The Netherlands has been one of the world's most distinctive and sophisticated football cultures. From the birth of Total Football in the sixties, through two decades of World Cup near misses to the exiles who remade clubs like AC Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in their own image, the Dutch have often been dazzlingly original and influential. The elements of their style (exquisite skills, adventurous attacking tactics, a unique blend of individual creativity and teamwork, weird patterns of self-destruction) reflect and embody the country's culture and history. This book lays bare the elegant, fractured soul of the Dutch Masters and the culture that spawned them by exploring and analysing its key ideas, institutions, personalities and history in the context of wider Dutch society.
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
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"1974 was actually very painful to us all," says Dutch psychoanalyst Anna Enquist. "We can't admit to ourselves that something can be so important. But it matters very much. There is still a deep, unresolved trauma about 1974. It's a very living pain, like an unresolved crime."
En Vincent zag het koren
En Einstein het getal
En Zeppelin de Zeppelin
En Johan zag de bal(And Vincent saw the corn
And Einstein the number
And Zeppelin the Zeppelin
And Johan saw the ball)
--Dutch cabaret song
The intellectualisation of football has always foundered on a simple problem--the players. Doing all your most rewarding thinking with your feet seems to dull the philosophical impulse. Unless, of course, you are Dutch. According to legend, Europeans played a moronic, muscular version of the world's game, until Holland proclaimed its vision of total football in the 1974 World Cup, and enlightenment dawned.
In Brilliant Orange--the neurotic genius of Dutch football, journalist David Winner explores his personal fascination with the land that gave the world Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Johan Cruyff--searching for reasons why such a tiny country has produced some of football's most intelligent, enigmatic and unfulfilled teams.
Winter talks with the players, past and present--including Johnny Rep and Ruud Krol from the losing World Cup Final sides of 1974 and 1978--uncovering their personal experience of the public triumphs and disasters. But it is the breadth of his enquiry into what it may mean to be Dutch--reconciling a colonial past with a multi-cultural present; living with the memories of wartime occupation and collaboration; the tensions between a fiercely individualistic, libertarian spirit and the principles of communality--that makes this such an extraordinary and wonderful book. --Alex Hankin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Ambitious and illuminating' -- Independent on Sunday
'Ambitious and illuminating.' -- Independent on Sunday
'An excellent book' -- World Soccer
'An excellent book.' -- World Soccer
'Lavishly written...Brilliant Orange captures your imagination with real charm.' -- Total Football
'Original and unconventional...Fascinating and individualistic, Brilliant Orange beguiles you like a Cruyff turn.' -- The Times
'Winner paints a suitably glowing picture...Ambitious and impressive' -- Observer
'Winner paints a suitably glowing picture...Ambitious and impressive.' -- observer
'Ambitious and illuminating.' -- Independent on Sunday
'An excellent book' -- World Soccer
'An excellent book.' -- World Soccer
'Lavishly written...Brilliant Orange captures your imagination with real charm.' -- Total Football
'Original and unconventional...Fascinating and individualistic, Brilliant Orange beguiles you like a Cruyff turn.' -- The Times
'Winner paints a suitably glowing picture...Ambitious and impressive' -- Observer
'Winner paints a suitably glowing picture...Ambitious and impressive.' -- observer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Firstly let me get one thing straight - I'm not a football fan and I have no real interest in the Dutch. But with Brilliant Orange, David Winner seems to have cast these minor inconveniences aside and written a masterful analysis of the Dutch psyche, using football, (and specifically the 1970's team of Cruyff, Kieser, Rep et al) as a counterpoint to their particular and sometimes peculiar ways. Winner has really done his research - he brings in subjects as far and wide as "art and architects, cows and canals, anarchists, church painters, rabbis and airports", and deftly weaves them into the rich tapestry of footballing history. His real skill, however, is in bringing the matches to life and demonstrating the artistry of the game. I wasn't even born when the Cruyff team of 1974 lost against the German's in the World Cup final, but how I want to go back and see the match now.
Winner manages to explain the Dutch flair, their inventiveness, their spatial awareness, their internal wranglings and their inevitable defeat at the hands of lesser opponents. (take their losing to the Italians in last night's semi-final as a perfect example) There's something of the grace of the Dutch footballing style in Winner's writing too; a light anecdotal touch by turns endearing, personal and very funny, which enables him to really engage the reader. Even if you're not a Dutch loving football-aficionado, this is a must read!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Dr. Iqbal
Format:Paperback
For years my friends have wondered why I was so obsessed about the Dutch and their football (I'm a Malaysian living in England!). I struggled to make them understand but this book explains why so brilliantly. The Dutch play football so breathtakingly (when things are going well) but have so little success to show for it. Strangely, it is this frustrating underachievement that makes them so fascinating. In many ways, their well-documented self-destruction is very much a reflection of their culture (not just the footballing one). There are sections in the book where Dutch football legends would say "if only the Dutch had this , if only they had that...on top of their skill...they would be perfect footballers". But that would take away their Dutchness...
One thing's for sure though...the day they finally win the World Cup, it won't be just the Dutch fans who would be cheering....it would mark the fulfilment of one of the greatest footballing phenomenons.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant Orange, by David Winner, has to rank as one of the best soccer books I have read
in a long time. This is a book with brains spilling out over the edge. It is much
more than a story about Dutch Soccer. It is an inquiry into how ideas and philosophies
present in Dutch society underpinned some of the greatest teams and players to
have ever played the game. While it is an entertaining and stimulating read, it
also manages to be instructive technically and tactically. Coaches and players
will find this book very useful in terms of identifying what it takes to play
the game at its highest level. And what fascinated me the most was Winner's study
of beauty and the idea of the Beautiful Game. If you want to best understand what
the Beautiful Game is about, you may want to read this book before any others
on the subject, including Pele's My Life and the Beautiful Game.
in a long time. This is a book with brains spilling out over the edge. It is much
more than a story about Dutch Soccer. It is an inquiry into how ideas and philosophies
present in Dutch society underpinned some of the greatest teams and players to
have ever played the game. While it is an entertaining and stimulating read, it
also manages to be instructive technically and tactically. Coaches and players
will find this book very useful in terms of identifying what it takes to play
the game at its highest level. And what fascinated me the most was Winner's study
of beauty and the idea of the Beautiful Game. If you want to best understand what
the Beautiful Game is about, you may want to read this book before any others
on the subject, including Pele's My Life and the Beautiful Game.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Interesting and funny book. It is as much about Dutch culture as football. It arrived well before the expected date , excellent service
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Eric W. Hardisty
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different and quirky
I really enjoyed this idiosyncratic look at the influence of the Dutch psyche and culture on the amazing development of Dutch football in the 60s and 70s
Published 2 months ago by M. Worley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely marvelous.
The best book on football I've ever read and most likely because it's not on football at all but architecture, philosophy, politics etc. A truly fantastic piece of work. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Joe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius for the neurotic football fan
I must start by saying that this book is the best book I've read, fiction or non-fiction.
A lot of books in the football genre either ramble endlessly about training and... Read more
A lot of books in the football genre either ramble endlessly about training and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jarrod
5.0 out of 5 stars
All the sweetness of a Jaffa
An excellent book, lovingly written. I was close to tears at points -an insightful look at one of the most beautiful football cultures this world has.
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Published 4 months ago by whyjustgosouth
1.0 out of 5 stars
Drivel
Really really awful. A typical theory is that the Dutch invented the passing game as the land is so level and flat...words to that effect. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Rupe from London
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring
He opens the book with saying 'this is not a football book' or something along the lines of that. But I beg to differ - parts of this book opened my eyes up to how total... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Henry Cooper
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quite interesting read for uninitiated
This book provides an interesting insight and some theories into the plight of Dutch football. It looks at Dutch society, culture and history to try to explain why the Netherlands... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ms. Victoria L. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
I found the delivery to be very fast and the book of excellent quality. I really recommend both this seller and the book itself. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Magnus Nordman
5.0 out of 5 stars
loved it!
I've been a lifelong fan of the dutch game as it was 1994-95 ajax that introduced me to an entertaining flowing beautiful approach after having been turned off by the plodding... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Dave Aswat
Listmania!
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