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And It Was Beautiful
- Marcelo Bielsa and the Rebirth of Leeds United
- Narrated by: Phil Hay, Ralph Ineson
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
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And It Was Beautiful
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Publisher's summary
Updated to include the 2021/22 season
The instant Sunday Times Top ten bestseller
The behind-the-scenes story of the Marcelo Bielsa revolution at Leeds United and their first season back in the Premier League after sixteen years of hurt.
Featuring fresh personal insight from Marcelo Bielsa
On 27th February 2022, after 170 matches in charge, promotion to the Premier League and some of the most exhilarating football the English game has ever seen, Leeds United parted company with their most beloved and successful manager in a generation: Marcelo Bielsa. His parting gift was to embrace the crowds of adoring fans who turned up to say thank you as he left the club's training ground for the final time.
In And it was Beautiful, The Athletic's Phil Hay chronicles Leeds United's glorious first season back in the top flight—which saw them finish ninth—after a chaotic sixteen-year absence. Phil pulls back the curtain on the hallmarks that now define the Marcelo Bielsa era, from his gruelling training schedule—including his infamous 'murderball' sessions—to innovative tactical methods that elevated Championship regulars into Premier League stars. Bielsa performed miracles, turning football into high art and making an extraordinary cultural impact on the city of Leeds. The result is a unique and fitting tribute to a Leeds United icon.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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-
Story5 out of 5 stars 158
The US Women’s National Soccer Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals, set record TV ratings, drawn massive crowds, earned huge revenues for FIFA and US Soccer, and helped to redefine the place of women in sports. But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they’ve endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Too much swearing
- By Rebecca Sheldon on 01-23-20
By: Caitlin Murray
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The Barcelona Complex
- Lionel Messi and the Making—and Unmaking—of the World's Greatest Soccer Club
- By: Simon Kuper
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Story5 out of 5 stars 104
FC Barcelona is not just the world’s highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF—and by one earlier measure, more than all 32 NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. Journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic
- By steve finkelstein on 10-27-23
By: Simon Kuper
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Tanking to the Top
- The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports
- By: Yaron Weitzman
- Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre. Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great history of tanking by Sixers
- By Alan Bernstein on 03-11-23
By: Yaron Weitzman
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José Mourinho
- Up Close & Personal
- By: Robert Beasley
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Mourinho is both a sumptuous celebration of The Special One's managerial career so far, and an enigmatic insight into his unique brand of football wisdom and philosophy. In the legendary manager's very first audiobook, and in his own images and captions, José Mourinho charts the peaks and troughs of the opening 15 years of what has been a stellar rise to the summit of the global game.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Poor Quality
- By Sanjay Patel on 04-10-20
By: Robert Beasley
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The Cup They Couldn't Lose
- America, the Ryder Cup, and the Long Road to Whistling Straits
- By: Shane Ryan
- Narrated by: Shane Ryan
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story5 out of 5 stars 63
The task facing Steve Stricker at the 2021 Ryder Cup was enormous. It was his job, as the American captain, to stare down almost 40 years of Ryder Cup history, break a pattern of home losses that had persisted almost as long, and reverse the tide of European dominance in one of golf's most tense and emotional events. This was the epitome of a must-win, but it was also something more—in the entire 93-year history of the event, no American side had ever faced this kind of pressure.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining and informative
- By Dustin Joseph on 04-03-24
By: Shane Ryan
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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Calling the Shots
- How to Win in Football and Life
- By: David Dein
- Narrated by: Arsène Wenger, David Dein
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
There's no doubt that Dein has been one of the most significant and influential figures in British football for over three decades—operating at club and international level. He was a prime mover in the creation of the Premier League, hugely influential within the England set-up and, of course, was the mastermind—along with Arsène Wenger—in creating the glory days of Arsenal Football Club, leading the team for almost a quarter of a century.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Modern Day Herbert Chapman
- By Will on 02-10-23
By: David Dein
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The Master
- The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer
- By: Christopher Clarey
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 353
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
There have been other biographies of Roger Federer, but never one with this kind of access to the man himself, his support team, and the most prominent figures in the game, including such rivals as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Roddick. In The Master, New York Times correspondent Christopher Clarey sits down with Federer and those closest to him to tell the story of the greatest player in men's tennis.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Roger, voiced by Schwarzenegger
- By S. Armour on 08-27-21
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The Football Ramble
- By: Marcus Speller, Pete Donaldson, Luke Aaron Moore, and others
- Narrated by: Marcus Speller, Pete Donaldson, Luke Aaron Moore, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
Downloaded over 10 million times a year, The Football Ramble podcast has established itself as the essential independent voice of football punditry. The weekly podcast has resonated with supporters around the world, and their sold-out live shows have been a massive hit with supporters. This audiobook is a collaboration by all four presenters and tackles the real issues from fans you won't see or hear on Sky Sports - or anywhere else, for that matter.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Performance
- By Amazon Customer on 11-15-16
By: Marcus Speller, and others
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The Extra 2%
- How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First
- By: Jonah Keri
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 217
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
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Story4 out of 5 stars 182
In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team's Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. By quantifying the game's intangibles, they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay an American League pennant. This is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No Strategies or Insight
- By Victor Luera on 10-11-12
By: Jonah Keri
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The Breaks of the Game
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 265
A New York Times best seller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This book is a must read for all NBA junkies.
- By Kyle on 06-13-18
By: David Halberstam
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It's Better to Be Feared
- The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness
- By: Seth Wickersham
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 502
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 499
Over two unbelievable decades, the New England Patriots were not only the NFL's most dominant team, but also - and by far - the most secretive. How did they achieve and sustain greatness - and what were the costs? In It's Better to Be Feared, Seth Wickersham, one of the country's finest long form and investigative sportswriters, tells the full, behind-the-scenes story of the Patriots, capturing the brilliance, ambition, and vanity that powered and ultimately unraveled them.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don’t bother if you’ve read other patriots books
- By Brandon O. on 10-14-21
By: Seth Wickersham
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Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
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Players
- The Story of Sports and Money - and the Visionaries Who Fought to Create a Revolution
- By: Matthew Futterman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4 out of 5 stars 43
For fans of Michael Lewis, the astounding untold story of how professional sports transformed, in the span of a single generation, from a cottage industry into a massive global business. In the cash-soaked world of contemporary sports, where every season brings news of higher salaries, endorsement deals, and television contracts, it is mind-boggling to remember that as recently as the 1970s elite athletes earned so little money that many were forced to work second jobs in the off-season to make ends meet.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Starts slow...
- By John on 08-09-16
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Homegrown
- How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up
- By: Alex Speier
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
The 2018 season was a coronation for the Boston Red Sox. The best team in Major League Baseball - indeed, one of the best teams ever - the Sox won 108 regular season games and then romped through the postseason, going 11-3 against the three next-strongest teams baseball had to offer. As Alex Speier reveals, the Sox’ success wasn’t a fluke - nor was it guaranteed. It was the result of careful, patient planning and shrewd decision-making that allowed Boston to develop a golden generation of prospects - and then build upon that talented core to assemble a juggernaut.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great read if you like the Red Sox or baseball ops
- By Amazon Customer on 01-11-20
By: Alex Speier
What listeners say about And It Was Beautiful
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-26-24
Exceptional! Great book that shares the spell of Marcelo Bielsa as manager or Leeds United
Exceptional! Great book that shares the spell of Marcelo Bielsa as manager or Leeds United.
Great book for soccer players, managers, and anyone who is a devoted fan to the game.
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