YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS
ARRIGO SACCHI
“The inventors of football thought of it as a collective, attack-minded sport. Italians turned it into an individual, defence-minded one”
Interview Daniele Verri
You have just been made Milan manager, but there’s the biggest of elephants in the room. You’re only 41 years old, you’ve never managed in Serie A, and the highlight of your playing career was a handful of semi-professional appearances a little more than two decades ago.
Before you stand Marco van Basten and Ballon d’Or favourite Ruud Gullit, who has just been made the most expensive footballer in history. The assembled journalists want to know: what can you possibly teach two of the world’s finest players – plus Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Carlo Ancelotti and more besides – about football?
You smile, and dryly state: “I never realised that to become a jockey you needed to be a horse first.”
What Arrigo Sacchi achieved in four Rossoneri campaigns, from 1987 to 1991 would be unthinkable today. The follicly challenged former shoe salesman went from obscurity to masterminding club football’s greatest ever side (as stated by UEFA in 2015). His Milan won Serie A, two consecutive European Cups, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. With Italy, he was a Roberto Baggio shootout penalty away from making the Azzurri world champions in 1994.
Over the course of 90 minutes with FFT, Sacchi continues to defend his vision passionately. A systematic high press, defending and attacking with 11 players, zonal marking, a suicidally high offside line – if these concepts seem familiar, it’s due to an innovating, football-obsessed heretic known as the Prophet of Fusignano.
Who inspired you to coach and manage in the manner you did?
Ilyas Najib, via Facebook
Many people and no one, at the same time. My role model, as such, was beauty; I was inspired by emotions and the pleasure of beautiful football. I’ve always believed in dominating games, keeping the initiative and playing entertaining and fascinating football. Dominating games would improve our players’ self-esteem; quick ball recoveries would depress our opponents. Victory is a consequence of all of these things. For me, football is something philosophical: I wanted each of my 11 players to be actively participating on the pitch, taking care of all aspects of the game together. Distances between players had to be right, pressing had to be intense and movements without the ball clever. This was my idea of collective football.
How tough was it to break into management with no qualifications?
Nathan Gent, via Facebook
It’s wrong to think that football players can or have to become managers. That applied to medieval chanson singers, who would pass on their job and songs from father to son, until eventually they disappeared from view. Football needs new inputs, new ideas, and has to strive for continuous development; otherwise, it’s just stagnation. Former players tend to re-propose what their managers did many years before them – only a few bring innovation. A good player can become an innovating manager as long as he approaches his new role with the right attitude. Former players have much easier access to managerial education, which isn’t fair – it’s a privilege. Becoming a manager as a non-professional player requires a different character, especially in Italy where this mentality applies to most areas of life. If you don’t belong to a group, you are seen as out of place.
How was life as a shoe salesman?
Joe Cokeham, Yorkshire
My family and I were the shareholders of two shoe factories in our area [Fusignano, north-west Italy]. My older brother was our main salesman: he would travel the world selling our shoes and those produced by other factories. Unfortunately he died in a car accident aged 27, and I had to take on his job. I hated travelling. On the day of the 1994 World Cup Final I told my Italy players, “Twenty-five years ago, I was here in the USA as a shoe salesman. No one would have convinced me that I would come back as a football manager and for such a game as this.” This anecdote should give everyone faith. If you really love something and do your best, you can make your dreams become reality.