[Who is Arrigo Sacchi - Thread]

Arrigo Sacchi is a former italian coach. From 1987 to 1991, he managed a Milan side widely regarded to be one of the greatest sides to ever play the game. However, not much people seems to know about him. This is what I will try to explain in this thread.

Sacchi wasn’t a professional footballer and worked as a shoe salesman. This led to his famous quote to those who criticized his managerial abilities: "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first.". A big personality.

During his first spell at Milan, Arrigo Sacchi won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European football by winning back to back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. Not much managers were able to retain the Champions League.

He managed the likes of Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Ancelotti, Baresi and Maldini. His Milan side was a defensively organized side influenced by Italian culture but Sacchi also introduced the concept of the offside trap.

Sacchi’s football was also highly demanding as he wanted his side to control the game through ball retention whilst his players have to win the ball back as quickly as possible. For example, Klopp’s gegenpressing was influenced by Sacchi’s Milan.

Klopp once said that his team is 10% like Sacchi’s Milan. Arrigo Sacchi also introduced a new way of defending. The pressing was indeed a brand new way of defending. It was more active than passive.

Sacchi said "There was partial pressing, where it was more about jockeying; there was total pressing which was more about winning the ball; there was fake pressing, when we pretended to press, but, in fact, used the time to recuperate".

As an example, Milan‘s average defensive action against Steaua Bucarest in the 1989 CL final was performed further away from their own goal than the average of any team in the 2018/19 edition. This is super impressive to me.

Milan’s offensive shape was something never seen before. His way of thinking wasn’t understood at the time. Italian football was still influenced by Herrera’s Catenaccio and a lot of Italian football fans thought a defensive play style was the only one legitimate to succeed.

Sacchi said ”Italy had a defensive culture, not just in football. For centuries, everybody invaded us”. This is the most admirable thing when you are talking about Sacchi. He decided to change the culture of the game he loved in his country.

Sacchi decided to discard the libero, very popular in Italy thanks to Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio, from his team. He wanted to have very polyvalent players who were able to interchange positions during the game. He also aimed to let freedom to his players. Total Football.

In his 4-4-2 with no libero, Sacchi decided to adopt an assymetrical shape with his LB, Paolo Maldini, nearly forming a back three when Milan had the ball. Something revolutionary at the time as well.

During trainings, Sacchi adopted innovative approaches. He would have his players play a full game in training with an imaginary football. This was called shadow play. This training helped to perfect the zonal marking Sacchi putted in place at Milan.

His way of managing this Milan side has been proved to be the right one. Indeed, he won 8 trophies in 4 years at Milan. During his second season as a manager, he managed to win the European Cup (former Champions League) with an admirable journey.

Indeed, Sacchi’s Milan met Real Madrid in the semifinals. Madrid eliminated the defending champions PSV Eindhoven in the quarterfinals. Players like Butragueno, Michel, Sanchez and Schuster made the Madrid squad. However, Milan schooled 5-0 the Spanish side during the second leg.

After his successful spell at Milan, Sacchi became manager of the Italy national team. He led Italy to a World Cup final. Their first since 1982. However, they were defeated by Brazil in a penalty shout-out.

During Sacchi’s time as a national coach, Fabio Capello, his successor as Milan manager, retained and improved Sacchi's tactics and went on to win four Scudetti in five seasons and the 1993/1994 Champions League. However, Sacchi’s managerial career only knew 8 successful years.

His second spell at Milan and his short spell with Los Colchoneros saw both teams guided to a 11th and a 13th seed respectively. Nevertheless, Sacchi’s influence on today’s game is unmatched.

Rafael Benitez cites him as his role model and "the coach who has revolutionised football in the past 50 years". He also had a great influence on his former players. Frank Rijkaard had a successful spell at Barcelona but his best student is Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti said about his former mentor ”In technical terms, Sacchi was decisive, as I trained with him for five years and realised the importance of having a method to prepare sessions and try to transmit your ideas to the players. It was like a whole other world.

When we were pressing and stealing the ball to go on the counter, then the defensive movements became active rather than totally passive, it was far more stimulating”.

Sacchi’s peak as a coach was rather short although very successful. He inspired every successful managers of the past 20 years like Sarri, Klopp, Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez. His progressive way of thinking helped our beautiful game to reach heights we never thought reachable.

A like and a RT would be massively appreciated as I would be able to see if you liked it. If so, I will do another thread talking about why Sacchi is the biggest football brain OAT in my opinion