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Englischer Fussball: A German View of Our Beautiful Game
A respected journalist gives a German’s-eye view of British soccer. What makes it special? Is English football really about manliness, hard work and fair play? And just why are they so hung up on beating the Germans?
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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167 people want to read
About the author
Raphael Honigstein
23 books68 followersRaphael Honigstein is a German journalist and author.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 29, 2016
Pretty good fun and equally revealing in terms of the differences between German and English football, particularly regarding how and why Germans tend to look forward rather than back ('The democratic, modern West Germany that came into existence in 1949 knew it had to face up to its terrible history in order to establish a better, forward-looking country. But looking back over your shoulder has never been a popular pastime in the Federal Republic of Germany because the things you see there are so very disconcerting. Post-war German society has made a valiant effort to learn from the horrors of the twentieth century, but the expression Vergangenheitsbewältigung ('coping with the past') reveals the difficult of the process. This introspection has made nostalgia, the fantasy of a past that never was, all but impossible') whereas the English always seem to be stuck in the past because of our military history ('Military contests have a prominent place in the collective psyche because the recollection of them is generally speaking not traumatic. On the contrary, it is a source of positive identity and comforting. In every city, streets and squares are named after the great victories of Trafalgar, Waterloo and Agincourt').
I was also fascinated by the differences between the outspokenness of German and English players ('Since [German] clubs have to be run as democratic, transparent organisations and must be majority-owned by their members, leading officials, managers and players feel a civic duty to answer their electorate [...] You might argue that we have taken this openness to an extreme, too, as a consequence. A German footballer must take a verbal stance on issues, is expected to discuss problems in public and, above all, should also be ready to criticise superiors and fellow players if he wants to be considered a truly great player [...] By contrast it is drilled into the English professional early on that he should scream his head off during the ninety minutes then keep his mouth shut afterwards [...] Even factual, mild criticism of fellow players or tactics is transformed into a corrosive attack on team spirit on the back pages, and is naturally punished with fines.') Maybe Joey Barton isn't such a bad guy after all...
A few minor grumbles, such as the reference to Sheffield United as the first football club in 1857 and the description of Rushden & Diamonds as an 'old, traditional club' but on the whole I enjoyed this.
I was also fascinated by the differences between the outspokenness of German and English players ('Since [German] clubs have to be run as democratic, transparent organisations and must be majority-owned by their members, leading officials, managers and players feel a civic duty to answer their electorate [...] You might argue that we have taken this openness to an extreme, too, as a consequence. A German footballer must take a verbal stance on issues, is expected to discuss problems in public and, above all, should also be ready to criticise superiors and fellow players if he wants to be considered a truly great player [...] By contrast it is drilled into the English professional early on that he should scream his head off during the ninety minutes then keep his mouth shut afterwards [...] Even factual, mild criticism of fellow players or tactics is transformed into a corrosive attack on team spirit on the back pages, and is naturally punished with fines.') Maybe Joey Barton isn't such a bad guy after all...
A few minor grumbles, such as the reference to Sheffield United as the first football club in 1857 and the description of Rushden & Diamonds as an 'old, traditional club' but on the whole I enjoyed this.
September 12, 2017
Raphael Honigstein is erudite and funny on any football podcasts he appears on, and I am always intrigued by what other cultures think of Britain, whose detachment can lead to new ways of thinking about things. Unfortunately I'm not sure what this book really set out to do, and I ended up finishing it purely because I'd managed to get through the first two thirds of it, and a 200 page read took about a month to finish.
It felt like a brief history of English football, followed by a look at modern English football, with a chapter each on different aspects of it: the media; the style of football; the fans; and slightly out of kilter, an interview with Jimmy Hill. In fact, in retrospect, it almost feels like Honigstein has cobbled together some features for a newspaper, and fleshed them out to form a book. The section on Jimmy Hill (in less reverential terms than he is generally considered since his death) and the Thai hall that screened a Liverpool and Manchester United match are the worst examples of this - although Jimmy Hill is a huge figure of the game, one interview as a chapter felt quite disjointed.
This 'feature' feeling is accentuated by the very colloquial nature of the writing. I had recently criticised Jonathan Wilson's book on goalkeepers for being too much like an encyclopedia, however this was at the other extreme. I had expected a more objective discussion, with some personal stories added over the top, however it often felt as though Honigstein had an opinion, which he then supported with friends and contacts' words that tallied with his own. Even the historical sections lacked a factual basis, and a lot of license was taken with the author's own interpretation.
There were some interesting bits - the way the English media treats football is especially intriguing as normally our only access to football is via that media - and the discussion of football having silly money looks even more ridiculous as it has continued to get even bigger over the last 8 years, showing Honigstein's view of the paying fans to be wide of the mark. However, the general tone of the book leads me to question whether this is a German's view of English football, or merely Honigstein's view of English, a worthy but entirely different spectacle.
It felt like a brief history of English football, followed by a look at modern English football, with a chapter each on different aspects of it: the media; the style of football; the fans; and slightly out of kilter, an interview with Jimmy Hill. In fact, in retrospect, it almost feels like Honigstein has cobbled together some features for a newspaper, and fleshed them out to form a book. The section on Jimmy Hill (in less reverential terms than he is generally considered since his death) and the Thai hall that screened a Liverpool and Manchester United match are the worst examples of this - although Jimmy Hill is a huge figure of the game, one interview as a chapter felt quite disjointed.
This 'feature' feeling is accentuated by the very colloquial nature of the writing. I had recently criticised Jonathan Wilson's book on goalkeepers for being too much like an encyclopedia, however this was at the other extreme. I had expected a more objective discussion, with some personal stories added over the top, however it often felt as though Honigstein had an opinion, which he then supported with friends and contacts' words that tallied with his own. Even the historical sections lacked a factual basis, and a lot of license was taken with the author's own interpretation.
There were some interesting bits - the way the English media treats football is especially intriguing as normally our only access to football is via that media - and the discussion of football having silly money looks even more ridiculous as it has continued to get even bigger over the last 8 years, showing Honigstein's view of the paying fans to be wide of the mark. However, the general tone of the book leads me to question whether this is a German's view of English football, or merely Honigstein's view of English, a worthy but entirely different spectacle.
March 15, 2017
When a writer writes a book about a particular topic, one presumes that the desire is motivated by a fascination with the subject. That fascination can be fuelled by love, hate or anything else between; by the end of the book one is both well-informed and aware of the author’s leaning.
With Englischer Fussball, Raphael Honigstein seems to be powered by smugness. He knows his topic inside out, but delights in pointing out the shortcomings of it. The English, one can conclude from his thesis, are xenophobic, uncultured and unappreciative of finesse, and, unfortunately for the overall readability of this book, these are conclusions argued by Honigstein without any real basis other that his own opinion.
"No self-control, fear, lack of power and nerves", he says of David Beckham, "no England captain has even been so unmanly". Or when talking about match-fixing scandals in the Nineties, he states "scarcely anybody remembers these events in England ... maybe it was because all three players were foreigners."
These opinions are bizarre and backed up with obtuse arguments, but Honigstein occasionally gets his tone perfect. There is a chapter focussing on Jimmy Hill, which perfectly evokes sympathy for a revolutionary pioneer that has been forgotten by modern football, without resorting to maudlin sentiment. It is an excellent piece of writing, and, for once, entirely objective.
The final chapter is where Honigstein’s expertise really lies. In it, he discusses the German view of English football, and this is one of the few where he is not frantically arguing his point of view. One feels that here, facts are being conveyed, for here, Honigstein has nothing to prove. He is a German, with a love/hate relationship with English football. No-one could argue with that.
With Englischer Fussball, Raphael Honigstein seems to be powered by smugness. He knows his topic inside out, but delights in pointing out the shortcomings of it. The English, one can conclude from his thesis, are xenophobic, uncultured and unappreciative of finesse, and, unfortunately for the overall readability of this book, these are conclusions argued by Honigstein without any real basis other that his own opinion.
"No self-control, fear, lack of power and nerves", he says of David Beckham, "no England captain has even been so unmanly". Or when talking about match-fixing scandals in the Nineties, he states "scarcely anybody remembers these events in England ... maybe it was because all three players were foreigners."
These opinions are bizarre and backed up with obtuse arguments, but Honigstein occasionally gets his tone perfect. There is a chapter focussing on Jimmy Hill, which perfectly evokes sympathy for a revolutionary pioneer that has been forgotten by modern football, without resorting to maudlin sentiment. It is an excellent piece of writing, and, for once, entirely objective.
The final chapter is where Honigstein’s expertise really lies. In it, he discusses the German view of English football, and this is one of the few where he is not frantically arguing his point of view. One feels that here, facts are being conveyed, for here, Honigstein has nothing to prove. He is a German, with a love/hate relationship with English football. No-one could argue with that.
November 24, 2021
Home truths from a man who can see the foolishness of English football. Rafa has correctly enjoyed a great career and this was a fine debut.
March 7, 2010
Outsider's perspective on the history of "The English Game", from the origins of football and the F.A., the expansion and development of the league system, through to the foreign invasion and the Premier League. As much a book about the English as football, and should be read in conjunction with Kate Fox's Watching the English. The final chapter on the German/English footballing relationship is indispensible (a perfect rebuttal to petty English parochialism).
July 25, 2014
This is an easy and often engrossing read. You learn not only things you never knew but also a different outlook on what you know all so well. It really makes you think in places and whilst there are a fair few factual errors along the way (Sheffield United were not the first ever pro football club, The Mexico World Cup wasn't in 1972) you close the book looking at certain things in a way you hadn't previously.
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February 4, 2016It's not often that English history professors quiz American fund managers about their choice of reading material. Yet this book started more conversations at a garden party in Oxford than I would have suspected in a university setting on a royal wedding weekend. Told from an outsider's perspective, it's an erudite, informative, bemusedly German look at why English soccer is so violent & authentic, and why the EPL has consequently become one of the marquee global entertainment brands.
February 23, 2016
Maybe slightly faded a bit in the middle around the bangs section but a good first half and great last ten minutes. Performance put of the top drawer, if Rafa was Brazilian we
'D be talking about this book for weeks.
Mind you he will never top Das Reboot as a title.
'D be talking about this book for weeks.
Mind you he will never top Das Reboot as a title.
June 1, 2014
Ok book about a German's view of English football. Too many errors for my liking, he refers to Sheffield United twice when he means Sheffield FC and Sheffield Wednesday. A bit of a nothing book
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews