A debut book by a Stone author who spent almost five thousand hours analysing key matches reveals tactics which steered three English football clubs to Champions League glory.
Watch the Throne, by Luke Williams, delves into the strategies deployed by Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea when they captured UEFA’s elite competition title five times during a 20-year period.
The 23-year-old ex-Stafford Grammar and Prep School pupil is a football coach who has scouted for clubs in the English Football League, Scottish Premiership and Cymru Premier. It was the success of his bi-lingual blog analysing Wales’ fixtures which prompted him to put pen to paper. Apart from attracting a huge number of internet hits, Luke’s studies earned him radio exposure and a feature in a Welsh-based internet magazine.
“I ran the blog so that fans could see what was going on and its popularity made me realise that people are interested in the tactical side of the game. Writing a book was something I’d always wanted to do and during the first lockdown I thought it was as good a time as any to do something productive,” he said.
Luke drew on his experience as a UEFA ‘B’ licensed coach to interpret tactics, mostly on the pitch, which drove the Premier League’s trio to European triumph between 1999 and 2019. Watching thousands of hours footage from their knockout stage matches, he searched for links.
“There isn’t really a common denominator because football changed so much within that 20-year period. There was a vast difference for example between the Liverpool versus Barcelona game of 2019, compared with Manchester United playing Juventus in 1999. It’s less about a winning formula and more about common themes and how the interpretation of those has changed. My book really highlights the evolution of the game,” he added.
Luke’s family moved to Stone from North Wales when he was four-years-old, and as a youngster he turned out for his local former junior football side, PSV Stone.
“Very early on I lost interest in following the dream of becoming a professional. I was always fascinated by the way managers and coaches worked and while other kids were at home playing on Fifa, I was on Football Manager.”
While a teenager, Luke helped to coach pupils at Stafford Prep and went on to volunteer with the junior set-up at Stafford Town FC, before stepping up to train the senior team.
As the pandemic struck he was coaching a junior team in Alsager alongside his work as a football scout. Meanwhile he has left the door open on the offer of a youth academy coaching post at a professional club in Northern Spain.
“As for the future, I’m thinking about writing a book involving international football, but we’ll see. My main focus is to get back out onto the grass to start coaching and scouting again as soon as lockdown is over,” he added.
Watch the Throne: The Tactics Behind the Premier League’s European Champions, 1999-2019, by Luke Williams, is published by pitchpublishing.co.uk and will be on sale from April 26.
