Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera (born April 17 1910 in Buenos Aires; died November 9, 1997 in Venice) was a football defender and after ending his playing career became with 13 major titles not only one of the most successful, but also one of the most influential managers in the history of the game.

Playing career

There is a bit of a controversy regarding his year of birth, for he supposedly manipulated the year changing it to 1916. While born in Argentina, Herrera emigrated at age four with his parents (both Spanish) to Casablanca where he adopted French citizenship. In 1932 he earned a transfer from RC Casablanca to mainland France - CASG Paris. Before World War II, Herrera (or H.H. as he was known) played in Stade Français, FCO Charlevile (where he was called up for the national team twice) and Excelsior Roubaix. During the war, he played for five years more in Red Star Paris, Stade Français, EF Paris-Capitale and Puteaux, where he started his managing career in 1944 as a player-manager. He retired in 1945, and while his playing carrer was very short of notable, his managing career, coinciding with the early beginnings of UEFA competitions, had a marked effect on the game's tactical definitions.

Managing Career

After his first season in Puteaux, Herrera rejoined Stade Français for a third time now as manager. After three seasons with no trophies collected, the club's president opted to sell the franchise. Herrera moved to Spain, where he spent the next six years in minor stints with Real Valladolid, Atlético Madrid, Malaga CF, Deportivo de La Coruña and Sevilla FC, before entering a two year tenure with Lisbon side CF Os Belenenses. Later returning to Spain, he managed giants FC Barcelona, but several problems, including disagreements between him and star player Ladislao Kubala obliged him to leave the club in 1960.

He emigrated to Italy and signed with Internazionale, winning two European Champions Cup in his stay with the club, where he modified a 5-3-2 tactic known as the Verrou (door bolt) to include larger flexibility for counter attacks - and the Catenaccio was born. During this time he was also coaching Spain (between 1959 and 1962) and Italy (1966-67). In 1968 the moved to AS Roma (winning one cup), but returned for a one year stint with Inter for the 1973-74 season. While inactive between 1974 and 1978, Herrera returned briefly during the end of the decade, managing Rimini Calcio and finally ending his career in 1981 with a return to FC Barcelona. Former player Sandro Mazzola's brother Ferruccio has accused him of using forbidden drugs to enhance the performance of his players while coaching Inter, what might have led to the premature death of some of his former players, among them Armando Picchi and Marcello Giusti.

Influence

He pioneered the use of psychological motivating skills, as well as a strict discipline code - once in Inter he suspended a player after telling the press "we came to play in Rome" instead of "we came to win in Rome". He was also one of the first managers to call the support of the "12th player" - the spectators. While indirectly, this led to the appearance of the first Ultras movements in the late 60s. While defensive in nature, his take on the Catenaccio was slighly different than that practiced by other Italian teams and the original Verrou, as he often used the full backs (particullary Giacinto Facchetti) as wingbacks (defensively supported by the libero) to launch faster counter-attacks, a staple of Italian tactics - yet, he never denied the heart of his team relied on defense. He was also the first manager to collect credit for his teams' performances. Up to that time all teams were known for their headline-grabbing individual players, exampled by such a star like Di Stefano's Real Madrid. After Herrera managers such as Johan Cruijff (FC Barcelona 1991/95), Fabio Capello (AC Milan 1991/96) or José Mourinho (FC Porto 2002/2004) were publicly lent and given most of the credit for producing a successful team.

Titles

Altogether Helenio Herrera won 13 major titles in his coaching career. Here is an overview:

Atlético de Madrid	1950 - Championship 1951 - Championship
FC Barcelona	1959 - Championship 1959 - Cup 1960 - Inter City Fairs Cup
Internazionale FC	1963 - Championship 1964 - European Champions Cup 1964 - Intercontinental Cup 1965 - Championship 1965 - European Champions Cup 1965 - Intercontinental Cup 1966 - Championship
AS Roma	1969 - Cup

Trivia

Helenio Herrera was nicknamed il Mago (the Wizard) and H.H. (from the initials of his name) by Italian sports journalists, who recognized him as one of the finest coaches in Italian football history. He is not to be confused with Heriberto Herrera, another football coach who directed Juventus and Inter Milan in the same years.

External links

La Liga manager stats
Biography (Spanish)
Helenio Herrera's Inter under doping suspicion (El Inter de Helenio Herrera, bajo la sombra del dóping)