Why all Barcelona fans should be grateful to the great Arrigo Sacchi

AC Milan 1990

Another peculiar method that Sacchi bought to the forefront was the idea of “Shadow Football”. He strongly believed that this method would bring a lot of unity in his team, as well as develop the keen positional sense which was required to make his own philosophy work. The coolest thing about this “Shadow Football” technique? There is no actual football involved!

A famous story in relation to this is about a scout who went to spy on AC Milan before an upcoming fixture. He hid in the bushes and watched Milan move about the pitch, gracefully and like clockwork. He was impressed. But then suddenly, something dawned upon him. He realised that the session involved no football. When he went back to report to his manager, he explained what had happened and began to sound like a man possessed. He was confused yet shocked at how someone could train without a football. Duly, the following week, Milan won the fixture and even kept a clean sheet.

Actually, Sacchi would tell his players where the ball was, and they would move accordingly. This helped them to perfect the pure zonal marking system to neutralize the opponent team’s attacking options. This set of players, probably even to this day, remain the perfect example of “teamwork” thanks to this ingenious exercise.

Even a Real Madrid scout was duped by this method on the eve of Sacchi’s greatest-ever result — the 5-0 win over Los Blancos in the San Siro.

The squads:

AC Milan: Giovanni Galli; Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini; Roberto Donadoni, Frank Rijkaard, Carlo Ancelotti, Angelo Colombo; Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten

Barcelona: Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Eric Abidal; Sergio Busquets; Xavi, Andres Iniesta; Pedro, Lionel Messi, David Villa

Modern day Barcelona

Fast forward to today, and meet the modern day kings of football – the lethal and almost inhuman team of Barcelona under Pep Guardiola , who won everything there is to win under his tutelage. Their silky passes, through balls and high pressing game have bought admiration from fans all around the world as well as trophies – La Liga, Champion’s League, Copa Del Ray, Spanish Supercopa and FIFA Club World Cup.

The trio of Xavi, Messi and Iniesta had (and still do) the audiences spellbound; fans have written poems on seeing the passes being threaded together by these three; songs have been sung hailing them as the greatest ever.

The idea of tiki-taka that Barcelona employs is unique, and is actually Total Football being implemented at its very best. Defenders who can play anywhere across the backline, midfielders who can play in defense, forwards who play as midfielders, central midfielders who play as wingers, and the best player in the world who can play as a right forward or a false 9 – you name it, they have it all.

There has been so much reinvention about football in these last four or five years done by this great Barcelona side that one wonders if the game has changed forever.

However, this is not an idea that can be uniquely credited to the great brains at the Nou Camp, because one man had already used this style with phenomenal success, and enforced this idea almost two decades ago.

That man was Arrigo Sacchi.

The Basic idea

Despite massive cultural differences, there are many similarities between Guardiola’s Barcelona and that Milan side that justify this cross cultural comparison.

Both sides boast strong cores built on home-grown talent developed internally – Barca’s Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Pique matched by Milan’s Baresi, Maldini, Costacurta and Tassotti. This philosophy has greatly assisted both these teams, for the players of both the teams had almost a telepathic understanding with each other.

Franco Baresi once said of Paolo Maldini, his defensive partner in crime, that he could play with him “blindfolded”. That, alongwith the implementation of Sacchi’s innovative “Shadow Football” technique, made team-play all the more formidable.

For the Barcelona side, their core players have such an excellent peripheral vision, which is only possible if you play together, alongside each other throughout your developing years.

This rare gift has enabled the Barcelona side to employ their model of football all the more effectively, making quick and delightful one-twos, layoffs and through balls easier to judge and foresee.

The foreign element

Adding to this idea of academy players, both these sides had “difference makers”- exceptional foreign players who could change the flow of the game in the blink of an eye, who could conjure something magical when nothing noteworthy was happening. Simply put, both these sides had that extra sparkle that made them world beaters.

For that Milan side, it was Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten, and for Barca it would be Leo Messi and Dani Alves.

AC Milan would still be a great side without Basten, but probably not the one they turned out to be, for Van Basten was probably the greatest all-round striker of his generation. The influence of the Milanese trio can be very easily made out from the fact that these were the only three players in the history of the game who were voted as FIFA World Player of the Year in the same year.

The same is applicable to Barca. Without the little, dimunitive Argentine they could have never been the champs that they are today. Players like him add skill, flair and shape to a side, so much so that whenever they step on the pitch the entire team morale rises by several notches, as was seen when an injured Lionel Messi came on against PSG in the second leg of their Champion’s League clash last season, and changed the entire course of the game.

He limped and walked and helped to set up the goal that helped the Cules go through, and further underlined his almost God-like presence on a football field.