Le Foot

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read
Review: A fairly good book about French football (soccer). I was searching around for a book about the history of French Football and I found this one, although it is not quite an account of the history of football in France. Each chapter is somewhat different--some are straight historical studies, while others are very artsy (especially the Zidane and Petit/Vieira chapters). The only repeat author is Mr. Ruhn, so there is quite a variety of writers.

The book is divided into six sections: the Clubs, National Team, Stars, Coaches, Scandals, and Supporters. Each section contains 3 or 4 chapters (except for the Stars which has 12) devoted to the subject heading. Thus, Mr. Ruhn is able to include many different events and/or people that have significantly impacted French football over the past 25 years.

Overall, I liked the book very much. My only large complaint is that some of the chapters left me wanting a little more, e.g., the Canal Plus, Arsene Wenger, the 1982 World Cup and 1984 Euro Cup chapters. With the book under 300 pages, I felt more could have been devoted to those chapters. Also, I felt as though there should have been a chapter on Jean Tigana.

That said, it was an interesting book. Even the chapters I thought were a bit short I enjoyed. The interviews with Laurent Perpere [Canal Plus] and Michel Platini were well done as well as the chapters on Eric Cantona and Arsene Wenger. The writing by Chris Waddle and Marcel Desailly is exceptional, especially Waddle's opinions on the French game and Desailly's thoughts on life versus football.

If anything, get it for the interesting chapter on Petit and Vieira.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read
Review: A fairly good book about French football (soccer). I was searching around for a book about the history of French Football and I found this one, although it is not quite an account of the history of football in France. Each chapter is somewhat different--some are straight historical studies, while others are very artsy (especially the Zidane and Petit/Vieira chapters). The only repeat author is Mr. Ruhn, so there is quite a variety of writers.

The book is divided into six sections: the Clubs, National Team, Stars, Coaches, Scandals, and Supporters. Each section contains 3 or 4 chapters (except for the Stars which has 12) devoted to the subject heading. Thus, Mr. Ruhn is able to include many different events and/or people that have significantly impacted French football over the past 25 years.

Overall, I liked the book very much. My only large complaint is that some of the chapters left me wanting a little more, e.g., the Canal Plus, Arsene Wenger, the 1982 World Cup and 1984 Euro Cup chapters. With the book under 300 pages, I felt more could have been devoted to those chapters. Also, I felt as though there should have been a chapter on Jean Tigana.

That said, it was a very good book, even the chapters I thought were a bit short. The interviews with Laurent Perpere [Canal Plus] and Michel Platini were well done as well as the chapters on Eric Cantona and Arsene Wenger. The writing done by Chris Waddle and Marcel Desailly is exceptional as well. If anything, get it for the interesting chapter on Petit and Vieira.