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Thou Shall Not Pass: The Anatomy of Football's Centre-Half (Hardback)
Leo Moynihan (author)Published: 18/02/2021
From Beckenbauer to Butcher, Moynihan's mightily enjoyable history of the much-maligned centre-half digs down into the mentality of football's defensive hard men to discover just what makes them tick.
Complex, overlooked and misunderstood, football's centre-halves rarely take centre-stage. Leo Moynihan's long overdue celebration of this much-maligned position explores the unique mindset and last-ditch, bone-crunching tackles of the traditionally bruising hard man, hell-bent on destroying glory. Football is often romanticised as 'The Beautiful Game'. If that's true, then the game's centre-half might be considered the unsightly pimple on the end of its otherwise perfectly formed nose. The stopper is the last line of defence, the big man with small ideas, the lump who lumps it.
Thou Shall Not Pass (from a command England captain Terry Butcher shouted before every match) celebrates the football position where brutal characters are loved for their hard-hitting tackles and bruising mentality, and yet laughed at for their apparent lack of skill. Covering the long and illustrious history of the centre-half, Thou Shall Not Pass takes the reader into the muddy penalty area frequented by our protagonists, into their domain. The places they head the ball, the places where they tackle, the places in which they will stop at nothing to stop a forward. What makes a defender approach the game the way they do? What makes them different from those whose sole purpose is flair?
Featuring exclusive interviews - including those with Virgil van Dijk, Jamie Carragher, Terry Butcher, Mark Lawrenson, Darren Moore, Steph Houghton, Tony Adams, Frank Leboeuf and Dion Dublin - and packed with rich and highly entertaining anecdotes, the book explores all aspects of the position and investigates the mentality of those who ply their trade there.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781472972910
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 490 g
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A brilliant read. Moynihan’s book took me right back to my playing days! - Jamie Carragher
Football’s centre-halves have always been fascinating and ever-changing characters within the game. Moynihan brings these players alive in this hugely enjoyable book. - Henry Winter, The Times
About time we got some recognition! A great read. - Mark Lawrenson, former Liverpool centre-half
An entertaining tour of the esoteric world of centre-backs - Paul Hayward
Superbly insightful - FourFourTwo
Leo Moynihan is one of my favourite football writers and a keen observer of the game who never fails to entertain. - Patrick Barclay (Evening Standard)
I take my hat off to Moynihan for writing this book! - Dion Dublin
Having played with Bobby Moore, the greatest centre-half of all-time, I was fascinated to read Leo Moynihan’s book and I wasn’t disappointed. - Harry Redknapp, former West Ham and Tottenham manager
A brilliant book... a must for all lovers of the game. - Terry Butcher
I love Moynihan’s writing and his new book is a brilliant exploration of this always intriguing position. - Jonny Owen, filmmaker and TalkSPORT presenter
Leo Moynihan’s writing is always enjoyable and his exciting new book on the old enemy is highly recommended. - Andrew Cole
An enjoyable read which includes interviews with many well-known centre-backs and plenty of entertaining anecdotes - Late Tackle
A beautifully written new appreciation of the centre-half - Ian Herbert, Mail.co.uk
An enjoyable look at the art of great defending - Bristol Post
A rich topic and so sharply written... Bringing real insight to the page, Moynihan undoubtedly has an eye for taking a story we think we know and breathing new life into it - When Saturday Comes
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“Thou shall not pass”
Very interesting and informative with plenty of anecdotes. Maybe it's me but I found it a bit repetetive in places but well ,worth reading nonetheless.
Matt
“Celebration of underrated position”
This is a celebration of an underrated football position.
The book starts off with paying tribute to the art of defending before going onto explain the history of how the position developed tactically. It also covers...
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“Absolutely brilliant”
An absolute must for any football fan no matter which team you support. I read it in one go . Full of brilliant stories, analysis and memories.
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