IN 1987 , WHEN ARRIGO SACCHI JOINED AC MILAN THEY WERE IN A CRISIS. THEY HAD WON THE SCUDETTO JUST ONCE IN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS. THEY WERE STILL STRUGGLING TO RE-ESTABLISH THEMSELVES AFTER THEY WERE RELEGATED IN 1980 BECAUSE OF THE TOTONERO MATCH-FIXING SCANDAL. THEY HAD FINISHED 5TH IN THE SERIE A LAST SEASON.
SACCHI USED TO WORK AS A SALESMAN FOR HIS FATHER'S SHOE FACTORY. HE STARTED HIS COACHING CAREER AT BARACCO LUCO , HIS LOCAL CLUB. HE ROSE TO PROMINENCE AS THE MANAGER OF PARMA WHEN THEY DEFEATED MILAN TWICE IN THE COPPA ITALIA. MILAN OWNER SILVIO BERLUSCONI WAS IMPRESSED FROM WHAT HE HAD SEEN.
ITALIAN TEAMS AT THAT TIME HAD A HUGE EMPHASIS ON DEFENSIVE FOOTBALL. BUT SACCHI HAD OTHER IDEAS. HE WANTED TO HAVE POSSESSION OF THE BALL , PLAY THE OFFSIDE-TRAP , USE ZONAL MARKING AND PRESS HEAVILY WHICH WAS VERY RARE AT THAT TIME. HE WAS IMPRESSED BY TEAMS LIKE HUNGARY '54 , HOLLAND '74 AND BRAZIL '70.
"I USED TO TELL MY PLAYERS THAT , IF WE PLAYED WITH TWENTY-FIVE METRES FROM THE LAST DEFENDER TO THE CENTRE-FORWARD , GIVEN OUR ABILITY , NOBODY COULD BEAT US. AND THUS , THE TEAM HAD TO MOVE AS UNIT UP AND DOWN THE PITCH AND ALSO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT."
"A MANGER CAN ONLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF HE HAS A CLUB THAT BACKS HIM , THAT IS PATIENT , THAT GIVES CONFIDENCE TO THE PLAYERS AND THAT IS WILLING TO COMMIT LONG-TERM."
"I ALWAYS DEMANDED , WHEN WE HAD POSSESSION , FIVE PLAYERS AHEAD OF THE BALL AND THAT THERE WOULD ALWAYS VE A MAN WIDE RIGHT AND A MAN WIDE LEFT. BUT IT COULD BE ANYBODY. IT WASN'T ALWAYS THE SAME PEOPLE."
HE SIGNED DUTCHMEN RUUD GULLIT AND MARCO VAN BASTEN FOR A COMBINED FEE OF 7 MILLION POUNDS. VAN BASTEN SUFFERED A SERIES KF INJURIES AND WOULD PLAY JUST 11 LEAGUE GAMES. BUT STILL MILAN WON THE SCUDETTO BY 3 POINTS. IN 1988 , HE SIGNED ANOTHER DUTCHMAN FRANK RIJKAARD.
THE MILAN TEAM PEAKED IN THE 1988-89 SEASON WHERE THEY WON THE EUROPEAN CUP FOR THE 1ST TIME IN 20 YEARS. THEY SHOWED THEIR BRILLIANCE IN THE 5-0 HAMMERING OF REAL MADRID IN THE EUROPEAN CUP SEMI-FINAL WITH GOALS FROM ANCELOTTI , RIJKAARD , GULLIT, VAN BASTEN AND DONADONI.
GULLIT SUFFERED A SERIES OF INJURIES DURING THE NEXT SEASON AND MILAN NEVER QUITE REACHED THE SAME HEIGHT UNDER SACCHI. THEY ONCE AGAIN WON THE EUROPEAN CUP BUT WERE LESS CONVINCING. DURING THE 1990-91 SEASON , SACCHI FELT OUT WITH VAN BASTEN , MILAN FINISHED 2ND IN THE SERIE A AND GOT ELIMINATED IN THE EUROPEAN CUP QUARTER-FINAL. SACCHI LEFT TO MANAGE THE ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM.
IN TOTAL , MILAN WON 1 SCUDETTO , 1 SUPERCOPPA ITALIANA , 2 EUROPEAN CUPS , 2 EUROPEAN SUPER CUPS AND 2 INTERCONTINENTAL CUPS. THIS TEAM , IN MY OPINION , IS THE THE 2ND BEST CLUB SIDE EVER ONLY BETTERED BY BARCELONA 08-11.
"PRESSING IS NOT ABOUT RUNNING AND IT'S NOT ABOUT WORKING HARD. IT'S ABOUT CONTROLLING SPACE."
"OUR PRESSING WAS PSYCHOLOGICAL AS MUCH AS PHYSICAL. OUR PRESSING WAS ALWAYS COLLECTIVE. I WANTED ALL ELEVEN PLAYERS TO BE IN AN ACTIVE POSITION , EFFECTING AND INFLUENCING THE OPPOSITION WHEN WE DID NOT HAVE THE BALL. EVERY MOVEMENT HAS TO BE SYNERGISTIC AND HAD TO FIT INTO THE COLLECTIVE GOAL."