The Italian Job - Softcover

Marcotti, Gabriele; Vialli, Gianluca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553817876 ISBN 13: 9780553817874

Publisher: Bantam, 2007

Synopsis

Football lies at the heart of popular culture in both England and Italy. 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 affect the game in these two footballing nations? Do the national stereotypes of Italians as passionate, stylish lotharios and the English as cold-hearted eccentrics still hold true when they kick a ball around?
In The Italian Job, for the first time, a footballer of the first rank, Gianluca Vialli, in conjunction with sportswriter and broadcaster Gabriele Marcotti, tackles this debate head on. Uniquely positioned across both the English and the Italian games, they provide a fascinating and highly controversial commentary on where football is now and where it's headed. And they have invited some of the biggest names in the sport to join in their discussion. Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Sven Goran Eriksson, Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, amongst others, add their not inconsiderable weight to the highest-profile symposium on football ever convened.
Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti explore every aspect of football, be it tactical and technical or cultural and sociological. Stuffed full of controversial opinions and gripping revelations, The Italian Job takes you on a journey to the very heart of two of the world's great footballing cultures.

About this title

Review:

"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)

"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)

"...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)

"An early contender for this year's literary prizes in sport" (Sunday Tribune)

Book Description:

A journey to the heart of two great footballing cultures.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0553817876
• ISBN 13: 9780553817874
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448