Books & Poetry

Books written by ex-footballers tend to fall into one of two categories – rubbish, and really very rubbish indeed. So it’s worth noting that the only cliché to be found in this work by former Juventus and Chelsea player Vialli is the one that’s in the title. Eschewing standard autobiography, Vialli (aided by noted Italian football writer Gabriele Marcotti) has fixed his inquisitive mind on exploring the differences between English and Italian football cultures, covering everything from tactics to supporters.

Crucially, Vialli’s standing in the game has allowed him access to some of the most significant figures in contemporary football, including José Mourinho, Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, but what’s particularly refreshing is the way Vialli tries to look beyond tired national stereotypes as offered by the likes of Wenger, a surprising fan of the ‘Anglo-Saxons are like that because that’s what Anglo-Saxons are like’ school of thought (although to be fair, Brian, he does redeem himself later with a reference to Descartes). The chapters on tactics, weather, referees and the media are particularly enlightening; those on Vialli’s ideas for improving the game (two 30-minute halves?) less so. But it’s difficult to criticise a book in which Alan Sugar’s Carlos Kickaball gets dusted off one last time, or Marcel Desailly claims that ‘to me, all English referees look the same’.