Arrigo Sacchi has outlined exactly what it was like working with Silvio Berlusconi during his two spells as AC Milan head coach, recalling some of the great memories they made together.
Berlusconi passed away aged 86 yesterday and the tributes have been pouring in for a larger than life character. One of the biggest gambles he took as Milan’s owner and president was hiring Sacchi as the head coach, a man who was a shoe salesman for many years and never played football.
He was left impressed by his Parma side in a cup game and brought him to the Rossoneri. Sacchi won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then won back to back European Cups in 1989 and 1990, eventually becoming regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.
Some say that his Milan side (1987–1991) are the greatest club side to ever play the game because of the style that they played in addition to the major trophies they won.
Sacchi spoke during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport about the impact that Berlusconi had on Milan and on his career as a coach too.
Do you remember those days in spring 1987, when Berlusconi convinced you to accept his proposal?
“Who could forget them?”
How did it go?
“Berlusconi asked to see me through a mutual friend, Ettore Rognoni, with whom I had knew since I was a boy. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. I thought he was interested in some players from my Parma team.”
And instead?
“The appointment was on Monday in his Arcore villa. But everything slipped because Berlusconi was in Saint Moritz and the helicopter could not take off due to a heavy snowfall.
“Rognoni asked me to postpone for a week. I told him it was fine, as long as before Friday because for that day I had to give an answer to Fiorentina who were also after me.”
When did you meet?
“Tuesday in Arcore. Galliani was there too. We talked about football from eight in the evening to two in the morning. Berlusconi explained the project to me, I was enthusiastic and accepted even if returning to Parma, on the motorway, I thought about it because I couldn’t behave badly towards Fiorentina that I was supposed to meet.
“In the morning I telephoned Rognoni and explained the problem to him. He reassured me: ‘Berlusconi wants you at all costs. We have to go back to Arcore, the contract is ready’, he told me. We went, Berlusconi wasn’t there: he was busy with Pippo Baudo and Raffaella Carrà.
“I signed the blank contract. I explained that it was my way of thanking them for their trust. I was a complete stranger and they were giving me a huge opportunity. I discovered that I would have earned less than what I got in Serie B at Parma, but I didn’t care.”
What did Berlusconi ask of you?
“To play well and to win. In this exact order: first came the style and then, as a direct consequence, the results. Success had to be the son of merit, he explained to me, and it had to generate entertainment.”
The beginning was not easy. Did Berlusconi help you?
“Very, very much. Never felt a president so close. And also Galliani. He called me every day, asked about the players, how they were doing and training. He was an active part of the team and the boys felt it.”
You were welcomed as Mr. Nobody, the one who came from the provinces and had never played football. Did Berlusconi express any doubts to you?
“Never. I always felt his trust. I knew he liked the way I had Parma play in the Coppa Italia matches against Milan, it was a question of re-proposing that style with players of a much higher technical level.
“However, in the beginning, it wasn’t easy to make people understand the working methods: everyone was used to working differently. Furthermore, the results did not arrive and the first criticisms began to pour in.”
And then what happened?
“Berlusconi summoned me and the whole team to his office. He made us stay standing and, looking the players in the eyes, he said: ‘Sacchi is the coach I have chosen and he will also stay next year. Of you, on the other hand, I don’t know who will stay. Good work’. These few words were enough to break through the heads of the players. They immediately adapted to the climate.”
Is it true that Berlusconi didn’t want to buy Ancelotti?
“He had doubts about Carletto’s physical condition. He told me, ‘We can’t take a player who has 20 percent disability in one knee’, I replied: ‘President, I would be concerned if disability were on your mind. I guarantee you that if you buy Ancelotti we will win the Scudetto’. He satisfied me. And I satisfied him by bringing him the title.”
Did he ever recommend systems/line-ups to you?
“No. And that I can never remember did he ask me for the eleven who would take the field, perhaps because he already imagined them… But there hasn’t been once that I have felt cornered because Berlusconi had made a particular request about a player: I have always felt a total freedom.”
Remember the time he confirmed you’d be staying without warning you?
“It happened the first year. I was used to signing contracts for one season only. After six months in Milan I was exhausted. Berlusconi understood that I was going through a difficult moment, the derby against Inter was scheduled for a Sunday.
“Without saying anything to me, he spoke to journalists and declared: ‘Next year’s coach will still be Arrigo Sacchi’. In that way he gave a signal to the whole environment and above all he helped me to overcome the tense period.”
We arrive at the decisive match in Naples. Berlusconi was in turmoil…
“On Tuesday he invited us to dinner in Arcore. Me and the whole team. He gave a long speech on the importance Milan had for him. And then he added: ‘I ask you all for a sacrifice. No sex for a month. There is the possibility of winning the Scudetto, we cannot waste it. For the rest, you will have plenty of time’.”
How did the players react?
“All silent except Gullit who intended to rebel against that imposition. Berlusconi didn’t take Ruud’s reaction well.”
Scudetto and then the Champions League. What a ride!
“And Berlusconi is always ready to support us. I called him twice a day. He repeated to me: ‘Talking about Milan relaxes me’. It was just like that. He enjoyed himself, told anecdotes, even conversed with the players.
“One thing happened in the year of the Scudetto that stuck with me: we were supposed to go to play in Turin against Juve and he received an invitation to lunch from Avvocato Agnelli. The lawyer asked him if he could come and greet the team before the game, Berlusconi immediately said yes, then he informed me.
“I was afraid that the boys would suffer from the lawyer’s charisma, I didn’t like that meeting taking place: so I asked Berlusconi at what time Agnelli had scheduled the visit. ‘At 1:45pm, he told me’. ‘Perfect, I’ll start the warm-ups at 1:30pm’.
“So when the lawyer entered the dressing room, he found only myself and Berlusconi. He was dumbfounded and got away with a joke of his own: ‘I knew you had a great team, I wished you two could ruin it, but obviously I was wrong’.
“Berlusconi laughed and accompanied Agnelli to the stands. We won and I remember that the president was thrilled with happiness: for him, beating Avvocato’s team was something more than a victory on a football field.”
There was a player that Berlusconi tried to impose on you: the Argentinean Claudio Borghi
“He fell in love with this attacking midfielder after seeing him in the final of the Intercontinental Cup between Juve and Argentinos Juniors. He bought him after an auction in which the Bianconeri had also participated.
“I analysed him in training and immediately understood that he wasn’t functional to my game. With Galliani’s help I managed to convince Berlusconi not to include him in Milan and I bought Rijkaard.
“He was crazy about playmakers, but when I explained to him that a player had to be important for the team’s economy and not just for the tightrope walker’s tricks, the president listened to me.”
Champions Cup, Intercontinental Cup. An apotheosis…
“His project was finally completed. And I was happy with the result obtained and because with that result I had repaid Berlusconi for the trust he had placed in me, unknown emeritus that he had landed in Milan from little Fusignano. He had the courage to take someone like me. Lots of courage.”
In 1991 your paths diverged…
“I left Milan, even if he still wanted to keep me. But in reality I have never left Milan, in the sense that the deep gratitude I bear towards that environment is always within me. And the relationship with Berlusconi has continued over time.
“When I went to the national team, when I returned to Milan for a short time, and that was a mistake, when I had other experiences. We have always spoken and we have always shared our ideas on football.
“Even when he became president of Monza he asked me for advice and I gave it to him. He was a generous and passionate man.”
