Full Description
'Excellent' - Simon Kuper, author of the bestselling FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY
'The definitive story of how French football came of age' - Christian Karembeu
'Erudite and engrossing' - Vincent Duluc, lead football writer, L'ÉQUIPE
THE PLAYERS, THE TEAMS, THE GOALS, THE GAMES, THE SCANDALS, THE GLOOM AND THE GLORY: THE STORY OF FRENCH FOOTBALL'S TURBULENT EVOLUTION OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS.
French football is an enigma: a mixture of brilliance and farce, flair and frailty, stunning success and abject failure. Its domestic league is mocked on social media as an uncompetitive 'Farmers League' and its clubs ridiculed for underachieving in European competitions. But France have reached four of the past seven men's World Cup finals, French players star for the world's best clubs and at its best - the roar of the Vélodrome, the glamour of the Parc des Princes, the shimmering brilliance of Zinédine Zidane, Éric Cantona and Kylian Mbappé - French football has few equals. When it comes to scandal, meanwhile, the French are the best in the business, from sensational match-fixing affairs to squabbles over sex tapes and meltdowns within the national squad.
Tom Williams brings to life French football's evolution over the last 40 years. He details how the idealistic romanticism of the national team in the early 1980s gave way to an Italian-style pragmatism that would lead Les Bleus to the summit of the international game, and examines how several star-studded club sides grappled with the thorny notion of how to win. By delving into French football's rich history, the book explains the myriad ways - tactical, technical and cultural - in which France has shaped the game's evolution around the world.
Featuring exclusive interviews with great figures of the French game such as Alain Giresse, Jean-Pierre Papin, Emmanuel Petit and Blaise Matuidi, and with a cast of characters that also includes Michel Platini, Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema, Chris Waddle and Lionel Messi, it's a book no football fan will want to miss.
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'A comprehensive account of the highs, lows and scandals of French football' - Jonathan Wilson, author of the bestselling INVERTING THE PYRAMID
Contents
Prologue: Les Poteaux Carrés
1. Les Bleus: One Night in Seville
2. Geste Technique: Le Coup Franc à la Platini
3. Bordeaux: Victory Amid the Vineyards
4. Marseille: Tapie's Tainted Triumph
5. Geste Technique: La Papinade
6. Les Rosbifs: Living the Dream
7. Nantes: The Goal That Came From Somewhere Else
8. Italie: Learning to Win
9. Geste Technique: La Roulette à la Zidane
10. Auxerre: One Small Village Still Resists
11. Angleterre: The Sound and the Fury
12. Arsenal: A Very English Frenchman
13. Les Bleus: Champions du Monde!
14. Geste Technique: La Spéciale Henry
15. Lyon: The Magnificent Seven
16. Les Bleus: From the Gutter to a Second Star
17. Espagne: The Ballad of ZZ and KB9
18. Le Foot Féminin: Lyon Light the Way
19. Paris Saint-Germain: All That Glitters
20. Allemagne: La Nouvelle Vague
Epilogue: How Not Toulouse
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
