How Helenio Herrera became one of football’s innovators

In recent decades, head coaches and managers like Carlo Ancelotti, Sir Alex Ferguson, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have written themselves in the annals of history. All those modern coaches have been highly successful.

However, there are some head coaches from slightly longer ago in the history of football who have had a pivotal impact on the history of football and its tactics. These are head coaches who haven’t just created one great team but often several in their coaching career.

One head coach considered a tactical innovator was Argentinian head coach Helenio Herrera.

Who is Helenio Herrera?

Helenio Herrera was born in Buenos Aires to Spanish immigrant parents in 1910. He had a playing career that continued until he was 35, playing most of his football in France as well as a short stint in Morocco.

Herrera’s playing career as a centre-back was modest compared to his time as a manager. His coaching career actually started when he was still playing at the age of 35 in 1945. However, soon after he decided to launch his coaching career, he ended his time as a player.

It didn’t just turn out to be an inspired decision for the Argentinian’s career, but for football, as Herrera is regarded as a tactical pioneer, having had a significant effect on the development of tactics during his career.

His early managerial career

The first few years of his managerial career were spent in France with Puteaux before he rejoined his former club, Stade Francais. During those years, he failed to win any trophies.

Herrera then moved to Spain for one season with Real Valladolid. However, in 1949, he made one of his big moves, joining Atletico Madrid, where he won La Liga in 1950 and 1951.

After leaving Los Colchoneros in 1952, he remained in Spain, spending time at Malaga, Deportivo La Coruna, and Sevilla. He then moved to neighbouring Portugal to manage Belenenses for a two-stint.

He was soon back in Spain, as he took the role of Barcelona head coach in 1958. Once again, he was successful in the Spanish top flight, winning the Spanish title on two occasions with the Blaugrana.

However, a fallout with the team’s star Hungarian player, Ladislao Kubala, led to Herrera’s exit from the club in 1960. During his time in Catalonia, he also had a short spell as the national team boss of Spain.

A historic spell at Inter

As soon as his time in the Catalan capital was up, Herrera moved to Italy to manage Milan giants Inter. This move would define his managerial career and earn him massive recognition.

He was hugely successful with the Nerazzurri, winning the Scudetto three times, the European Cup on two occasions and the Intercontinental Cup twice.

However, during his time at Inter, he would use a new formation, the 5-3-2, a tactic previously used by Austrian coach Karl Rappan. However, Herrera seemed to master the formation.

The tactic was called the Verrou (door bolt), which is now more commonly known as ‘Catenaccio’. The tactic and system aimed to keep it tight in defence but also to make the team more flexible in providing an attacking threat on the counter-attack.

It was a system that worked well. Due to their immense success, Herrera’s Inter team was nicknamed Grande Inter from 1960 until 1968.

The Argentinian boss left for Roma in 1968 to reportedly become the world’s best-paid manager. He helped the Giallorossi to win the Coppa Italia in his debut campaign in the Italian capital.

The creator of the “Grande Inter” side of the 1960s 🤩

Under his tutelage, we were crowned world champions on two occasions 🌍

114 years ago today, Helenio Herrera was born 🖤💙#ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/sr2sHMS0nt

— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) April 10, 2024

However, after a reported disagreement with club president Alvaro Marchini and a poor run of form, he was sacked in season 1969/70.

He didn’t return to coaching until the 1973/74 season when the Argentine returned to Inter for just one season. However, he then suffered a heart attack and decided to take a break from coaching.

Herrera returned to coaching for a short stint at Italian club Rimini in season 1978/79 and ended his managerial career with a season and a half back at Barcelona, ending in 1981.

Many consider Herrera’s Inter team to be one of the best defensive teams in the history of European football.

The formation and style of play became particularly popular in Italy after Herrera’s success with Inter. Variations of it were most notably used in the 1982 World Cup by the national team and by Juventus in the 2010s.

Catenaccio has faded but was revolutionary at the time

Due to further innovators and tactical trends, the Catenaccio style and formation of play have faded out of the game in recent decades. Most of the top teams in the European game like to focus on possession-based and attacking football.

While the popularity of the ‘Catenaccio’ style in football has faded in recent decades, Helenio Herrera’s influence on the game and its play has been massive.

Many of the next generation of head coaches will have taken a lot from Herrera’s Inter team, as they were such an iconic team.

Helenio Herrera will go down as one of the greatest managers of all time, not just for his success at Inter but also for his time in Spain. Hopefully, his legend will live on for a good time to come.