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Zonal Marking
- The Making of Modern European Football
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
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Zonal Marking
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Summary
An insightful, comprehensive and always entertaining appreciation of how European football has developed over the last three decades by the author of the much heralded The Mixer.
Continental football has always cast a spell over the imagination. From the attacking flair of Real Madrid of the 50s to the defensive brilliance of the Italians in the 60s and onto the total football of the Dutch in the 70s, the European leagues have been where the game has most evolved and taken its biggest steps forward. And over the last three decades, since the rebranding of the Champions League in 1992, that pattern has continued unabated, with each major European footballing nation playing its part in how the game’s tactics have developed.
From the intelligent use of space displayed by the phenomenal Ajax team of the early 90s, to the dominance of the highly strategic Italian league in the late 90s and onto the technical wizardry of Barcelona’s tiki-taka, the European game continues to reinvent the tactical dimension of the game, creating blueprints which both club and national teams around the world strive to follow.
In Zonal Marking, Michael Cox brilliantly investigates and analyses the major leagues around Europe over specific time periods and demonstrates the impact each has made on how the game is now played. Highly entertaining and packed full of wonderful anecdotes, this is the first book of its kind to take an overview of modern European football, and lays bare just how much the international language of football can be shaped by a nation’s unique identity.
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Critic reviews
"An excellent recent history of European football." (New Yorker)
"A wonderful overview of tactical development in European football." (Matthew Syed, The Time)
"A fascinating assessment of football in 2019." (Observer)
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What listeners say about Zonal Marking
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J
- 12-11-19
long listen but worth it
loved it but it's a long book
all of the different countries are well represented
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Alex Wells
- 19-07-19
great listen on the different football systems
really enjoyed the context and explanation of the journey of european football. specifically liked the clever transition from the key countries.
don't get some people moaning in other reviews about pronounciation of individuals names. think you listen to this on a fast speed or something as I didn't hear any of these problems.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-07-19
Magic history review with facts
Very interesting history review of football for last three decades. So many facts that opens my eyes on many things I didn't even think of.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dan
- 01-08-19
Good but not as good as The Mixer
Another really enjoyable listen, but personally I found it to not quite be as good as The Mixer. Perhaps it's because my knowledge of English football is greater than that of European football more broadly so I didn't quite get the same nostalgia hit.
Also where did the accents go?! I loved the narrator's accents in The Mixer, so I was expecting him to unleash his full repertoire here, but they're totally absent which was a disappointment.
On the whole still highly recommended though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 28-08-19
Excellent
Great book, brilliantly researched. Well narrated as well. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in modern football.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Pavlos Diamantopoulos
- 27-06-19
Excellent book 10/10 would recommend!
I loved this book, very well written and narrated (barring a few mispronunciations). Well worth the "read"!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Willdor
- 28-10-20
Comprehensive, informative and relevant
Very neatly written book, hugely informative and well narrated. My only criticism would be that the narrator did not pronounce many of the non-English names properly e.g. La Masia. Could have been avoided with a tiny bit of research/preparation.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Matthew Johnson (Matt Saxx)
- 13-12-22
Another W for Michael Cox
Having read The Mixer, I started reading this with high hopes. I was not disappointed.
This book is highly analytical and it follows the development of European football from 80s total football in Holland, to the 90s defensive quality of Italy, through to tika-taka Spain.
An excellent read/listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- John
- 21-12-20
excellent narration of a great book
preferred the overseas section as I had a good idea of the English period but a great insight.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Duke Fame
- 14-02-23
Great listen when when I’m jogging
A comprehensive review of the evolution of modern European football tactics.. reads a lot more entertaining than my description!
The performance of the narrator is ok.
I don’t think he’s a football fan from listening to him but he’s quite engaging when doing players quotes.
Basically a big, interesting podcast series in a box set.
If you listen like I did you’ll get quite a few runs out of it.
The chapters on Spain and Germany were particularly good.
Would definitely recommend for any football fan.
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