.jpg) Rocco in 1967 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1912-05-20)20 May 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Trieste,Austro-Hungarian Empire | ||
| Date of death | 20 February 1979(1979-02-20) (aged 66) | ||
| Place of death | Trieste, Italy | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Youth career | |||
| 1927–1930 | Triestina | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1930–1937 | Triestina | 232 | (66) |
| 1937–1940 | Napoli | 52 | (7) |
| 1940–1942 | Padova | 47 | (14) |
| 1942–1943 | 94° Reparto Distretto Trieste | ||
| 1943–1944 | Libertas Trieste | 14 | (1) |
| 1944–1945 | Padova | ||
| International career | |||
| 1934 | Italy | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1947–1950 | Triestina | ||
| 1950–1953 | Treviso | ||
| 1953–1954 | Triestina | ||
| 1954–1961 | Padova | ||
| 1960 | Italy Olympic | ||
| 1961–1963 | AC Milan | ||
| 1963–1967 | Torino | ||
| 1967–1972 | AC Milan | ||
| 1973 | AC Milan | ||
| 1974–1975 | Fiorentina | ||
| 1977 | AC Milan | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nereo Rocco (Italian pronunciation:[neˈrɛːoˈrɔkko]; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italianfootball player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time,[1] he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, winning several domestic and international titles during his tenure withAC Milan. AtPadova, he was one of the first proponents ofcatenaccio in the country.[2]
Rocco played as awinger in midfield; he had a modest playing career, spent mainly with clubs likeTriestina,Napoli andPadova. He played 287Serie A matches within 11 seasons, scoring 69 goals. Rocco was also capped one time for theItaly national team.[3][4]
Rocco made an appearance for theItaly national team on one occasion: inVittorio Pozzo's selection in the1934 FIFA World Cup qualification match, on 25 March 1934 againstGreece, a 4–0 home victory.[5][6]
Rocco made his coaching debut for Triestina in 1947. He obtained a surprising second place inSerie A, which is still the highest result ever reached by the team. He left Triestina a few years later because of disagreements with the club chairmanship. In 1951 he briefly coachedTreviso, then returning to Triestina.[4]
In 1953 Rocco signed as coach ofSerie B team Padova, being able to avoid a relegation and obtaining promotion into Serie A the following season. The Serie A period of Rocco's Padova is still remembered as the team's most successful in their history, despite having a small team, they were able to take third place during the 1957–58 season.[4] During his time with Padova, he also coached theItalian team at the1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, alongsideGiuseppe Viani, where they finished in fourth place.[4]
In 1961, Rocco was appointed as newA.C. Milan coach, starting one of the most successful periods for therossoneri: he built a hard-working and defensively sound side around the team's young starplaymaker,Gianni Rivera, which complemented the midfielders' creative playing style; Rocco formed an important relationship with Rivera throughout his career, and together, they played a key role in the club's successes,[7] winning the Italian league in 1962 and theEuropean Cup in 1963. After a good stint atTorino, where he obtained the best results since the disappearance of theGrande Torino, in 1967 Rocco returned to Milan, where he immediately won anotherscudetto and theCup Winners' Cup.[2][4]
He left Milan in 1973, after having won also anotherEuropean Cup in 1969, anIntercontinental Cup, twoItalian Cups and another Cup Winners' Cup. After one year inFiorentina, Rocco decided to end his coaching career in 1975. In 1977, he was appointed by Milan as Technical Director and Assistant of coachNils Liedholm. Rocco is Milan's longest-serving manager, managing the club for 459 matches (323 as head coach and 136 as technical director).[2][4]
"Let's really hope not!"
— A famous response that Rocco was known for using during his spell at Padova whenever an opponent said to him: "May the best team win."[8]
Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time,[1] Rocco was one of first proponents of catenaccio in Italy, and used the tactic to great success; drawing fromKarl Rappan's tactics, his teams made use of asweeper, who would sit behind the defensive line and clear the ball away, often using a 1–3–3–3 formation. His teams were known for their work-rate and physicality, as well as their simple but effective and pragmatic tactical strategies, namely their defensive strength, ability to counter–attack quickly with long balls, and score goals after winning back possession, rather than for being aesthetically pleasing to watch. During his time with Milan, he made use of Rivera as the team's playmaker in midfield, who took on the creative responsibilities of the team. He was known to be an excellent motivator, and developed strong personal relationships with his players in order to create a good team environment and foster a winning mentality, often discussing the team's tactics and the players man–marking roles over dinner rather than at a white–board during training sessions. In addition to his tactical intelligence, Rocco was also known for his charismatic personality, leadership, and sense of humour, despite his shy personality, and was known for being a very animated figure on the bench during matches. He also became popular for his quips, which he would often say to his players and journalists.[2][4][7][9][10][11][12] Rocco, popularly known asEl Paròn (Triestin forThe Master), was also popular for his strong use of his nativeTriestine dialect.[2] Former Parma managerNevio Scala, who played under Rocco, was inspired by Rocco's charisma as a manager, and for giving his players more freedom by placing less importance on tactics and set plays during training.[13]
Rocco died on 20 February 1979, aged 66, in his hometownTrieste.[14]
On 18 October 1992, anew stadium in Trieste, named after Rocco, was inaugurated.[15]
Rocco's tactics heavily influenced managerGiovanni Trapattoni, who became one of the main proponents of thezona mista ("mixed zone," in Italian), orgioco all'italiana, which drew elements from bothman-to-man marking systems such as Italiancatenaccio, andzonal-marking systems such as Dutchtotal football.[16]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Padova |  | 8 March 1954 | 30 June 1961 | 264 | 109 | 68 | 87 | 362 | 328 | +34 | 041.29 |
| AC Milan | | 1 July 1961 | 30 May 1963 | 94 | 54 | 21 | 19 | 200 | 90 | +110 | 057.45 |
| Torino | | 1 June 1963 | 30 May 1967 | 160 | 56 | 66 | 38 | 183 | 141 | +42 | 035.00 |
| AC Milan | | 1 June 1967 | February 1974 | 301 | 160 | 95 | 46 | 465 | 229 | +236 | 053.16 |
| ACF Fiorentina | | 1 June 1974 | 30 May 1975 | 41 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 039.02 |
| AC Milan | | October 1975 | 30 May 1976 | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 047.62 |
| AC Milan | | February 1977 | 30 May 1977 | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 045.45 |
| Total | 924 | 425 | 284 | 215 | 1,355 | 886 | +469 | 046.00 | |||
AC Milan
Individual
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