The decisions that made Fabio Capello thrive at AC Milan

It is always difficult for a new manager to arrive at a club, especially when we are talking about a successful club that are used to winning and there is a demand to keep them winning. While managers who have to fix a struggling team can usually get some leeway, the ones picking up a strong squad have a lot more pressure. Now add to that the fact that the new boss is taking on his first managerial job, and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

That is exactly what Fabio Capello went through at AC Milan when he took over from Arrigo Sacchi in 1991, having to maintain a high level of success at the time. The Rossoneri were the best team in the world in the early 90s and Capello managed to maintain that success, winning multiple trophies, with some key decisions that helped him become one of the most successful managers in the club's entire history.

Not fixing what's not broken

Arrigo Sacchi is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and reinvented football in the mid-80s with his AC Milan side, cementing them as not only the best team in the world but also as one of the most innovative. His pressing style, coupled with his virtuous 4-4-2 formation, made the Rossoneri a powerhouse in the game of football.

Fabio Capello, a defensive midfielder in his playing days, understood the importance of balance and didn't make any major changes during his first season at the helm since the team was boasting talent. This was reflected in the results, with AC Milan winning the 1991/92 Serie A title unbeaten with 79 goals scored and only 21 received.

This was perhaps one of the Italian's best decisions looking back since it cemented the initial success that would allow him to make modifications on the team without any significant backlash since he proved he could win with this club.

The ability to adapt and change

This may sound contradictory to the previous point but is actually quite consistent since Capello initially adapted to Sacchi's squad and structure to keep on winning. However, as time went on and certain situations played out, the young manager began to show an even greater ability to adapt, which would become a staple of his career in coaching.

Marco van Basten

A good example of this was how Marco van Basten, the team's star striker and arguably Milan's best player at the time, had continuous ankle injuries since 1987 and the 1992/93 season had him out for most of the year. While the goal tally lowered, the Rossoneri won the 1992/93 Scudetto once again and reached the UEFA Champions League final, losing to the controversial (and cheating) Olympique Marseille.

When it was time for Frank Rijkaard to leave in 1993, Capello already set up a replacement for the Primavera in Demetrio Albertini, who would go on to become a legend of the club. Furthermore, it was in the summer of 1993 that he signed Marseille center-back Marcel Desailly and established him as a defensive-midfielder, proving to be monumental in the 1993/1994 UEFA Champions League final against Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team", FC Barcelona, where the Italians won 4-0.

"I hadn't watched the match since 1994, but when the COVID-19 era hit, it was replayed on a TV channel," Capello said in 2024. "I watched it 27 or 28 years later... What did I think? I loved watching it. The players did everything perfectly. I never spoke to Cruyff about that match. We met on occasion, but we never spoke about the final in Athens. I must admit that everything he said beforehand helped me motivate my team even more. I remember him saying: 'They have Desailly, but we have Romário.' That helped me a lot. Why? I mentioned it to Marcel, and in these types of matches, mentality is key."

Tactical pragmatism

While winning a Champions League final with a 4-0 score is impressive, particularly against that fantastic Barcelona side, it wasn't a reflection of what AC Milan was that season. The team only scored 36 goals that season in Serie A and still won the title because they only conceded 15 goals in the entire season. To put things into context, Udinese and Atalanta were the teams that scored less than Milan in that league campaign and both were relegated.

Capello has become known for being a defensive coach, and perhaps that reputation has been rightfully earned, but the degree of defensive quality he managed to churn out throughout his career, especially at AC Milan, deserves a lot of recognition. An complete Italian backline of Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini certainly helped as well since he had the talent to compete at the highest level.

It was the combination of this defensive fortitude, the tremendous amounts of attacking talent at his disposal, and Capello's pragmatism that made this AC Milan side of the 90s so successful. This team wasn't as stubborn as Sacchi's when it came to switching their playing style and had a lot of players to choose from, with Capello always willing to do rotation, which helped the team to compete on all fronts.

All in all, his time as the head coach of AC Milan is fondly remembered as one of the peaks of the institution's entire history and the beginning of the career of one of the greatest football coaches in the history of the sport.