“The Italian Job” by Gianluca Vialli: A Review

October 21st, 2010 | by: Julian | Comments Off

There are a lot of footballers out there, and there are a ton of writers as well, and for the most part, these are separate spheres. There’s usually not much overlap. You never hear of how James Joyce scored a hattrick for Celtic or how Baggio wrote a dissertation disproving Freud’s Oedipus Complex. Sure, lots of footballers have biographies, but how many of them are worth reading taking controversial quotes out of the equation?

Gianluca Vialli wrote a book challenging this very idea, but in my estimation he cheated a little. Gabriele Marcotti, one of football’s top journalist, was there to help him every step of the way, giving him an advantage most football writers don’t have. Most footballer write autobiographies, usually without the help of top journalists. If Sid Lowe helped Xavi write a book, it would surely be better than if Xavi wrote it all by his lonesome. In that sense, Vialli had an unfair advantage that most footballers writing don’t have. It’s like he took steroids- a topic he does cover in his book, to be fair- except that it isn’t really like that at all. His book isn’t an autobiography in the least. What it is instead is a fascinating look at the differences between English and Italian football, written by a man who knows both inside and out.

Vialli himself is quite famous. For those who don’t know, here’s a brief recap of his career. He was born in 1964 and played for Cermonese for four years. In ‘84 he transferred to Sampdoria where he thrived as a striker, scoring 85 goals in 223 appearances. He moved to Juve from 92-96 and scored 38 in 102 apps. His final move was to Chelsea, where he played for 2 years and spent a third year as a player manager. As a striker then, he played in a top club in both Italy and Chelsea. He clearly knows the ins and outs of both countries, and his stint as a manager of Chelsea- and his subsequent brief spell managing Watford- give him a unique perspective.

It’s clear that Vialli is able to see the game simultaneously as spectator, player, and coach would. He knows the nuances of each country and goes through great length throughout the 433 pages to talk about the two. Quite a bit is discussed, from the idea of the sport all the way to training methods. As it turns out, the basis for quite a bit is the Italian view of football as a job versus the English view of the sport as a mere game. He discusses differences in stadiums, fans, and even delves into the managerial role and how it’s different between the two countries and yet changing. For example, Vialli spends much time talking about Italy’s stadium problems, beginning with the track around most pitches, but also how Italian soccer atmosphere is far better due to the likes of Ultras. And yes, Ultras have a dark side as well, which Vialli also covers.

Vialli also does well to vary his text over the four hundred plus pages. One section on managers is dedicatedly entirely to comparing football to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, whilst later in the book he discusses how referees in England are more prone to let play go on, which backfires for English clubs in European competition where more fouls are carded. It’s a long book, but an interesting one.

The strongest part of the book by far is the sheer amount of access he has to top people in the game, seemingly an advantage of writing alongside Marcotti. Marcello Lippi, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, and Sven Goran-Eriksson all give insights multiple times in each chapter and really enrichen the text. Two figures stand out in particular- Jose Mourinho, who’s incredibly perceptive and pulls no punches, even when dealing with his beloved Portugal; and Marcel Desailly, whose grasp of the game is immense and enlightening.

If there’s one fault of the book, it’s that Vialli tends to ramble a bit. It’s clear that he wants the book to be accessible to all, so some points are discussed so thoroughly that they almost become berated. He summarizes nearly every quote in the book after it is said, which is by no means a bad thing, but leaves little room for reflection.

But on the whole, Marcotti and Vialli have written a fantastic book. It’s been updated to include his thoughts on Calciopoli (which, admittedly, are quite brief) and is rather comprehensive. It’s by no means the most dense text out there, but The Italian Job is a fantastic book for anyone looking to find out just what is the difference between an English fan, stadium, manager or player, and an Italian one.

Get the book from Amazon.com