SA Library: St. Louis soccer's new boss Lutz Pfannenstiel wrote a unique book about the global game

by Soccer America , Sep 26, 2020

St. Louis City SC, a 2023 MLS expansion team, hired as sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel. The German wrote a book about his playing career, which spanned 25 clubs in more than a dozen nations on six continents, "The Unstoppable Keeper."

"Sports literature is a wide-ranging genre. Perhaps the best way for me to relay my opinion of a soccer book is using the criterion that is doesn't feel like required reading. A few pages into Pfannenstiel's "The Unstoppable Keeper" I no longer begrudged putting on hold my summer reading by renowned authors of page-turners." -- Mike Woitalla.

"The Incredible Adventures of The Unstoppable Keeper" by Lutz Pfannenstiel (2014) Kindle $4.50, Hardcover $13.87

From Ian Plenderleith's review ('Blood and Circuses' delves into the post-communist chaos of eastern European soccer).

"When the Soviet Union, its republics and its satellite states all succumbed to capitalism in the early 1990s, few were sorry to see the back of dictatorship, chronic corruption, environmental degradation, and the mass suppression of dissent via ruthless state security. While the west cheered from afar, though, there was precious little to fill the vacuum besides more autocratic politicians and kleptocratic individuals, catalyzed by vulture capitalism. Meanwhile, violent nationalists re-lit the flames of dormant ethnic conflicts to trigger death, dispossession and displacement all the way from the Balkan states to central Asia.

"None of this, needless to say, was of much benefit to the region’s soccer. Storied teams were deprived of state support and had to rely on investment from the dubious new breed of often oil-enriched benefactor. Or, they went bust. The best players were cherry-picked by wealthy western clubs. ... These days, domestic leagues in front of paltry crowds are dominated by those clubs lucky enough to attract corporate investment and to have grabbed a wobbly stool at the bottom end of the Champions League trough."

"Blood and Circuses: A Football Journey Through Europe’s Rebel Republics" by Robert O’Connor (Biteback Publishing)

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Soccer America Library

Africa
The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer's Next Superstars by Sebastian Abbot

Anthology
SoccerTalk: Life Under the Spell of the Round Ball by Paul Gardner
The Man Behind the Goal by Brian Glanville

Biography/Memoirs
They Don't Teach This by Eniola Aluko
What's Wrong with US?: A Coach’s Blunt Take on the State of American Soccer After a Lifetime on the Touchline by Bruce Arena with Steve Kettmann
Stillness and Speed by Dennis Bergkamp
It's Not About the Bra by Brandi Chastain
My Turn by Johan Cruyff
Chase Your Dreams: How Soccer Taught Me Strength, Perseverance, and Leadership by Julia Ertz
The Keeper by Tim Howard
I am Zlatan: My Story On and Off the Field by Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Becoming Coach Jake: A Story of Overcoming the Odds, on the Soccer Field and Beyond by Martin Jacobson with Bill Saporito
When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World by Carli Lloyd
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Becoming Coach Jake: A Story of Overcoming the Odds, on the Soccer Field and Beyond by Martin Jacobson with Bill Saporit
Sir Alf by Leo McKinstry
The Quiet Fan by Ian Plenderleith
Forward: A Memoir by Abby Wambach
Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World's Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game by Grant Wahl

Brazil
Futebol by Alex Bellos

Business
Sneaker Wars by Barbara Smit

Coaching
Jose Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner by Patrick Barclay
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. by Daniel Coyle
My Turn by Johan Cruyff
The Vision of a Champion by Anson Dorrance
InsideOut Coaching by Joe Ehrmann
What Drives Winning by Brett Ledbetter
Practice Perfect by Doug Lemov
Team Building by Rinus Michels
Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams by John O'Sullivan
Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola’s First Season at Bayern Munich by Martí Perarnau
Peak by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
The Element by Ken Robinson
Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World's Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game by Grant Wahl
Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson

Coaching Youth
Soccer Starts at Home by Tom Byer and Fred Varcoe
How to Coach Girls by Alison Foley and Mia Wenje
Becoming Coach Jake: A Story of Overcoming the Odds, on the Soccer Field and Beyond by Martin Jacobson with Bill Saporito
The Complete Goalkeeper by Timothy Mulqueen and Mike Woitalla
Is It Wise to Specialize?: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Early Sports Specialization and its Effect Upon Your Child’s Athletic by John O'Sullivan
Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids by John O'Sullivan

England
They Don't Teach This by Eniola Aluko
Among The Thugs by Bill Buford
The Game by Stuart Roy Clarke with John Williams
The Glory Game by Hunter Davies
All Played Out by Pete Davies
Goalkeepers Are Different by Brian Glanville
The Football Man by Arthur Hopcraft
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Sir Alf by Leo McKinstry
The Soccer Syndrome by John Moynihan
The Damned Utd by David Peace
Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You by Jonathan Wilson

Fans
Among The Thugs by Bill Buford
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
The Quiet Fan by Ian Plenderleith

Fiction
Goalkeeper Are Different by Brian Glanville
The Man Behind the Goal by Brian Glanville
For Whom the Ball Rolls by Ian Plenderleith
The Chairman's Daughter by Ian Plenderleith

Fiction/Young Readers
Toby and The Greatest Game by Clive Toye
Magic Boots by Bill Summers
Clash of Cleats by Bill Summers
Red Card by Bill Summers
Cracked Cleats by Bill Summers
Comeback Cleats by Bill Summers
Scuffed Boots by Bill Summers
Buffed Boots by Bill Summers