A Closer Look at the Catenaccio System

4 minutes

The catenaccio system comes from a strategy called verrou. It was created by an Austrian for a Swiss team in 1930s. Keep reading to learn more.

Last update: 19 August, 2020

It’s related to the Italian soccer team, but it was actually invented by an Austrian who ran a Swiss soccer club. In this article, we’ll explain more about the catenaccio system.

Origins of the catenaccio system

As a precedent to the catenaccio system, we have to talk about another system called, verrou. In French, this word means, “chain.” It was invented by an Austrian coach named Karl Rappan, who trained the Swiss team between the 1930s and 1940s.

Rappan arranged a figure, known as verreoullieur, right in front of the goalie to defend that area of the field. Servette, a soccer team from Geneva, Switzerland first used this system in 1932.

It’s a strategy with four fixed defenses- the two open in the middle recede- that move marking man to man. Also, it includes a game creator in the middle of the field, who’s in charge of passing the ball to both ends.

The verrou technique modified the typical 2-3-5 lineup of that time, where only the midfielder had a defensive role. In fact, that caused a lot of physical wear and tear.

Since the rivals had three forwards, in Rappan’s defense, there was always,”A leftover defender” which became known as, “Libero.”

Then, the verrou went first to French soil with coach Robert Accord, at Olympique de Charleville-Mézieres, a club where Helenio Herrera played. In fact, he was known for expanding the catenaccio system in Italian soccer.

The Soviet Union also used this system, more precisely in Krylia Sovetov Samara, with coach Aleksandr Abramov. Then, this improved the players’ fitness, and the local media renamed it the Volga clip.

The arrival of this strategy in Italy

The concepts that Rappan thought and created were adapted to Italian soccer by the coach Giuseppe Viani, who led the Salernitana team. Then, this club ascended to Serie A in 1947.

At the same time, Triestina coach Nereo Rocco used similar tactics, thanks to influence from a Hungarian coach named József Banás, who had coached him in 1941 at Padova.

Rocco’s system was later known as the “true Italian catenaccio” and was first used in 1947. The formation was 1-3-3-3, and the focus was more than defensive. With this tactic, Triestina came in second place in the Serie A tournament that season.

Later, they included some variations, such as 1-4-4-1 or 1-4-3-2. Rocco transferred this style to AC Milan, with whom he was champion of Italy and Europe during the sixties.

One of the innovations of the Italian catenaccio system is that it included the “1”, or the libero, in the system. His role was to recover the loose balls and stop the rival striker. In addition, they introduced a counterattack, starting with long passes from behind.

At this point, Helenio Herrera appears again on the scene, already as a coach, who arrived at Inter in 1960. There, he established the system of four defenders with a man-to-man marking and a libero to collect the “lost” balls.

The catenaccio system in the azzurra

Of course, the teams achieved good results thanks to the catenaccio (which in Italian means “bolt”). For many, it was a “boring” system, which didn’t appeal to viewers.

For others, it was the way to win games and even titles. In fact, this happened with the Italian team in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

The World Cup that year had Italy in Group 1, along with Poland, Peru, and Cameroon. This European team went to the second round. However, they only won one out of the three games, obviously with the catenaccio as their flag.

In the second instance, the Azzurra was part of Group C with Argentina and Brazil. They won the first match against the Albicelestes 2-1, and then beat Canarinha 3-2, in one of the best matches of this cup.

Then, Italy played against Poland in the semifinal, winning 2-0, both goals by Paolo Rossi. In the final, they would face East Germany. The match at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid ended 3 to 1 in favor of the Italians. In fact, this meant the third cup for the Azzurri.

The Italian soccer team celebrating in 2006.

A strategy that still holds

Finally, it’s worth noting that other teams have recently used the catenaccio system. For example, some that achieved great results were Atlético Madrid (with Helenio Herrera and Diego Simeone), Estudiantes de la Plata (Argentina), Once Caldas (Colombia), and Atlético Paranaense (Brazil).

In this list, we could also add Tigres UANL (Mexico), Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia), Valencia (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy) and the national teams of Greece (Euro 2004), Italy (World Cup Germany 2006), Portugal (Euro 2016) and France (World Cup 2018). Without a doubt, it’s a questioned strategy, but very effective.