Extraordinary Life and Times of Bela Guttmann: Part 3— Global Citizen
We return to the life of Bela Guttmann in 1949, when he was trying to find a way out of Hungarian football. To his help came Erno Erbstein, Torino’s Technical Director who had escaped from the Nazi labor camp with Guttmann in 1944. On Erbstein's suggestion, his fellow escapee was given the nod to manage Padova.
Before proceeding, let’s take a moment to talk about Bela Guttmann the manager. In contemporary times, the closest points of reference we could use are Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Like the two, Guttmann made his name by causing a short-term overhaul at a new club and leading them to immediate success. This was followed by either the players getting overwhelmed by his demanding nature or Guttmann falling out with the club. He never stayed at any place beyond three years.
We can see the influence of Jimmy Hogan’s philosophy and working style on him too. Guttmann, who grew up playing an intricate passing game at MTK and Hakoah Vienna, promoted the same within his teams. The focus was more on offense, leading to entertaining matches full of goals. Off the pitch, he obsessed over every aspect of team management from intense player training to transfer policies. Talking about the latter, Guttmann often promoted young players whom he found easier to mould in his style.
Back to Seria A, a familiar pattern of play followed Guttmann here too. He took lowly Padova to a great start, and by December they were in second spot. But a streak of defeats took them to 15th and Guttmann had to lose his job by the end of the season. He then joined Triestina, where a flying start was again followed by a hard crash. This time though, Guttmann managed to save the club from relegation and held his post for a year longer. In 1953, Guttmann had brief stints at Quilmes (Argentina) and APOEL FC (Cyprus). Then came the biggest call-up of his life, AC Milan.
Milan in those days was known for its legendary Swedish attacking trio of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl, and Nils Liedholm. With Nordahl’s league-leading 23 goals, Milan finished 3rd in the 1953–54 Serie A. In the new season, Milan was boosted by the signing of Uruguayan playmaker Juan Alberto Schiaffino and a young defender named Cesare Madini. Milan won 10 out of their first 12 league games and were sitting comfortably on the top of the table. But some of Guttmann’s actions off the pitch started causing him trouble. This included a confrontation with Argentine winger Eduardo Ricagni and a bar altercation with former Italian national team coach Lajos Czeizler. The latter was managing Sampdoria, who beat AC Milan 3–1 in the very next match.
Despite being league leaders, Milan decided to sack Guttmann. Feeling hard done by, he said the famous lines — “I have been sacked even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual. Goodbye.” After that point, Guttmann ensured to add a clause in his contract that prevented the club from sacking him if they were league leaders. As for Milan, they did end up winning the 1954–55 Serie A title. Later on, the players would present Guttmann with a gold plaque to acknowledge his contribution to their victory.
Guttmann’s next stop in Italy was Vincenza. During that stint, he got involved in a major car accident and hit two students, one of whom lost his life. The person accompanying him in the car, Deszo Solti, helped him escape the country before the slow Italian legal system could get him. Solti is another fascinating character who lived a very colourful life, but that’s a story for another day. Ultimately, Guttmann got away with paying 4 million lire in damages. Leaving behind this dreadful incident, he returned to Hungary.
An official intervention in 1949 by Hungarian sports officials led to their best players being moved to Honved, previously known as Kispest, for the benefit of the national team. This star-studded side was to play Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup in October 1956 when Guttmann was appointed as its temporary coach.
While Honved was focused on European football, the Hungarian Revolution was broiling in the backdrop. The uprising led to thousands of deaths and close to a quarter million people escaping the country. Guttmann and his team also had a choice to make. As it would turn out, many of these players decided against returning to Hungary, including their captain Ferenc Puskas, who would go on to join Real Madrid. And thus came the end of Hungary’s golden team. Before disintegrating though, the Hungarians went on a tour to Brazil, where they played some iconic matches with the footballers of Flamengo and Botafogo. Luckily for Guttmann, he found his new employer in the form of Sao Paulo.
Back in those days, Brazilian teams would play in regional-level league competitions. In the 1957 season, Sao Paulo’s greatest competitor would be Santos, who had a 16-year-old scoring 36 goals across the campaign. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or Pele was the name of that player. Back to Guttmann, he had a long pre-season with the team and emphasised shifting the focus from crowd-pleasing to goal-scoring. Sao Paulo made a slow start in the first phase but as time passed they got better. Guttmann also signed Brazilian legend Zizinho, who despite being 36 years old, helped the team immensely with his creativity. On the final match day, Sao Paulo defeated Corinthians 3–1 to clinch the title. This victory, Guttmann’s first trophy in close to a decade, would usher in the golden phase of his managerial career.
Guttmann’s brief 18-month stay in Sao Paulo was enough for him to achieve success and become a crowd favourite. But the wider impact of his Brazilian escapade needs to be discussed. He started using the 4–2–4 formation that complemented the ball-playing abilities of his team and made them more direct. Guttmann’s assistant at Sao Paulo was Vincente Feola. Feola would use this 4–2–4 formation (and some of Guttmann’s tactics) to lead the Brazil national team to their first FIFA World Cup victory in 1958. I like to think of this moment as a Hungarian passing the baton of football’s future from Hungary to Brazil.
Despite the success, Guttmann knew his future lay in a different continent. By now he had made several trans-Atlantic journeys. But Guttmann’s return to Europe in 1958 was special, for he was soon to establish a new world order in continental football.
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Thank you for reading the article. This is Part 3 of a four-part series I’m covering on Bela Guttmann. You may also like to read Part 2, where we discuss Guttmann’s life in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War 2.
See you in Part 4, where Guttmann’s Benfica takes the footballing world by storm.
Sources:
David Bolchover (2017), The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory
Jonathan Wilson (2019), The Names Heard Long Ago
