Soccer lies at the heart of popular culture around the world. It is played, watched, written about, and talked to death by millions virtually every day of the year. But how do the characteristics of England and Italy—two of the most passionate soccer playing countries—affect the game in these two nations? Do the national stereotypes of Italians as fervent, stylish lotharios and the English as cold-hearted eccentrics still hold true when they kick a ball around? For the first time, a player of the first rank—Gianluca Vialli—in conjunction with sportswriter and broadcaster Gabriele Marcotti, tackles this debate head on, and they have invited some of the biggest names to join them. Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello, and Marcello Lippi, among others, add their not inconsiderable weight to the highest-profile symposium on soccer ever convened. Every aspect of the game is explored, be it tactical and technical or cultural and sociological. Stuffed full of controversial opinions and gripping revelations, this study on the sport takes you on a journey to the very heart of two of the world's great soccer cultures.
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"The book is essentially a memoir but with the aid of some really interesting interviews...it gives some astonishing insights into the workings of the modern game" GQ Style "The Italian Job reveals how rival cultures in England and abroad are reflected on the pitch" The Times 20060425 "Gianluca Vialli's new book is an interesting comparison of sporting attitudes here and on the Continent - To the Italian player, football is a job: to the English one, it's a game" The Observer 20060430 "...this fascinating book that analyses the difference between English and Italian football...The Italian Job tackles the questions which inform football debate in England and Italy - from the tactical and technical to the cultural and sociological" Italia 20060501 "An early contender for this year's literary prizes in sport" Sunday Tribune
About the Author
Gianluca Vialli is one of the most famous Italian footballers in the post-war era. He won league titles with Sampdoria and Juventus and captained Juventus to Champions' League victory in 1996. At international level he won 59 caps for Italy, scoring 16 goals and leading them to the semi-finals of both the 1988 European Championship and the 1990 World Cup. As a manager, in two and a half seasons at Chelsea he won more trophies than any other manager in the history of the club, including the FA Cup, Cupwinners' Cup and League Cup. He currently divides his time between London and Italy where he is the top analyst for Sky Italia's Serie A and Champions' League coverage. Gabriele Marcotti is the UK correspondent for Corriere dello Sport, and World Football columnist for The Times. He has also written for the Financial Times, Sunday Herald, Daily Mail and La Stampa. He co-presents two weekly radio shows on TalkSport and is a regular analyst on Bravo, Setanta and SkySports News. He is also a columnist for Sports Illustrated.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Luke
Format:Hardcover
As a book this has not been published yet, but I have read serializations of it in the English The Times. I'd have to say that this is one of the few books which give very rare insights into English and Italian football cultures. The writers, Gianlucci Vialli and Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti, have extensive experience in both countries' footballing leagues, and they draw on a number of respected coaches and managers, amongst them Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Marcello Lippi and Fabian Capello, on how tactics, techniques and footballing cultures differ in and shape the two nations. As Vialli says, while England football is played with the heart, in Italy football is played with the brains. If you are concerned about how the English game can evolved to be the best in the world (which I seriously think it could), then, as this book prescribes, we should marry English passion with European astuteness. This is one of the most perceptive books on football that I have read. I find it fascinating and revealing at the same time. 5 stars!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Vialli's "The Italian Job" is a departure from the normal soccer books. It doesn't reminisce except to advance your understanding of his findings. It isn't a 'how to' book. Instead Vialli looks at the way English soccer differs from Italian soccer, and how both might benefit from the other. He is uniquely qualified to discuss these cultures, having had great success as a player in both Italy's Serie A and England's Premier League.
Part of the difference lies in the cultural backgrounds and economies of the two countries, but more lies in the traditions which have developed. Vialli explores the effect that the fans and the media have had on how the game is played, how differently the refs call the game in each country, and how the youngsters are brought up. His observations are interesting and perceptive.
If you are a student of European football, you will like this book. If you want soccer history, tell-all revelations, or finger pointing you would want to look elsewhere.
Part of the difference lies in the cultural backgrounds and economies of the two countries, but more lies in the traditions which have developed. Vialli explores the effect that the fans and the media have had on how the game is played, how differently the refs call the game in each country, and how the youngsters are brought up. His observations are interesting and perceptive.
If you are a student of European football, you will like this book. If you want soccer history, tell-all revelations, or finger pointing you would want to look elsewhere.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
By far one of the most insightful books written about the game. An interesting amalgam of responsible journalism and football savvy. The authors raise a number of significant issues of which learning the game at an early age is the most salient. What the reader gleans from the discussion of this issue is unequivocal - there is no substitute for the acquisition of skills by children in an environment created by themselves and therefore the one they exclusively control. Skills acquired by trial and error entail self-motivation, passion, obsession, etc. Teaching skills must be conducted in a radically different environment managed and controlled by the instructors. A psychokinetic activity like football is best learnt in a natural setting by children possessing natural ability. The authors quote various cognoscenti on this topic, all of whom regret the disappearance from street football from the urban landscape.
The cultural, socio-economic, geographic-climatic, psychological differences between the English game and "Calcio" are well-researched, relevant, and judiciously taxonomized. Large portions of the book are dedicated to the history of the internationalization of the English game both in terms of foreign players and coaches. While many are are quite valid points, especially with regards to modern training methodologies, acquiring tactical sophistication, nutrition, diet, one question remains -how was it possible for coaches like Matt Busby, Jock Stein, Bill Shankley, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough and others to achieve so much European success? For tactical sophistication just recall Sir Alf Ramsey and the revolutionary system he employed when England had won its solitary World Cup. The players ate steaks and fried cod liver and indulged in alcoholic beverages, that is true. Possibly, the answer could be found in a comment to Claudio Ranieri (horrified on seing his players gorging on fried bananas and cuban rice)by one of Real Madrid's legendary players of the past: "We may have been eating wrong, coach, but we won quite a few games."
The cultural, socio-economic, geographic-climatic, psychological differences between the English game and "Calcio" are well-researched, relevant, and judiciously taxonomized. Large portions of the book are dedicated to the history of the internationalization of the English game both in terms of foreign players and coaches. While many are are quite valid points, especially with regards to modern training methodologies, acquiring tactical sophistication, nutrition, diet, one question remains -how was it possible for coaches like Matt Busby, Jock Stein, Bill Shankley, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough and others to achieve so much European success? For tactical sophistication just recall Sir Alf Ramsey and the revolutionary system he employed when England had won its solitary World Cup. The players ate steaks and fried cod liver and indulged in alcoholic beverages, that is true. Possibly, the answer could be found in a comment to Claudio Ranieri (horrified on seing his players gorging on fried bananas and cuban rice)by one of Real Madrid's legendary players of the past: "We may have been eating wrong, coach, but we won quite a few games."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific read
An excellent read. Full of insights. Very thought provoking. The chapter on Tactics & Formations (Chapter 6) was outstanding in it's ability to convey complicated ideas. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Charlie Bartel
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite what I was looking for....
If you are looking for anecdotes, autobiographical stuff..this is the wrong book..I bought it because I saw some good reviews BUT should have read more carefully... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Zinn_Chomsky_Seeger
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read
Excellent book about the cultural differences and how it impacts players growing up in Italy compared to England from a top level player/manager who has experienced both. Read more
Published on November 18, 2009 by Roby Stahl
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very good Insight to two soccer cultures
I enjoyed reading this book a lot. it touches on a lot of issues from youth players and soccer players playing in the street to referees and the media. Read more
Published on October 4, 2007 by Anna Baldacchino
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