The Football Men: Up Close with the Giants of the Modern Game - Hardcover

'No one else writing in the UK has tracked the careers of footballers and managers in Kuper's fashion. He knows and cares about their family backgrounds, education and early years. He also has a rare international perspective, drawn from decades of travel around the continent and the ability to speak and read in several tongues. The chapter dissecting the ghosted autobiographies of Messrs Carragher, Cole, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney is a masterful piece of literary criticism' --Financial Times
'Kuper's approach is more subtle. He always listens, but only rarely quotes verbatim. The footballer is a subject rather than a talking head. This approach produces an excellent result... his sureness of purpose allows him to devote his energies to producing something regularly insightful and sometimes very, very funny. There are excellent pieces on legends such as Franz Beckenbauer, Diego Maradona and Romario, but the best are on the Dutch. This owes something to Kuper's Dutch past but it is indebted heavily to the Dutch footballer' --The Herald

'I hate football. But the time you read this I might love it again... In his latest book, football's finest writer turns his attention to succinct profiles of the great and the good - mainly players (from longstanding legends like Cruyff and Beckenbauer to current idols Messi and Fabregas) but also managers, actor Anthony Minghella and stadium architect Jacques Herzog... As well as the captivating profiles there are some revealing interviews, most notably with Glenn Hoddle, who cuts a rather sad figure reminiscing about his career as the sport keeps him at a distance, partly for being religious, a bit different and 'not one of the lads' --Time Out

Simon Kuper is the author of Football Against the Enemy (which won the William Hill Prize) and Ajax, The Dutch, The War (shortlisted for the William Hill Prize).Why England Lose appeared in August 2010. Simon writes for the Financial Times, and previously wrote football columns for The Times and the Observer. He is currently also a columnist for Four Four Two magazine.