Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer

Very interesting books exposing readers to the psyche of the Dutch football team whose players I've always admired. Great read!

People interested in sports often feel that events are controlled by jinxes or bad luck, for their own team or for the opposition. Here is a book that examines an outstanding national sport history (I remember some of those times and events) and how such things actually played out. Champions usually prevail, but it takes an entire team to perform at their best to be successful in world competitions. When all goes well it is not an accident, and a privelege to witness such events and athletes. Here was a period in which a group of very talented but fairly modest players played (for a while) mostly unencumbered, but then proved to be unable to outrun their anxieties for multiple seasons. The author showed how their strategy on the field had been successful because it was explicit, understood and shared, and backed up by talent. The cooperative approach seems to have worked so well because it was part of the national psychology.

This is a great book about soccer and specifically about the Dutch and soccer. You will nerver look the same at either. Even a casual fan can find something in this book of interest.

Fantastic book that details the reasons for the manner of which the Dutch play. Gives lots of background on their famous failures and how Cruyff helped change the entire country, not just from a football point of view. The architecture, politics and art of the Netherlands are also well detailed which helps give the reader a better look into the Dutch lifestyle and why some of the great Dutch teams of the past are more are seen as winners regardless of their lack of silverware.

This book is in very good condition in terms of the cover, back, and pages being in nice crisp condition, but is not new as advertised, there is yellow highlighting throughout.

In summer 1978 I was 6 years old and I watched my first World Cup finals. Dutch lost that game, but won my heart, and since then my whole understanding of football was influenced by the way that great generation that invented Total Football played. David Winner makes excellent job describing the roots of philosophy that is in the center of Total Football. This book is not historical account, does not give reader statistics and chronology, but the essence of football seen and performed by the one of two smallest nations among world's super powers (second being Uruguay). Wonderfully written, it is a must for everyone who tries to understand the most beautiful game in the world.

I like the book quite a lot. It was very entertaining, more so than the Italian Job. I would however recommend reading Morbo by Phil Ball before this book, no that is how to write about football.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It is not just about the success of the Dutch soccer team! The author successfully weaves political themes, history, and a general sense of culture into a nation's values and sense of self. My mom's side is mostly Dutch and I visited the Netherlands two years ago, I have a much greater appreciation for what "being Dutch" means and how it influences my choices and behaviors. I never had heard or read what the Dutch people did to their own Jewish residents during the Nazi occupation! So scary how close they came to a larger domination of society! I have given this book to my mom to read and she knows nothing about soccer. I believe she is going to very much enjoy it!

A bit of a slow moving book but if you love the game in any way, shape, or form, and you don't mind being "challenged" when you read, then this is a sublime choice, especially if, like me, you have always been fascinated by the Dutch machine!