Va-Va-Voom: The Modern History of French Football

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The players, the goals, the games, the scandals, the gloom and the glory: the story of French footballs chequered coming of age over the last 40 years. French football is an enigma: a puzzling jumble 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 derided for underachieving in European competition. But France have reached four of the past seven mens World Cup finals, French players star week in, week out for the worlds grandest clubs and the very best of French football the roar of the Vlodrome, the glamour of the Parc des Princes, the shimmering brilliance of Zindine Zidane, ric Cantona and Kylian Mbapp stands comparison with anything the sport has to offer. When it comes to scandal, meanwhile, the French are the best in the business, be it sensational match-fixing affairs, squabbles over sex tapes or meltdowns within the national squad. In this fascinating and exhaustively researched book, the first of its kind in the English language, Tom Williams brings to life French footballs chequered coming of age over the last 40 years. He details how the starry-eyed romanticism that characterised 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 in the late 1990s and examines how a succession of star-studded club sides grappled with the thorny (and distinctly un-French) notion of how to win. He delves into French footballs rich history and explains the myriad ways tactical, technical and cultural in which France has shaped the games evolution around the world. Featuring exclusive interviews with great figures of the French game such as Alain Giresse, Jean-Pierre Papin, Luis Fernandez, Guy Roux, Emmanuel Petit, Robert Pirs, Blaise Matuidi and Camille Abily, and with a cast of characters that also includes Michel Platini, Thierry Henry, Arsne Wenger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Karim Benzema, Chris Waddle, Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi, its a book no football fan will want to miss.

Author Bio

Tom Williams is a football writer and broadcaster who lives in London. Specialising in French and English football, he has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent and The Athletic. He is the resident Premier League expert on the flagship French football programme Canal Football Club and a regular guest on the UK's leading football podcast, The Totally Football Show. @tomwfootball