Coaches That Shaped The Game

In a previous piece entitled Football in Asia, I mentioned about Guus Hiddink's influence on the national teams of South Korea and Australia, I thought I'd take a look at some of the other coaches and their influences on world football.

Where better to start off than with someone who is a part of an elite group of decorated players that have gone onto to make top managers. Johan Cruyff single handedly transformed Barcelona in the 80s and 90s, and some people hold him accountable for the current success that the Catalan side is reaping. Cruyff revolutionised the Catalan side amid a time of upheaval, bringing Rinus Michels' Totaalvoetball or 'Total Football' to the Catalan capital. The Dutchman openly stated that he would rather 'win 5-4 than 1-0', which probably explains why at one point when Barca keeper, Andoni Zubizarreta asked him how to defend a set piece, he retorted with, "How should I know? You decide, you're more interested in how to defend a corner than me." The 3 time Ballon D'Or winner overhauled the now fabled La Masia at Barcelona, which went on to produce players such as Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Albert Ferrer and Guillermo Amor. None of these players were big physically, but were technically gifted and hard-working off the ball. Johan installed a legacy at Barca which can be still felt today, however his term at the Nou Camp ended abruptly after two trophyless seasons and a dispute with chairman, Josep Lluis Nunez.

Johan inspired Barcelona to 2 decades of success, and counting, so it would wrong if we failed to mention the late, great Rinus Michels whom he holds accountable for many of his successes. Michels led his fabled Ajax side to four Eredivise titles in five years as well as the European Cup final in 1969 and was victorious in the competition in 1971. On the national stage, he led the Netherlands to the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final only to be beaten by West Germany led by Franz Beckenbauer and achieved glory in the 1988 European Championships. 'Total Football' is effectively a style of play where any outfield player can take the role of any other player in the team, making it very hard to mark. When Michels took over in the Dutch capital, the glory days were fading quickly with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord overtaking them in the pecking order and the club had experienced a 4 year trophyless drought. Armed with the talented Cruyff, Michels fired Ajax to the title in 1965-66 after escaping relegation the season before by 3 points.

The first major strategic concept that gripped the footballing nation was 'Catenaccio'. Literally meaning 'The Chain' or 'door bolt football', this style of play was coined by Helenio Herrera and focused on a rigid style of play with plenty of emphasis put on defensive solidity, while counter-attacking to catch the opposition off guard. The Argentine tactician based his tactic around the phrase 'Class + Preparation + Intelligence + Athleticism = Championships' and he certainly delivered championships to Internazionale where he made his name. During his eight years in charge in Milan, the Nerazzuri won 3 Scudetto titles, back-to-back European Cups as well as consecutive Intercontinental Cups. The most compelling alteration of Catenaccio was the introduction of a libero. An Italian word for 'free', the libero often drifts behind the defensive line to sweep up attacks made by the opposing team. Based on defensive prowess, it has been attributed to creating some of the best defenders such as Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Claudio Gentile. Catenaccio is currently dormant, with teams favouring more attacking strategies such as Total Football and the decline was evident in the 1972 where Inter's defensive play was defeated in the European Cup by an Ajax side inspired by Total Football.

Marcelo Bielsa is well known for cracking the iron whip at anyone who steps out of line. Despite having a rocky time at Marseille last season, he masterminded a new tactic that catapulted Chilean football into the stratosphere. Ex-Barcelona and current Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola described the Argentine as the 'best manager in the world' in 2012. Praise doesn't get much higher than that. Bielsa demands 110% commitment from his players, as the cliché goes, to fit in with his rigorous and dynamic attacking structure. That is probably where he went wrong at Marseille. After opening a gap of 4 points at the top of Ligue 1 with 12 games played and recording an eight game win streak, they succumbed to Bielsa's gruelling training sessions and their form took a turn for the worst after Christmas. Losing four games on the trot between the 31st and 34th gameweek, saw them drop to 5th only for four victories in their last four games to put them into the 4th position and secure Europa League football for the following season.

Bielsa doesn't tend to 'go with the flow' when it comes to football tactics. He tends to use three defenders, one of which being a libero or sweeper. Mikel San Jose would have played the libero position at Bielsa's Bilbao while Waldo Ponce occupied the role in the Chilean side.

Arrigo Sacchi is another manager who helped shape our modern game. Milan had not won a league title since their tenth Scudetto in 1979, but when Silvio Berlusconi took over as President in 1986. One of the media mogul's first actions was to appoint the relatively unknown Arrigo Sacchi as manager. Sacchi never played football, something which the Italian media quickly picked up on during his first few poor results of his tenure, to which he replied, "I never realised that to be a jockey you need to be a horse first." Undoubtedly one of the most charismatic managers at the time, Sacchi came to prominence when at Parma where he defeated Milan twice in the 1986/87 Coppa Italia before being appointed by Berlusconi the following summmer. 

He had a relatively short tenure at the San Siro compared to some of the other great football managers, lasting just four years. Despite this, it is fair to say that he shaped AC Milan and initiated the process to which future managers, Fabio Capello and Carlo Ancelotti would reap the rewards. He brought an attacking 4-4-2 formation to AC Milan, at a time where Italian teams were typically very solid defensively, hence where the false stereotype that Italian sides only defend in this age comes from. He effectively condemned Catenaccio to the past and toppled the great Helenio Herrera inspired Inter side of the early 80s.

There certainly are more managers that have helped shape modern football and I've tried to stay away from some of the more modern or well known ones, so feel free to leave your opinions on the matter.