian midfielder at Middlesbrough; Arsène Wenger and Tony Adams with Arsenal’s first EPL trophy in 1998; Nicolas Anelka, French attacker at Arsenal

  • The Takeaway
    Eric Cantona’s dominant influence forced other English clubs to find their supremely talented #10. Given England’s relative lack of innovation at this position, teams often turned to international players to fill the void. In doing so, however, managers made the mistake of building entire teams around one person, inevitably leading to unbalanced teams with little tactical sophistication.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Foreign Imports

    Key Individual(s)
    Dennis Bergkamp
    Gianfranco Zola
    Juninho
    Georgi Kinkladze
    Matt Le Tissier

    Key Team(s)
    Chelsea
    Middlesbrough
    Arsenal
    Manchester City

    Key Quote(s)
    ”The Premier League was evolving in terms of personnel, but not yet in terms of tactics.” - Michael Cox, 76

  • The Takeaway
    Perhaps nothing better illustrates the lack of professionalism in 20th century English football better than attitudes towards nutrition. Players would regularly indulge in feast-like pre-match meals, and compete to see who could out drink each other after the game. Wenger’s arrival, with many commenting on his “professor-like” demeanor, changed everything. Improved nutrition and exercise enabled Arsenal to literally overpower the competition.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Physiological Improvements

    Key Individual(s)
    Arsène Wenger

    Key Team(s)
    Arsenal

    Key Quote(s)
    "Like so many other revolutionaries in the Premier League, the Frenchman was something of a victim of his own success. Other managers soon replicated his approach, particularly in the three areas where he significantly changed English football: improved physical conditioning, recruiting players from abroad and greater emphasis upon technical football." - Cox, 92

  • The Takeaway
    As the game slowly shifted from the fallout of the Backpass rule and the introduction of more foreign players, relative advantages were more noticeable. The most noticeable of these was the sheer pace that younger attacking players possessed relative to the traditionally slow and cumbersome defensive role. As passing accuracy and tactical positioning improved, these speedy attackers began to ruthlessly exploit unprepared defenders.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Speed Replaces Power

    Key Individual(s)
    Nicolas Anelka
    Michael Owen

    Key Team(s)
    Arsenal
    Liverpool

    Key Quote(s)
    "The Premier League's newfound love of technical football, and its new breed of deep-lying, creative forwards, necessitated a different mould of striker. Increasingly, managers wanted strikers who could spring in behind the opposition defence to reach clever through-balls between opponents. Gradually, speed replaced aerial power as the most revered attribute up front." - Cox, 93

Part Three - Expansion

Image Detail: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates the 1998/1999 Champions League victory over Bayern Munich; Ruud Gullit captivates and bewilders in his inaugural season at Chelsea; Sam Allardyce fist pumps after defeating the doubters at Bolton

  • The Takeaway
    Manchester United’s 1998/1999 season was one for the history books. Not only did they complete the treble - winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League - but it represented a turning point in the tactics used by English teams, led of course, by Alex Ferguson. For the first time, and largely because of defeats in Europe, there was a recognition in England that tactical adjustments pre- and mid-match were necessary to compete at the highest levels of the sport.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Tactical Tweaks

    Key Individual(s)
    Sir Alex Ferguson

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United
    Juventus

    Key Quote(s)
    ”You hold your hands up when you are beaten tactically,' he said. 'The problem is that we don't have a tactical game in England … at United, a lot of the players have their own profile and want to play their own way. It doesn't work in Europe, as we've discovered. There has to be a better tactical discipline ... they can't just play their own game." - AF, 117

  • The Takeaway
    Before 1995, English clubs could only field up to three foreign players together on the field at one time. It sounds unthinkable today, but the inclusion of more foreign players radically changed the style and tactics of the Premier League. The key example of the era was Dutch sensation Ruud Gullit, whose wide array of skills challenged the traditional role definitions of the era.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Elimination of Quotas on Foreign Players

    Key Individual(s)
    Ruud Gullit

    Key Team(s)
    Chelsea

    Key Quote(s)
    "It is curious how Britain, so reluctant to share a single currency with the rest of Europe, has welcomed continental and non-European players to its bosom." - Cox - 129

  • The Takeaway
    Sam Allardyce, in many ways emblematic of the old-school English approach, was in fact one of the most innovative managers of his time who was hugely impacted by foreign insights. From Japan and the United States, he learned of many improvements to diet and exercise that made his teams physically superior to the competition. But his key contribution was analytical; he hired teams of analysts to break down data to find key trends, a Moneyball-esque approach. Allardyce’s teams often played “ugly” football, but it was tactically designed to limit his opponents’ weaknesses, and maximize his own teams strenghts.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Long Ball Football & Analytics

    Key Individual(s)
    Sam Allardyce

    Key Team(s)
    Bolton Wanderers

    Key Quote(s)
    "Our [philosophy] is more about who are we playing against. Their philosophy is more, 'We always play this way,' and they won't change, they carry on doing the same thing. That's why you can beat them." - Allardyce - 158

Part Four - Universality

Image Detail: Thierry Henry scores to help Arsenal in their 2003/2004 “Invicibles Season”; Rio Ferdinand came to dominate the Full Back position for Manchester United; Claude Makélélé demonstrated the value of a holding defensive midfielder

  • The Takeaway
    The center-forward role was changing. The importance of midfield possession play meant that managers like Alex Ferguson were experimenting with formations like a 4-5-1. The demands then of the striker position were enhanced, best demonstrated by the pacey, selfless, and clinical Thierry Henry. Unlike his competitor Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Henry’s legacy defined what the solitary striker up front would often be responsible for, balancing that tightrope between individual brilliance and team player.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The All-Rounded Striker

    Key Individual(s)
    Sir Alex Ferguson
    Ruud Van Nistelrooy
    Thierry Henry
    Wayne Rooney
    Cristiano Ronaldo

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United
    Arsenal

    Key Quote(s)
    ”The shift away from two-striker formations didn’t mean the lone striker should dominate goalscoring; it meant goals had to come from a variety of sources." - Michael Cox - 174

  • The Takeaway
    In the 2003/2004 season, Arsenal would become the only team to ever or since win the title without losing a single game - the Invincibles. Though there are many elements to this success, the evolution of more attacking full backs was an important one. Specifically, Wenger described his defenders as attackers who had learned to defend. Rio Ferdinand, who played for Leeds and Manchester United, best displayed this all-rounded evolution of the full back position. He, more than anyone other player, would revolutionize what defenders were asked to do.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Attacking Full Backs

    Key Individual(s)
    Arsene Wenger
    Rio Ferdinand

    Key Team(s)
    Arsenal
    Manchester United

    Key Quote(s)
    ”It shouldn’t be forgotten that Ferdinand changed perceptions of centre-backs in England: they weren’t necessarily unglamorous, functional footballers who simply tackled an headed. They could be fast, intelligent, comfortable in possession and the most valuable players in the country. In a division defined by foreign imports, Ferdinand is the most influential Englishman of the Premier League era.” - Michael Cox, 194

  • The Takeaway
    In 144 Premier League appearances, Claude Makélélé registered only 2 goals and 4 assists. His legendary status then, is as a defensive player who enabled the attack, allowing his Real Madrid and Chelsea teammates to dismantle opposing defenses with the peace of mind that Makélélé would clean up any loose balls in transition. The immense success of his role and his teams led others to try to replicate his role, but failing to understand the tactical implications.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Holding Defensive Midfielder

    Key Individual(s)
    Claude Makélélé

    Key Team(s)
    Chelsea

    Key Quote(s)
    ”People spoke of the “Makélélé role” to describe the modern, ball-recovering midfielder. But in fact, I didn’t invent anything. I am perhaps better technically and tactically than the old defensive midfielders of the 80s and 90s, like Luis Fernandez, Frank Sauzée or Didier Deschamps, but I don’t do anything radically different to what they did, I am simply a more complete footballer, Makélélé insisted. ‘I think rather that the game has changed and that, to be a top-level player in any position, you now have to know how to keep the ball, give precise passes and contribute to each phase of a move. It is no longer enough to be good in the air or tough in the tackle to carve out a place for yourself as a midfielder. you have to be a multifaceted footballer.’” - CM, 204

Part Five - Reactive Strategy

Image Detail: José Mourinho looks out on his team from the sideline; Rafael Benítez holds up the Champions League trophy with Steven Gerrard (not pictured); Frank Lampard celebrates after scoring.

  • The Takeaway
    In the 2000s, analytics swept the sporting world. This is often popularized by “Moneyball” in American baseball, but the phenomenon was everywhere, and Chelsea manager José Mourinho was one such disciple. With an obsessive focus on statistics and understanding the opposition team’s strengths and weaknesses, Chelsea teams simply came out more prepared than their opponents, leading to an incredible run of unbeaten matches.

    Mourinho’s legacy looms large, not just for his tactical discipline but for his emphasis on “transition” play which required his teams to keep a clear shape and a strong team identity. But he also ushered in a far more defensive, arguably less exciting, era of Premier League football. As Cox writes, “high-scoring matches were not to be celebrated, but ridiculed.”

    Key Innovation(s)
    Defensive Rigidity

    Key Individual(s)
    José Mourinho

    Key Team(s)
    Chelsea

    Key Quote(s)
    ”This emphasis upon the opposition became Mourinho’s defining feature as a coach. He was no footballing philosopher in the manner of Arsene Wenger, who emphasized the importance of beautiful football and a consistent strategy, but instead a true tactician, someone who would vary his approach every week and concentrate heavily upon stopping the opposition.” - Michael Cox, 217

  • The Takeaway
    Similar to his managerial counterpart at Chelsea, Rafael Benítez was tactically obsessed. He is well known to have collected an exhaustive video library of games so he could study his tactics, and then force his players to study as well. His player management skills were largely mocked, but there is no doubting that he had a significant tactical acumen that transformed his players’ awareness of the game.

    The best example of this is zonal marking against set-pieces, which was widely mocked by pundits and other managers. After early struggles implementing the philosophy, Benítez’s teams conceded the fewest goals from dead ball situations two years in a row, and zonal marking was widely adopted.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Tactical Analysis & Compact Play

    Key Individual(s)
    Rafael Benítez

    Key Team(s)
    Liverpool

    Key Quote(s)
    ”Put a shit hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium [Anfield] and there are people who will tell you it’s a work of art. It’s not: it’s a hit hanging from a stick,’ Valdano blasted. ‘Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going; very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct. But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A chance of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A back-heel? Don’t be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralized any creative license, any moments of exquisite skill.”

  • The Takeaway
    The embrace of one striker formations as well as the import of more European ideas put a greater emphasis on the versatility of the midfield role. For too long, a “midfielder” was an overly broad description of players who could inhabit many different personalities. Players like Paul Scholes at Manchester United, Frank Lampard at Chelsea, and Steven Gerrard at Liverpool demonstrated the versatility that the midfield position entailed as the role evolved throughout the 2000s.

    And evolution is the apt word. England struggled in international play during this period, in part because national managers were unprepared for this new brand of midfielder, and unsure how to accommodate star players of different styles together. England registered a series of disappointing results across international tournaments, but the midfield position had forever changed, which would pay dividends in later years.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Versatile Midfielder

    Key Individual(s)
    Paul Scholes
    Frank Lampard
    Steven Gerrard

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United
    Chelsea
    Liverpool

    Key Quote(s)
    ”During this period English football observers didn’t often appreciate the variation in different midfield roles, in part because English football vocabulary is somewhat lacking in tactical terms. An Italian, for example, can instantly pinpoint the difference between a regista like Andrea Pirlo, a deep-lying midfielder, and a trequartista like Francesco Totti, who plays behind the forwards. But in England, they were all ‘ midfielders’, and the addition of ‘defensive’ and ‘attacking’ as prefixes didn’t differentiate between roles in a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3, or a 4-2-3-1. These terms also failed to appreciate that, as football became more universal, deep-lying midfielders could play creative roles and advanced midfielders could play defensive roles.” - Michael Cox, 252

Part Six - Direct Attacking

Rooney and Ronaldo embrace in their short time together at United; Tony Pulis shouts orders to his Stoke City players; Gareth Bale cuts inside and fires an attempt on goal with his ever-dangerous left foot

  • The Takeaway
    Manchester United in 2007 offered the Premier League something entirely new - offense. After years of stifling defenses instituted by Mourinho and Benitez, among others, new talent in the form of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, and a rotating attacking system instituted by Alex Ferguson made Manchester United the most exciting and most dominant team in the EPL. The ability to deploy Ronaldo especially in multiple positions challenged defenses to organize effectively.

    Key Innovation(s)
    Analytics & Redefining the Striker

    Key Individual(s)
    Wayne Rooney
    Cristiano Ronaldo

    Key Team(s)
    Manchester United
    Chelsea

    Key Quote(s)
    ”Somehow everything about this Moscow shoot-out encapsulated football tactics: research, planning, devising a strategy, players not quite sticking to the strategy, a bit of technique, a bit of luck, a bit of psychology. Chelsea’s tactics were fascinating and entirely logical, yet they still lost.” - Michael Cox, 288

  • The Takeaway
    Inspiration can come from anywhere. While most of the league looked to the top four teams for innovation and tactical nuance, much further down the table creativity was afoot. Stoke City’s Rory Delap and his long throw-ins into the opposing box created chaos, and numerous scoring opportunities for the team, who complemented the approach with a solid defensive record.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Long Throw In

    Key Individual(s)
    Tony Pulis

    Key Team(s)
    Stoke City

    Key Quote(s)
    ”By mid-November more than half of Stoke’s goals had been scored from throws, and they continued to score in their classic manner throughout the season. ‘A wet and windy night at Stoke’ became shorthand for questioning whether a foreign player possessed the requisite toughness for the Premier league, and was already a frequently mocked cliche by the time Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray pondered whether two-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi would be capable of performing in these conditions.” - Michael Cox, 298

  • The Takeaway
    Tottenham was the first team to break through the dominance of the “Big 4” - i.e. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal. They did so, largely through the contributions of Gareth Bale.

    While wingers often played on the side of their dominant foot, so they could fire dangerous crosses into the box, there began to be greater experimentation with switching wingers to the opposite flank, enabling them to cut inside and shoot.

    Key Innovation(s)
    The Inverted Winger

    Key Individual(s)
    Gareth Bale

    Key Team(s)
    Tottenham Hotspur

    Key Quote(s)
    ”Inverted wingers offered more; they could drift inside and overload the midfield zone, they could play through-balls with their stronger foot and - most obviously - they could shoot. This was particularly crucial. Since strikers were expected to do more than simply score goals, that burden needed to be shared around, and wingers had a big responsibility to get onto the scoresheet.” - Michael Cox, 314

Ryan Vaswani
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