A stint at Bayern Munich was the first time Giovanni Trapattoni worked outside his native Italy, a place where he had enjoyed lengthy managerial careers at Juventus and Internazionale, collecting trophies for fun it seemed. There were 8 Serie A titles, 2 European Cup, 2 Cup Winners Cup, 2 UEFA Cup, as well as multiple Coppa Italia trophies. The majority of the haul came during his ten years at Juve, with the balance during his five years at Inter. The reputation of Il Trap was such that Bayern called on him the first time in 1994 after he was fired from Cagliari.
Although ultimately successful in Germany, Trapattoni's time in Bavaria was not altogether happy and during both his spells the Italian struggled to master the club’s squad, and the language. This week with the Carling Nations Cup final upon us, there is a touch of deja-vu of this period in Trapattoni’s career, made all the more infamous by a YouTube clip of him at a Bayern Munich press conference .
In an emotional outburst in March 1998 Trapattoni delivered his thoughts in mangled German, for which he was lampooned forever afterwards given it became whatever the equivalent of “viral” was in the 1990's. His incorrect German syntax meant he described his players as "empty bottles” and went on to highlight his problems with one player in particular, Thomas Strunz.
Years later in 2000 Trapattoni was speaking to the UEFA coaching journal, the Technician, and gave his recollections of problems he faced at Munich at that time, as well as the experiences of working in a different country.
"I was able, through my experience," said Trapattoni, "to understand what a foreign player goes through - problems of communication, lifestyle, etc.”
"As an Italian coach in Germany, I was trying to change a mind frame - a congenital condition. I met with resistance, because you don't change a mentality in two or three months. I wanted them to get accustomed to thinking tactically, developing the play and seeking options.
"I had to let them play their way and gradually blend in my tactics. The players said: 'We
always trained like this, played like this, and we usually won.' I said: 'Europe is moving forward - we need to take off blinkers and advance.' After my first year, they began to change a little, but it was a cultural clash. I tried to get into their reality and to offer something. In Germany, they follow a fixed plan. In Italy, we are more flexible."
In the same article Trapattoni said he was flexible, but nevertheless espoused the classical Italian tradition; a tradition of man-marking and the art of counter-attack. In fact, Helenio Herrera, the inventor of the defensive system catenaccio, was one of his key influences.
"My target has always been the result," explained Trapattoni. "I slowly introduced my innovations to my teams. If you try to change things and you lose, you are removed from your job. I walk slowly - proposing changes. I remain cautious. I don't play high-risk football; I don't endanger the result. My approach involves a calculated risk."
In the same interview David Platt, currently first team coach with 2011 FA Cup winners, Manchester City, who played under Trapattoni's at Juventus and then Sven Goran Eriksson's Sampdoria, during his time in Italy, says he infinitely preferred the approach of the Swede.
"Trapattoni's idea of football was to defend first and risk nothing. It was frustrating for me as a midfield player who wanted to score goals because I was expected to defend. I was perfectly happy to do that but when we won the ball I wanted to go forward.
"Eriksson was by far the best coach that I worked under because he had a sense of balance in that Sampdoria were difficult to break down, but, when the team got the ball, there was an offensive tactic and a willingness to gamble. I have never been so well prepared for games tactically and mentally. "
Clearly for all the misgivings “Il Trap’s” methods work as that same year he was appointed manager of Italy and qualified them for the 2002 World Cup. Italy also played in the subsequent EURO 2004 with Giovanni at the hlm, albeit they sparkled in neither competition.
His work with the Republic of Ireland reflects the potential success of his rigid system for the most part, as Trapattoni’s side were just pipped in the play-off against France for a place in South Africa last summer. Currently the squad are in a three way tie at the top of Group B in the EURO 2012 qualification ahead of the visit to Macedonia on June 4th, with very chance of making the finals next summer.
However, what seems to come with the catenaccio system on the field is an off-the-field player discontent, leading to confusing newspaper headlines for most of this week in Dublin, during the Carling Nations Cup.
The added remarks of former Republic of Ireland regular, Ian Harte, in a Sunday broadsheet interview, threw more light on the lack of flexibility operating across everything in the Trapattoni regime.
“I was speaking to a player recently and he said he spoke to the manager and assistant manager and they said they didn’t even know that I was Irish, so obviously they have not done their homework.”
“It’s unbelievable, especially when they are saying players need to be playing regularly to be involved in the Irish team and there’s quite a lot of players who aren't playing week in and week out, so they are contradicting themselves,” said the 65 time capped Harter.
Although there were no YouTube clips doing the rounds this week some of the newspapers headlines were worrying.
Since the four years with the Italian national side came to an end in 2004 most of the other jobs that followed for Trapattoni – at Benfica, Stuttgart and Red Bull Salzburg – have not been much longer than two years. In fact, his stay with Ireland will soon rank with his second stint at Juventus, which lasted three seasons.
The Republic of Ireland play Scotland in the final of the Carling Nations Cup on Sunday at the AVIVA Stadium with kick off at 18:30hrs.
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