For years, Nils Liedholm was a semi-permanent fixture on the Sunday night football talk shows that populate Italian television. With his ready smile and unmistakable accent, he cut the figure of a much loved uncle whose words were greatly respected and rarely contradicted.

Respect that stemmed largely from the realization that he was someone who truly understood the game.

As a player, Liedholm enjoyed a phenomenal career. Twice league champion in Sweden, he eventually moved to AC Milan in 1949 where he formed part of the legendary gre-no-li strike trio alongside fellow Swedes Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl. In Italy he won a further four league titles in a side that dominated the fifties. Milan legend has it that he never misplaced a pass in his first two years at the club and, when he finally did, he was given a standing ovation by the supporters.

That success was nowhere nearly matched by his results for the Sweden who failed to select him for the 1950 and 1954 World Cups because they wouldn’t play professional players. He did, however, win the gold medal in the 1948 Olympics and, aged 36, he helped them reach the World Cup final and even put Sweden 1-0 front.

Sweden ultimately lost 5-2 to a Pele inspired Brazil, yet Liedholm often picked that as the best game in his career. When someone once pointed out that Brazil still won the game, he replied that “I know but when I went off we were still 1-0 up.”

Yet it is as a coach that he really made an indelible mark. Described in Italy as the first democratic manager, he treated his players like men and always listened to their ideas.

Not that Liedholm needed much prompting, such was his knowledge of the game and the handling of players. He was a great believer of the zonal marketing system – one of the first to do so in a catenaccio dominated era – claiming that it was easier to switch players based on a system rather than on their qualities, something that forced you to react to the opposition rather than impose yourself.

He was also always hammering into his players the importance on retaining possession. His teams loved t keep the ball, waiting for the opposing team to make a mistake. Fargli addormentare – get them to sleep – was the thinking. It wasn’t too exciting to watch and was criticized for being boring yet it got results and ultimately his approach inspired a whole range of coaches, including Arrigo Sacchi and Rafael Benitez.

With Milan, he won a league title before moving on to AS Roma, whom he guided to another league win and a European Cup final loss to Liverpool. He also managed Fiorentina, Varese and Hellas Verona helping the latter two to promotion. Juventus wanted to make him manager but he refused “together we would have been too strong” he said.

In 1997 he returned to manage AS Roma for the final seven games of the season in what was his swansong in football.

Nils Liedholm 1922 -1997