Book Review: Lionesses: Gamechangers by Abdullah Abdullah

The Lionesses’ monumental crowning as European champions last summer has done much to change the whole landscape of football, not only on the pitch, but off it too. And one of the success stories emerging from their victory looks to be in the world of publishing. Historically, there has been something of a dearth of books about women’s football, despite there being a wealth of narratives out there. But, already, since last summer, there have been, amongst others, excellent autobiographies published by Alex Scott and Millie Farrow, children’s non-fiction from Leah Williamson and Beth Mead, and forthcoming non-fiction from Jane Purdon and Carrie Dunn. Amongst this groundswell of publishing passion, Abdullah Abdullah has offered a fitting contribution: Lionesses: Gamechangers.

With a background in football analysis and two books that focus on the tactical side of the women’s game (Olympique Lyonnais Feminin: Queens of Europe and Europe’s Next Powerhouse: The Evolution of Chelsea Under Emma Hayes), this time Abdullah sets his sights, as the title suggests, on the tactical details that have underpinned the Lionesses’ recent rise to European glory, beginning with a brief look at Phil Neville’s philosophy before a more in-depth assessment of Sarina Wiegman’s team.

As something of a relative novice when it comes to the world of tactical analysis, this wasn’t perhaps a natural read for me and, although there’s nothing overly taxing in the analysis, it does perhaps appeal to those with more of an analytic eye than ignorant old me. But whether your knowledge of the intricacies and minutiae of gameplay are limited, like me, to little more than the concept of ‘4-4-2’, it’s hard not to admire Abdullah’s research, focus and attention to detail. Given the emotion that surrounded the Lionesses’ success, what I found particularly fascinating was to see the team and the matches viewed through such a different lens, one that is purely pragmatic and technical, and it allows for a completely different perspective on their journey, bringing it back down to its footballing essence.

As well as breaking down individual games, the second half of the book takes a more thematic and individual approach, looking at specific players and positions within the England set-up, and personally I enjoyed this focus a lot. Analyses of Toone v Kirby and explorations of the full-back role felt really pertinent and I would have loved to have seen even more of this analysis, especially with the squad and emerging players who may be challenging for places to Australia and New Zealand this summer and beyond. While the book does point towards the imminent future, one of the obvious challenges of tackling such a time-sensitive issue is the risk of injuries and absences, which have been borne out with players like Williamson side-lined for the forthcoming World Cup and Mead and Bronze battling for fitness. The focus on Maya Le Tissier did begin to point towards the wider squad make-up, but it would have been nice for the examination to go even further and, whilst it’s impossible to predict injuries, looking beyond the main nucleus of players may have helped to ensure the book’s relevancy going forward. The graphics, too, do somewhat let the book down and, as a minimum, I felt colours may have helped enhance these, especially the heat maps.

But minor gripes aside, this is a book that must be praised for giving deserving focus to a deserving team. And this brings us back to the positive changes that we will hopefully continue to see across different sectors and communities as a result of the Lionesses’ success. Indeed, the idea of a book about the tactics of England’s women’s football team would most likely have been the stuff of fantasy even just twelve months ago, so to have such a work published and for the author to have chosen the subject as his focus is a sign of evolving times and the legacy that this inspirational team is making. It is exciting to see the range and scope of new books and writers that hopefully will now be given a platform as it’s clear that books like Abdullah Abdullah’s Lionesses: Gamechangers offer a unique contribution to the genre.

Jade Craddock

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. April 2023. Paperback: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Lionesses: Gamechangers