The Sacchi Effect

“Football is not just about physical strength; it’s about intelligence and tactical awareness.” ~ Sacchi

Arrigo Sachi, a renowned Italian coach, not only changed the approach to playing football in “la terra del vino” (Italy) but revolutionized today’s football. “Sacchismi” or “Il Sacchismo,” known as Sachi’s way football, was very noetic in the 90s. Before Sachi, Italian football largely relied on the Catenaccio Model. They did not do it properly, but they were following the surplus portion of the theory. Their tactical approach was characterized by a defensive mindset, where teams adopt a low block to absorb pressure and then look to capitalize on counterattacks when the opportunity arises. Most teams designed the playing formation with five backs, while he introduced a 4 back system.

Breaking Down the Concept of Catenaccio

To understand the concept of Catenaccio, we must go back over a century. An Austrian manager named Karl Rappan evolved the theory. He introduced the role of the libero (or sweeper), often referred to as “The Bolt” in Switzerland, positioned just in front of the goalkeeper to clear critical balls. Later, Helenio Herrera further developed the system, turning it into the defensive “door bolt.” Putting Armando Pichi in that role, he drew an extension. While Herrera’s system was known for its strong defensive traits, it also had attacking elements. He implemented a 5-3-2 formation, where players like Giacinto Facchetti (left-back) would push up aggressively while Jair (right-winger) would move up and down the pitch, covering space. The team would often overload the right side of the field while managing space on the left.

The concept is often referred to as Park the Bus. Pandits are claiming Jose Mourinho and Diego Simeone in today’s era, running with the firelight of Catenaccio. However, there is a huge difference. We have to understand any manager who theorizes a game model that actually depends on the socio-economic  situation of that particular time. There is no logic to bridging Simone’s Atletico with Herrera’s Inter Milan. This is not why the time has changed, but because Atlético built themselves with zonal marking, while Herrera relied on man-marking.

How Arrigo Sacchi Shaped Modern Football

Most admirers of the game recalled Sacchi during his time at AC Milan. Sacchi set four men at the back, which was quite odd in Italy at that time. Starting Mauro Tassotti, Paolo Maldini,  Alessandro Costacurta,  Franco Baresi (c) on the field he dig a grave for catenaccio. Although Italian teams and the national side followed the concept today. Buying the “Rossoneri”, Billionaire and influential politician Silvio Berlusconi handed over rein on the attacking hands of Arrigo.

Arrigo Sacchi had four conditions on his sheet that should be matched or ticked by his players. He believed a player should think about his positioning four ways.

1. In relation to the ball.
2. In relation to the space
3. In relation to their teammates
4. In relation to the opposition.

A player should recover the ball and progress it toward the opposition’s goal, so they have to use the pitch geography properly. Exploiting the half spaces and behaving according to teammates’ positions provide an edge to a team. Conquer the half-space open vault for the attacking team and reacting as per teammates provide a numerical superiority while building up.  

At that time, teams in Serie A highly banked on Man to Man marking. Sacchi proposed zonal marking and his pressing system was extremely standard in those days. Zonal marking was a modern innovation in 1990s Italy. Though the concept has its root in the year 1933 when Vittorio Pozzo structured the system where he won two world cups with “Bel Paese”. Sacchi set a counter-pressing rule that required the ball to be regained within six seconds of losing possession.  Behind the tactics and formation, he inaugurates some creative drills. Shadow Play was among those drills that revolutionized positional play. Training without a ball or opposition ensures that teams have their positioning right.

In recent, managers like Pep Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa, and Julian Nagelsmann have been using shadow play. We are going through an age where positional is at its peak, and academicians and researchers have shown that it is evolving more and more. Exploiting space, optimizing attack, and many more terms we exercise to explain football, Sacchi vindicated the ideas. Back then, when Italy and its surrounding nations only believed in a counterattack and off-the-ball movement to react, he taught how on-the-ball games are also important. Inspired by Rinus Michels and Héctor Scarone (Real Madrid manager 1951-52), he improved his possessional game and open-play approach.

Sacchi displayed the courage to organize his defense with four backs, and nowadays, coaches go an extra foot and use three men at the back. Even some only have two and use a goalkeeper to form a back three. For example, Arsenal, Mikel Arteta set Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, and David Raya in the middle to form back three. As usual, they use their one or two-man superiority in attacking threats.

 Drawing a conclusion, we can discuss what he won or lost, but would that be justified? no. Jürgen Klopp, in nine years as a manager of Liverpool he won just one league title. But the thing he left is his influence and aura. The counter-pressing and zonal marking system he structured forced many teams to form themselves as they were facing reds. Though Sacchi is one of the most decorated managers in football, as I said, any formation and tactics highly depend on the socio-economic situation, and Italy seriously needs an entertaining game to have a sudden boom at the box office. Finally, Sacchi did that.