Nereo Rocco: The Person Who Mainstreamed Catenaccio And AC Milan

Ever heard of Catenaccio? It's an Italian word. It means door-bolt, if you look it up on Google. In the grand scheme of things, Catenaccio means the lock of a door. If you're wondering why I'm talking about some random Italian word, well, it was the tactic of Catenaccio that made AC Milan relevant, kick-starting their dominance in world football. And also shaping Italy, historically known as the most artistically defensive team in the world. To understand Catenaccio we have to talk about the person who industrialized it, aka the person who made Catenaccio known to the world. Enter Nereo Rocco. The Milanese coaching tycoon before Arrigo Sacchi, the guy who contested with another great, Helenio Herrera.

Nereo Rocco was of course an Italian. His life wasn't that much eventful in his playing days. Most of that life he spent in Triestina. A nobody club. I don't expect any of you to know this club. It isn't even the subject. Moving on. After Triestina he went to Napoli for a brief time. And after that period he came back to Triestina and started as player manager. He finished second with Triestina in that season. Torino won the league in that season. And obviously he did so by surpassing the likes of Juventus and Milan and Inter. Catenaccio started in Switzerland, originally, but wasn't called Catenaccio, what it was called there is something i don't know either. But Nereo Rocco saw it and wanted to implement it. He was managing Padova Calcio. And there he experimented the Catenaccio for the first time. Padova was in serie B. Rocco helped them gain promotion. Then a few years later Padova finished second in the Serie A. This season is regarded as the best season for Padova Calcio. Pretty obvious as this was another nobody club. This club had a very low budget. And without money you can only do so much. Monetary strains halted the clubs upwards rise. Eventually Rocco moved on. Rocco was appointed Milan's head coach in the 60s, in the start of the 60s. And on his very first season Milan won the league. To counter Milan, Inter appointed Helenio Herrera, who would move on to be one best Catenaccio manager people know, because Nereo Rocco, Gipo Viani are from farther back. In the next season Milan reached the final of the European cup, facing Benfica. A Benfica of late Portuguese legend Eusebio. Eusebio was thought to be the second best player of all time after Pele. Milan won that match 2-1. That was Milan's first European cup. After this he had a brief stint in Torino before eventually returning to Milan again and reaching the European cup final again. This time it was Ajax, another great, Johan Cruyff. But Milan had their own this time. Giovanni Rivera. Milan's Golden boy till date. Milan won that game 4-1, lifting their second European title. Rocco stayed in milan as a manager and later as technical director till death.

He played a very odd 1-3-3-3 formation which is not used in today's world. But this formation was solid. His central defender would be Cesare Maldini (father of Paolo Maldini) or Giovanni Trapattoni. And his playmaker was Giovanni Rivera. Who was responsible for most of Milan's goals. Rocco was as savage as someone who we dearly know from today. From on the pitch to off the pitch, Rocco was the OG Jose Mourinho.