It goes without saying that Arrigo Sacchi changed a floundering Milan squad into a world-class side. One of the most important changes was the offside trap, which was used brilliantly by Milan. The ‘Offside Trap’, a defensive technique designed to trap opposition forwards was taken to its extreme by Sacchi’s Milan. Sacchi would order the entire defense line to move up the field as soon as the ball is kicked which puts the attacker behind the defense when he receives the ball.
As can be seen in the video, the entire defensive line moves up the field as soon as the ball either hits or rebounds off any defender. That way, they hold a single straight line in defense. This move requires tremendous timing from the entire team, specially the two center backs.
If such a move failed to materialize and the attacking team somehow managed to move the ball to a player in a non-offside position, the sweeper (in this case, Baresi) would move back while all the other players moved up. However, this will only be possible if the attacking team is working on the flanks. If the attack is through the middle, the precision of playing this offside trap becomes a bit difficult as it leaves a gaping hole between the sweeper and the goalkeeper, who cannot move up.
Sacchi found this glitch in the offside rule and used it to not only make his team offensively strong, but also defensively sound. So much so, FIFA had to change their offside ruling in 1990.
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