Herrera's Inter Milan: The Birth of the Catenaccio
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2025
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to this Champions League special episode of It Was What It Was with hosts Rob Draper and Jonathan Wilson. In this episode, they dive deep into the rich tactical history of Inter Milan, tracing the origins and impact of the famous Catenaccio system introduced by legendary coach Helenio Herrera in the 1960s. They explore Herrera's significant influence on modern football management, his controversial methods, and the eventual decline of his tactical system. Additionally, the hosts draw parallels between Herrera's era and Inter Milan's current approach under Simone Inzaghi, highlighting how historical tactics still resonate today as they face PSG in
Join us at the end of the week as we turn our attention to PSG's history, as they look to win the Champions League for the first time.
00:00 Introduction
00:19 Champions League Special: Setting the Scene
00:34 Helena Herrera: The Tactical Genius
01:56 The Birth of Catenaccio
02:56 Karl Rappan and the Swiss Influence
08:43 Catenaccio's Evolution in Italy
13:31 The Rise of Inter Milan
19:02 Herrera's Early Career and Philosophy
27:31 Herrera's Impact at Barcelona
29:54 Transition to Inter Milan
30:07 Inter's Turbulent Coaching History
30:39 Helenio Herrera's Arrival and Impact
31:17 Herrera's Strict Regimen and Control
34:55 Tactical Innovations and Success
42:06 Controversies and Criticisms
49:31 The Decline of Herrera's Inter
56:50 Legacy and Modern Comparisons
01:02:19 Conclusion and Upcoming Content
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I hate it when they ask about being fortunate. I don't believe in good luck. |
| 0:11.5 | When someone has won so much in 20 years, can it be fortune? |
| 0:14.8 | Modestly, I've won more than any other manager in the world. My case is unprecedented. |
| 0:19.7 | Welcome to it was what it was with me, Rob Draper and with |
| 0:22.1 | Jonathan Wilson. Welcome to our Champions League special on Internationale. And that was |
| 0:27.2 | not Jose Marino. You'll be surprised to hear because it sounds very much like him. It was |
| 0:32.4 | his spirit animal, Helena Herrera, one of the great coaches of the 1960s, 1950s and 1960s, one of the sort of masters of the game, I would say. |
| 0:43.6 | And not the inventor, Jonathan, you're going to go into Dutel. |
| 0:48.0 | It's not the inventor of Catonaccio, but certainly perhaps his most famous exponent of that particular tactile method, which changed |
| 0:55.5 | the game of football, I think, and perhaps in a negative way. But you can unpack all that |
| 1:00.0 | for us, Jonathan. What we're really looking at is this rich, deep Champions League European |
| 1:05.1 | Cup tradition that Internatas and Arles have, as an Italian side, really, they are, A.C. Milan win it in 63 and they're much more associated |
| 1:14.0 | I think of my generation as the sort of championship specialist but really in to take that title |
| 1:18.9 | from them for while winning it in 1964 and 65 and seem unbeatable in that era. Is that fair |
| 1:25.4 | and is Herrera really a tactical god who's sort of in the pantheum, |
| 1:29.9 | Jonathan? Yes. I mean, he is a tactical god. There's no question about that. He is a flawed god, |
| 1:35.2 | I think. I mean, it's not just they win it 64, 65. They also lose the semi in 66 and losing the |
| 1:41.7 | final in 67. So they get get there we get to the last |
| 1:45.3 | four four years running under her under her era and I guess he because he is born in Argentina I guess |
| 1:50.1 | it is elenial erera I guess we probably shouldn't pronounce the H although it often is pronounced so yeah |
| 1:56.6 | we're looking really at that mid-60s team how it came about and about cat nacho and the influence |
| 2:01.3 | it had maybe the point to start actually this is going to confuse you because i haven't put this in a |
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