The European Game

Book excerpt: The British sportswriter goes inside some of Europe’s best soccer clubs—from Bilbao to Bavaria and beyond—to reveal their winning secrets. In The European Game, Daniel Fieldsend travels across Europe to discover the methods for success used at some of the continent’s biggest Football clubs—from Ajax, Juventus and Benfica to Bayern Munich, A.C Milan, Lyon, Athletic Bilbao and many more. At every stop, Fieldsend pulls back the curtain to reveal what makes each club tick, speaking to everyone from scouts and academy coaches to first team managers, analysts and board members. Insightful, ambitious and compelling, The European Game is about more than just a game. It’s about community, identity and attachment. It explores leadership, tactics, coaching and scouting as well as politics, finance, fandom and culture. Celebrating the uniqueness of football clubs around the continent, it also investigates whether their methods can be replicated in other domestic leagues.