The Importance of Shape

A.C. Milan was once the most powerful team in the world. They won three European Cup/Champions League titles in six seasons, culminating in a 4-0 beating of Barcelona in the 1994 Final. They were led by legends such as Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, and were managed by Arrigo Saachi, who was simply a genius.

At Milan, Saachi got fed up with his players complaining about all the training they did on team shape, and so he convinced them of its worth with a simple drill. "I told Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit that five organized players would beat ten disorganized ones," Saachi says. "And I proved it to them. I took five players: Giovanni Galli in goal, Mauro Tassotti, Paolo Maldini, Alesandro Costacurta, and Franco Baresi." That's a back four with no holding midfielder. "They had ten players: Gullit, van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Carlo Ancelotti, Pietro Paolo Virdis, Alberigo Evani, Angelo Colombo, Roberto Donadoni, Christian Lantignotti, and Graziano Mannari. They had 15 minutes to score against my five players. The only rule was that if we won possession or they lost the ball, they had to start all over from 10 meters inside their half, thus ruining their team shape. I did this all the time and they never scored. Not once."