“Clown and genius, buffoon and ascetic, rogue and model father, sultan and faithful husband, swaggering fool and quiet achiever, delinquent and competent, megalomaniac and health fanatic. Herrera is all of the above and more.” So said Italian football journalist Gianni Brera in 1966, as Herrera took Inter to their third Serie A title in four years, a spell that also brought two European Cups. The Argentinian, by this stage, had already changed football in completely unrecognisable ways, and put in place practices that echo through to the modern game. He was perhaps the first modern manager.
Continue reading “Helenio Herrera and the Birth of Italian Football”