Carra: My Autobiography


Book Description

For the Anfield faithful, Jamie Carragher represents everything that is great about Liverpool Football Club, prompting the Kop to sing 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers'. The club's vice-captain, longest-serving player and one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances for the Reds, Carra never gives less than 100 per cent for the cause. He is the embodiment of old-fashioned football values - a rarity in the modern game - honest and uncompromising. In Carra: My Autobiography, the Liverpool defender takes us deep into the heart of Anfield, into the club's past glories and its uncertain future. In his typically down-to-earth style, Carra reveals what made him discard his blue Evertonian roots to become a fully fledged Red, how he mended his wild ways to become a true professional and a multiple trophy-winner, and the truth about a succession of managers - Evans, Houllier, Benítez - in the hottest seat in football. A Scouser through and through, Carra also has some forthright views on the England team, and tells why he rejected calls to return to the international fold. Full of sensational stories and controversial opinions, of glory and heartbreak on and off the pitch, Carra: My Autobiography is a football book unlike any other. The authentic voice of Anfield, Carra is one of the Bootroom Boys in true Liverpool tradition, and is as committed on the page as in every game he has played.




The Football Men


Book Description

The great footballers and coaches are rarely glimpsed from up close. They shield themselves from the tabloids, hide their personalities behind professionalism, and in the words of the cliché, 'do their talking on the pitch'. This book gets up close to them. The Football Menis not a series of celebrity profiles, and it doesn't attempt to unearth secrets in the players' private lives. Rather, it portrays these men as three-dimensional human beings. It describes their upbringings, the football cultures they grew up in, the way they play, and the baggage that they bring to their relationships at work. This multimillion-pound, multinational world is mostly inhabited by ordinary men. The profiles in this book are sometimes funny, but never breathless or sensational. Some of the profiles in this book are based on interviews; others are the results of time the author spent with that person; sometimes the profile is a story of a country. All are fascinating and shed light on their subject to reveal things you wouldn't expect. From one of the great sports writers of our time this is a penetrating and surprising collection of articles on the figures that have defined the modern sporting world.




Va-Va-Voom


Book 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. ---- 'A comprehensive account of the highs, lows and scandals of French football' – Jonathan Wilson, author of the bestselling INVERTING THE PYRAMID




Soccer Men


Book Description

Simon Kuper's New York Times bestseller Soccernomics pioneered a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous empirical analysis and incisive -- and witty -- commentary. Kuper now leaves the numbers and data behind to explore the heart and soul of the world's most popular sport in the new, extraordinarily revealing Soccer Men. Soccer Men goes behind the scenes with soccer's greatest players and coaches. Inquiring into the genius and hubris of the modern game, Kuper details the lives of giants such as Arsè Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Jorge Valdano, Lionel Messi, Kakáand Didier Drogba, describing their upbringings, the soccer cultures they grew up in, the way they play, and the baggage they bring to their relationships at work. From one of the great sportswriters of our time, Soccer Men is a penetrating and surprising anatomy of the figures that define modern soccer.




The Anthropocene Reviewed


Book Description

Goodreads Choice winner for Nonfiction 2021 and instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down. “The perfect book for right now.” –People “The Anthropocene Reviewed is essential to the human conversation.” –Library Journal, starred review The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together. John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.




After Extra Time and Penalties: Memories of a BBC Football Correspondent


Book Description

After almost a quarter-century as the BBC's Chief Football Correspondent, Mike Ingham MBE shares a candid, comprehensive and sometimes controversial account of how the world of broadcasting and football changed beyond recognition throughout his career.




Gerrard


Book Description

Steven Gerrard is a hero to millions, not only as the inspirational captain of Liverpool FC, but as a key member of the England team. Here, for the first time, he tells the story of his lifelong obsession with football, in an honest and revealing book which captures the extraordinary camaraderie, the soul-destroying tensions and the high-octane thrills of the modern game as never before. Born in the Liverpool suburb of Huyton in 1980, Steven first joined Liverpool as a YTS trainee and played his first game for the first team aged just 18. His career has gone from strength to strength ever since and he is now the team's captain and its lynchpin. Liverpool's incredible comeback in the Champions' League final in Istanbul in May 2005, recovering from a 3-goal deficit against AC Milan to win on penalties, is testament to the amazing power Gerrard has over his team. His presence on the pitch is a force to be reckoned with and places him amongst the very first rank of players in the world. A relatively private figure, Steven has rarely spoken out in public. Now, his legions of fans will be allowed an intimate glimpse of what makes their hero tick. He speaks for the first time about the torturous will-he-won't-he Chelsea rumours and his undying passion for Liverpool. We experience first-hand the highs of winning in Istanbul and elsewhere, as well as the occasional lows of being parted from his much-loved family and friends. And of course, the book contains a full blow-by-blow account of England's world cup campaign in Germany 2006. Steven Gerrard's book is the definitive football autobiography. Like its subject, it's honest, passionate and exhilarating. If Steven Gerrard isn't your hero yet, by the time you've read this he will be...




Soccernomics


Book Description

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Guardian, Slate, Financial Times, Independent (UK), and Bloomberg News Soccernomics pioneers a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous, empirical analysis and incisive, witty commentary. The San Francisco Chronicle describes it as “the most intelligent book ever written about soccer.” This World Cup edition features new material, including a provocative examination of how soccer clubs might actually start making profits, why that's undesirable, and how soccer's never had it so good.




Soccernomics (2022 World Cup Edition)


Book Description

Written with an economist's brain and a soccer writer's skill, Soccernomics applies high-powered analytical tools to everyday soccer topics Soccernomics is a revolutionary new way of looking at soccer that has helped to change the way the sport is played. This World Cup edition features ample new material, including a chapter on women’s soccer that makes a case for reparations, an analysis of the pandemic’s impact on soccer finances, and insights into the failed plan to create a European Super League. Soccernomics remains essential reading for anyone in search of a more strategic, systematic perspective on the game, answering the questions that most consume soccer fans.




The Anatomy of Liverpool


Book Description

Jonathan Wilson and Scott Murray provide a forensic analysis of ten key Liverpool games that have shaped the club's fortunes over the last century: from the long-lost triumphs of Tom Watson (a 19th-century Bill Shankly) to 1970s European triumphs over the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach and the mind-blowing 2005 comeback against AC Milan. Aston Villa v. Liverpool April 1899 Wolves v. Liverpool May 1947 Liverpool v. Leeds FA Cup final, May 1965 Liverpool v. Crvena Zvezda November 1973 Liverpool v. Borussia Mönchengladbach European Cup final, May 1977 Liverpool v. Roma European Cup final, May 1984 Liverpool v. Nottingham Forest April 1988 Everton v. Liverpool February 1991 Roma v. Liverpool February 2001 AC Milan v. Liverpool Champions League final, May 2005