• Sacchi praised the style of play used by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s sides.
• The 73-year-old also took time out to hail the impact of Arsene Wenger.
Image: /REUTERS
Arrigo Sacchi may have been one of the great managerial innovators but even he is impressed by the top coaching talent in the Premier League.
The English top-flight is blessed with the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino and there have been comparisons between those coaches and Sacchi himself.
But, speaking to Sportsmail, Sacchi — who managed AC Milan to consecutive European Cups in 1989 and 1990 — is convinced that the likes of Guardiola and Klopp have moved the game along even further.
SACCHI’S MANAGERIAL CV
1985-87: Parma
1987-91: AC Milan
1991-96: Italy
1996-97: AC Milan
1998-99: Atletico Madrid
2001: Parma
HONOURS
Serie A (1): 1987–88
Supercoppa Italiana (1): 1988
European Cup (2): 1988–89, 1989–90
European Supercup (2): 1989, 1990
Intercontinental Cup (2): 1989, 1990
Coppa Italia Runners-up (1): 1989–90
Asked whether they can be considered his managerial ‘sons’, Sacchi laughed and replied: “I have only daughters! Their football is similar to mine and I really appreciate their values, culture and mentality. My Milan team innovated, the teams of Guardiola and Klopp continue to innovate.”
Klopp gave a speech to his players before their Champions League final win, telling his players: “If we lose, it must be the best defeat possible. We must give everything.”
And Sacchi saw echoes of his own philosophy.
“In my book there are many similar phrases that I loved to say before taking the field. I’ve always loved instilling my players with the desire to go beyond their own limits. In my notes I wrote: “Victory is important when it is amplified and helped by the beauty of the game’.”
On both Klopp and Guardiola, he added: “They think like me. We have the duty to make the public enjoy football, to be excited by it. Making great football is more difficult than talking about it. I like the desire they have to dominate. Football must be domination and beauty, music and culture. I enjoy watching them. The problem in the Premier League is that they play too often and there is too much competition. Perhaps this is why the national team never achieves great results.”
Sacchi also took time out to comment on a former Premier League manager: “Let me say a word about Arsene Wenger — he revolutionised English football, he’s really great.”
Asked who he would appoint between Klopp, Guardiola and Pochettino if he were in charge of a club, he said: “I guarantee you that I would be in trouble. You mentioned my favorites and all three have the same philosophical system even though they are very different. England has a crazy, brilliant championship. It is experiencing a golden age.”