Influence
He pioneered the use of psychological motivating skills – his pep-talk phrases are still quoted today, e.g. "he who doesn't give it all, gives nothing", "with 10 our team plays better than with 11" (after his team had to face the second half of a game with only 10 players on the field) and "Class + Preparation + Intelligence + Athleticism = Championships. These slogans were often plastered on billboards around the ground and chanted by players during training sessions.
He also enforced a strict discipline code, for the first time forbidding players to drink or smoke and controlling their diet – once in Inter he suspended a player after telling the press "we came to play in Rome" instead of "we came to win in Rome". He also sent club personnel to players' homes during the week to perform '"bed-checks". He introduced the ritiro, a pre-match remote country hotel retreat that started with the collection of players on Thursday to prepare for a Sunday game.
He was also one of the first managers to call on the support of the "12th player" – the spectators. While indirectly, this led to the appearance of the first Ultras movements in the late 60s. While defensive in nature, his understanding of the Catenaccio was slightly different from that practised by other Italian teams and the original Verrou, as he often used the full backs (particularly Giacinto Facchetti) as halfbacks (defensively supported by the libero) to launch faster counter-attacks, a staple of Italian tactics – yet, he never denied the heart of his team relied on defence.
He was also the first manager to collect credit for his teams' performances. Up to that time managers were more marginal figures in a team. All teams were known for their headline-grabbing individual players, exemplified by stars like Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, whereas Inter FC during the 60s is still referred to as Herrera's Inter.
In 2004 Herrera's surviving widow Fiora Gandolfi released a book called Tacalabala. In it was collected sayings, sketches and notes from Herrera's notebooks and journals.
Read more about this topic: Helenio Herrera
Famous quotes containing the word influence:
“The higher the state of civilization, the more completely do the actions of one member of the social body influence all the rest, and the less possible is it for any one man to do a wrong thing without interfering, more or less, with the freedom of all his fellow-citizens.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“... so long as the serpent continues to crawl on the ground, the primary influence of woman will be indirect ...”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)
“... even I am growing accustomed to slavery; so much so that I cease to think of its accursed influence and calmly eat from the hands of the bondman without being mindful that he is such. O, Slavery, hateful thing that thou art thus to blunt the keen edge of conscience!”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1907)