The Complete Number 9 is an interview series where we ask authors nine questions about their book, the writing process and their football-writing influences.
In The Spectre of Pep: How Guardiola Haunts Modern Football Tactics, The Athletic's Jon Mackenzie explores the evolution of modern football tactics through the prism of the greatest manager of the last 20 years: Pep Guardiola
What gave you the idea for the book?
I guess my situation is quite unique in that I was approached by Seven Dials, the publisher, to write the next book in a loose series, a sequel to Jonathan Wilson's excellent Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics. That said, I had already had some ideas about a potential longer project regarding Pep Guardiola's influence on the evolution of football ideas, so I was able to come to the publisher with a rough structure in our first conversation together.
How was the writing process?
Hard! I'm always suspicious of the people who claim writing is easy. Perhaps this is just my own experience, but I had the added difficulty of writing the book around the edges of a full-time job which, although there was a lot of overlap in terms of the topics I was covering, meant I had to have a level of discipline in the writing process.
What was your biggest influence whilst you were writing the book?
Do you know, I don't read a lot of football writing. Most of my influences per writing come from the broader world of literature. When writing the book, I had a clear sense that I wanted to try and express the ideas in a style that was also enjoyable to read. I hope I hit that at points in the book.
How did you first get published?
As above, I was lucky to be approached by Seven Dials, which really simplified the process for a first-time author. They helped me through the process start to finish and made it as painless as possible.
What advice would you offer other writers when writing gets hard?
I gave myself an arbitrary 'one thousand words a day' target on the days where I was writing, which I didn't always hit but certainly helped me keep things ticking over. I know other writers can write long chunks in one sitting, but for me, I found a thousand words give or take was my saturation point. But I would say that you have to find the things that work for you rather than finding a silver bullet from another writer.
It's also worth saying that what made my process hard was the time constraint on me. I am sure, if I had less time constraint, what made the writing hard would have been something completely different.
What is your most memorable football experience?
I think, weirdly, Leeds' play-off semi-final loss to Derby County in Marcelo Bielsa's first season. Probably, I should have said some of the more ecstatic experiences that I have had, but that game gave me a sharp sense of the loss that makes football so compelling - the agony is as much a part of it as the ecstasy.
What was the last football book you read?
I actually re-read Jonathan Wilson's The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football's Soul recently to prep for a podcast I was on. Very few people write football history as well as Jonathan so unsurprisingly, I enjoyed the re-read
What is a football book more people should read?
I always recommend Joe Kennedy's Games without Frontiers, which is a fantastic melding together of the experiences of a match-going Darlington fan with his vocational expertise, lecturing in English and theory. Joe examines the game through such an interesting socio-cultural lens that the game takes on a whole new valence by the time you get to the end of it.
What is your next football-writing project?
Maybe a second book? Not for a few years though.
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The Spectre of Pep: How Guardiola Haunts Modern Football Tactics is published by Seven Dials and is out now.