Arrigo Sacchi hit out at VAR, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Milan, but warned Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli “masterpiece will be attacked by the Press.”
The Grande Milan Coach, who also took Italy to the 1994 World Cup Final, spoke at the Festival del Calcio event in Florence.
The big novelty of this season in Serie A is the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee, which has been hailed and criticised by different parties.
Arrigo Sacchi hit out at VAR, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Milan, but warned Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli “masterpiece will be attacked by the Press.”
The Grande Milan Coach, who also took Italy to the 1994 World Cup Final, spoke at the Festival del Calcio event in Florence.
The big novelty of this season in Serie A is the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee, which has been hailed and criticised by different parties.
“VAR exists because we do not recognise merit in Italy and that is the problem,” declared Sacchi. “If a team deserves a draw and achieves it with a refereeing error, it should be accepted. Instead, that is not the case.
“Football holds up a mirror to life and the country it is in, so in the good and bad, it reflects what we see in every day society. This is a society were being smart and sneaky counts more than merit.”
Sacchi was not impressed by the new-look Milan, who are struggling under Vincenzo Montella after spending over €200m on transfers.
“Milan will become great again when the fans insist on beautiful football. If you play badly and win, you shouldn’t be happy. If you are pleased because you manage to scrape a fortunate victory, you’re not going to improve.
“This is a country that struggles to develop in that sense. Fabio Capello, who is not a revolutionary, said something interesting, which is that we have rediscovered the role of the sweeper. There are teams who defend well, but you don’t learn from destruction and you do from building good football.”
In that sense, Sarri’s Napoli are the shining example and sit top of the Serie A table after seven consecutive victories.
“Sarri is part of the group of positive and propositional Coaches, those who have ideas and try to transform them into something concrete by teaching their players.
“He is achieving a masterpiece. However, as soon as Napoli lose a couple of games, the Press will attack Sarri, not realising this is a club that has a quarter of the revenue of other clubs, doesn’t have much history and has to face off against sides that have won three times as much.
“When it comes to the Scudetto, Juventus are a long way in front of the others in terms of history and quality. The Scudetto depends on the Bianconeri.”
Meanwhile, Sacchi’s former protégé Ancelotti was recently fired by Bayern Munich.
“It really disappointed me, not just for a great friend and person I admire so much like Carlo… the truth is, I was disappointed by Bayern. They behaved like any old club.”