David Sally explores the strategies and tactics individuals employ in competition, negotiation, and decision-making. As a former professional baseball pitcher and a professor at Dartmouth College, he brings a distinctive perspective from both sports and business. His expertise lies in understanding the psychology of competition and how to refine decision-making processes. Sally also serves as a valued advisor within the global football industry.
"For the last twenty years, David Sally has taught negotiation at ... business schools and to executives at ... companies worldwide, and now he wants to share his secrets and the science behind them. Negotiation, he argues, is best thought of as a strategic game in which you should be exactly one step ahead of your opponent. Drawing parallels to everything from the NBA to the corner con game and rooted in Sally's own ... research, [his book] introduces a revolutionary way of approaching negotiation"--
Moneyball meets Freakonomics in this myth-busting guide to understanding—and winning—the most popular sport on the planet. Innovation is coming to soccer, and at the center of it all are the numbers—a way of thinking about the game that ignores the obvious in favor of how things actually are. In The Numbers Game, Chris Anderson, a former professional goalkeeper turned soccer statistics guru, teams up with behavioral analyst David Sally to uncover the numbers that really matter when it comes to predicting a winner. Investigating basic but profound questions—How valuable are corners? Which goal matters most? Is possession really nine-tenths of the law? How should a player’s value be judged?—they deliver an incisive, revolutionary new way of watching and understanding soccer.
Why does stopping a goal beat scoring one? Why do the best defenders rarely touch the ball? Why is ditching your worst player smarter than buying a superstar? In this myth-busting book, Chris Anderson and David Sally show that the normal football terms - goals, possession, points, transfer fees - can actually hinder how we understand the game. Instead, by diving deep into the data, they uncover hidden truths about what is really happening on the pitch. Wonderfully readable and counter-intuitive, The Numbers Game will win you plenty of pub arguments. After reading it you will never think about football in the same way again. 'Rush to read this book immediately. The game [you] love will take on new depth, colour and subtlety.' Ed Smith, The Times 'Pundits, armchair fans and professionals will find that several of their long-cherished truisms are not true at all.' Guardian 'Challenges everything we know about football.' 'Sportshour', BBC World Service 'A highly original contribution to our understanding of what we are seeing at a match . . . unbeatable.' Independent on Sunday
