Sacchism - Straining, Precision, But Effective

It is never a doubt that Milan advanced to the European Cup Final at Athens coming 23rd of this month after edging Man Utd 5-3 on aggregate with a comprehensive 3-0 win at the San Siro Stadium. But it is not about what happened in the match that interests me in this post, but instead the way of playing the game. Consistency is one thing but the method of playing tactically on the field is somewhat deem very effective but the cost is that it is straining and can be effective only for a few years.

AC Milan employs the tactic called "Sacchism" named after legendary and former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi (who led the team to the 1994 World Cup Finals). Sacchi coached Milan in the early 90s and led the team to back to back European Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 1989 and 1990. When he was in charge of the team, the team never lost a single home game. This was because of his methodology. Sacchi remained the only Serie A coach that has no playing experience to achieve great success. Being Sacchi means being totally committed into studying, coaching and demands a lot from the players. Sacchi brought a unique dimension to Italian football. Italian football is well known of having a tight defence and relying on counter-attacks to score goals. Sacchi doesn't rely on that but on his unique culture of engagement introduced. Unlike a player turned coach that uses memories and playing experiences, Sacchi had to invent his own tactics - and worked.

Current coach Carlo Ancelotti is Sacchi's understudy. He was the captain of the European Cup winning squad of the early 90s together with great players including Franco Baresi, Frank Riijkaard, Ruud Guillit, Marco Van Basten and current Italy coach Roberto Donadoni. In the first few years of his coaching, he employs the Sacchism and led his first coaching club to a solid UEFA cup spot in the domestic league.

Playing Sacchism is basically a 4-4-2 zonal formation but with the following rules:

1. Your baseline of defense is at the half-line of the pitch.
2. One of your center backs, as a sweeper will be responsible for setting up the offside trap. He must be in the right position and the right moment to catch a person offside. In Sacchi's time, Franco Baresi is the best person who did that as a sweeper.
3. A very compact midfield that sets up the moves and holds the opposing midfield. In Sacchi's time, it's Donadoni, Riijkaard and Ancelotti. When Ancelotti is in charge, it's Gattuso - the defensive midfielder and Kaka the playmaker
4. All players must move at the same direction in sync with the ball's direction. The distance among themselves must be at least one meter apart.
5. You pressure your opponents to their penalty box and force them to commit mistakes.

The fourth rule is by far the most straining and frustrating thing ever. All players will have to move in sync and this tactic literally means to have all the players fit and moving together as a clock. In other words, a clockwork routine. However, after a few years, the tactic might not work as according to captain Paolo Maldini, you might lose the rhythm and playing that methodology results in faster tiredness. Another thing to watch out though is that should your sweeper is not in the right position to start the trap, your opponent's striker might seize the advantage and race all the way to your goalkeeper and perhaps score.

This came evident in 1996 whereby Sacchism did not work in Euro 96. Sacchi insisted on playing his conventional 4-4-2 but Italy were eliminated in the first round. Sacchi then quit and succeeded by Maldini Sr, Cesare. Cesare changed the play back to the cattanacio type but it resulted in less goal-scoring opportunities for the team. Italy eventually lost to France in sudden death at France 98.

In Sacchi's time in Milan, he is totally defended by club president and former PM Silvio Berlusconi or VP Adriano Galliani even though the players might criticize him for his methodology in case the team was losing a vital game. Unlike the traditional principal of club protecting the player, it's one of the few cases where the club protects the coach as what is in England today.

Having a good quality of players forms only one part of Sacchism, you need to have players who are constantly fit and fresh and willing to work in synchronization. With those three things, they never lost a game at home. You can say that it is like Chelsea - never losing a game home, but Jose Mourinho is starting to feel the pressure of playing like Sacchi, as a friend of mine told me.

Arrigo Sacchi at Istanbul - the 2005 Liverpool vs Milan final