THE RISE OF CATENACCIO 'PARK THE BUS TACTIC' IN FOOTBALL.

Catenaccio involves a defensive play, tight marking of opponents and aggressive fouling. Mostly, this tactic was used to defend goal margins. It is an Italian word meaning 'a door bolt' or Lock down.

The Catenaccio tactic was first invented in the 1930s-40s by an Austrian coach, Karl Rappan who was managing the Swiss side-Servette. Rappan used a defensive sweeper known as Verroulieur positioned just in front of the goalkeeper. The aim of this tactic was to have the numbers advantage during the defensive phase. 

Catenaccio had 5 components and these are:

 1. Libero/sweeper or Verroulieur.

As I told you from the beginning, this is a defender who is positioned just in front of the goalkeeper. His main role is to win the loose balls and double-mark the opposition striker where possible.

2. Strict Marking of the opposition players.

Being a defensive approach, strict man-marking was induced to the opposition from the midfielders to the strikers. This was to block all the possible spaces.

3. Fixed Defenders.

In this tactic, the defenders stick to their positions not like in total football where they can move freely. Like the sweeper, his position was fixed.

4. Counter-attacks.

Being a defensive approach, the team mostly did not posses the ball and the only way to attack is to capitalize the opponent's mistakes through counter attacks. These attacks were very quick.

5. A play maker.

Catenaccio tactic had at least one creative midfielder with good vision and passing range. This is to help in the launching of counter-attacks.

Catenaccio became more popular in the 1950s and 60s as managers improvised Karl Rappan's football philosophy. In the late  1950s, Nereo Rocco managed few Italian teams and became successful by using this tactic. His most successive spell was at Padova (1950s) and Internazionale (early 1960s). He had firstly used this tactic with Triestina (he used mostly a 1-3-3-3 formation) and he finished second in the Italian Serie A.

Nereo Rocco used this tactic with Milan and won 2 Serie A tittles, 3 Copa Italia, 2 European Cups, 2 Winners Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

Helenio Herrera version of the Catenaccio (1960).

The Argentine coach improvised Karl Rappan's Catenaccio and became one of the most successful manager using the catenaccio tactic. Surprisingly, this period gave rise to many top Italian defenders due to their hard tackling and ruthless defending.

Helenio Herrera's biggest improvement on this tactic was he was 'attacking minded unlike his predecessors'. Helenio once said,"The problem with most people who copied me copied wrongly. They failed to include the attacking principle my Catenaccio included. I had Picchi as a sweeper, yes, but I had Facchetti, the 1st Fullback to score as many goals as a forward."

 A display of Helenio Herrera's team. He valued to defend his winning margins by using 5 defenders. Picchi is a sweeper from the above image and Helenio's team has 3 centre backs. Wing backs are mostly used to whip crosses in the box because this tactic doesn't need wingers. 

                                         

Inter Milan scored their goals mostly through their few and fast touches, sudden counter-attacks and overlapping fullbacks. These components made Helenio Herrera's Inter to scoop 3 Serie A titles, 2European Cups and 2 Intercontinental cups. Celtic under Jock Stein was the only team that defeated Inter (2-1) in the European Cup final as they used 'free flowing attacking football' in 1967.

Cesare Prandeli's Italian National team used the 3-5-2 formation (today used by Inter Milan's Antonio Conte) in the UEFA Euro in 2012. They drew 2 matches and won one to progress to the knock-out stages. During the knock out stages, Italy switched to a diamond 4-4-2 up to the finals where they lost 4-0 to attacking minded Spain.

Disadvantages of Catenaccio.

1. Small goal margins as the teams focused on defending their wins. Most winning margins were 2-1,2-0 or 1-0.

2. Numerous away draws as the team is defensive minded.

3. Most people see Catenaccio as an anti-football tactic.

4. Only a few goals were scored due to the team's defensive approach.

5. Many bookings were observed as defenders were using ruthless tackling on opposition's players.

Modern Managers Using The Catenaccio:

Catenaccio is a footballing philosophy just like Tiki-Taka and the rest although some managers and football analysts have called it Anti-football tactic,boring football and parking the bus tactic. To me, each person has their own taste and follows what they want. Here is a list of top managers who use the Catenaccio:

Marcelo Lippi (Italian team in 2006) only conceded 2 goals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Sir Alex-Ferguson (Manchester United 1986-2012)

Jose Mourinho ( Chelsea, Porto, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Totenham Hotspurs.)

Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid 2011 up to date, Estudiantes,River Plate)

Antonio Conte (Chelsea, Juventus, Inter Milan)

Antonio Conte is a number one fan of Catenaccio. During his spell at Chelsea, he used a 3-5-2 formation with possession but shifted to a 5-3-2 during their defensive phase. Antonio Conte has used this tactic since his time in Juventus surprisingly, it worked perfectly and won the English Premier League with an ease! Image: Medium

Also read about The Evolution of Total Football. Click Here.