Massimo Carrera. Antonio Conte. Didier Deschamps. Zinedine Zidane.
One man has just upset the natural order in Russia and led Spartak Moscow to their first league title in 15 years. Another just led a country-wide tactical switch within England that saw his team romp to the champions’ podium.
Yet another has ushered in a generation of stars and brought Les Bleus to the brink of glory. With the likes household names in the form of Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Raphael Varane being joined by the upcoming talents of Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, the French team will have learnt from the wounds of Euro 2016 and be hungry for success in the World Cup in a year's time. All the while being drilled by the last man to captain France to the prestigious title.
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Speaking of that triumph, the one name from that squad that no one can forget is the last man on the list. The man who had his doubters but has taken his squad of international superstars and academy graduates and welded them into a well-oiled machine, churning out wins in La Liga while en route to (possibly) becoming the first team to defend their Champions League title.
The little Lippis
But there is a more subtle link to these men than the fact that they've become successful managers. They all played for Juventus around the turn of the century under legendary Italian manager, Marcello Lippi.
The Old Lady won five Serie A titles and a Champions League in that period. Lippi laid the blueprint for almost all Juve managers since. For sheer longevity alone he would have been remembered forever - he was managing in Italy before Arrigo Sacchi's revolution with AC Milan in the late 80s and continues to manage to this day.
But if that wasn’t enough he went and became the first manager to oversee a Champions League triumph as well as a World Cup win (Italy in 2006) and, to prove he could do it outside Europe as well, he won the AFC Champions League as well. To this date, no other man has won continental titles in both Asia and Europe.
Aside from the silverware, the mercurial Italian has another, possibly more important mark he has left on the football world is his coaching philosophy. He sought out tactical players that saw the game as he did. Players who showcased great versatility and could play a different role based on how the team shaped up.
The ones he prized the most were those that could think and see the game beyond just their position. That famous France team played football like a work of art with Zidane as the orchestrator and Deschamps the backbone. It thus comes as no surprise to see how many of Lippi’s players took up management after winding down their playing careers.
The first feature of Lippi’s coaching was that though the system was fluid and dynamic, players had well-defined roles and knew exactly what was required from them in the deployed system. This is something his pupil like Conte has carried with him throughout his career. And you can see the way it has affected the players themselves. Coming off an underwhelming season, it’s really shaped the way Chelsea have played.
Looking back at that Champions League final in 1996, Juventus played with a really high press from midfield with an aim to cut out the passing lanes and were led in midfield by a couple of midfielders going by the name of Antonio Conte and Didier Deschamps. This left space for Del Piero to express himself from a wide forward role. Replace the names Conte, Deschamps and Del Piero with Kante, Matic and Hazard and you have the blueprint for Chelsea’s success.
Sum of small all parts greater than the whole
Lippi viewed the team as a mosaic. The sum of small contributions from his players in the system that was chosen. This meant that sometimes players that couldn’t fit in were dropped. Lippi himself conceded that he might have left out some of Italy’s best players but he had ensured that the team dynamic was maintained and the results spoke for themselves. The well-oiled machine marched to the trophy.
Getting the best out of his entire squad is what Zizou has excelled at in his time at the Bernabeu. This has especially been visible in his man management of his stars. The way he has coaxed the best out of Ronaldo by ensuring the make the most of his poaching skills and ensuring he gets enough rest before the big games.
Even the players who have not yet nailed down a starting spot like James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata have had more than enough chances to shine and this has kept them sharp, to be called upon when needed by the boss.
Lippi was also unafraid to tinker with his lineup, even if it had been successful. Indeed, within months of their Champions League triumph, both strikers Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli were shipped off to England, while Carrera himself left soon after.
This was to make way for a young striker, Christian Vieri, and playmaker from Bordeaux, Zinedine Zidane. Both would go on to experience great success before moving on again for world record transfer fees.
But that didn’t stop Lippi or Juve as they would be replaced by the likes of Pavel Nedved, Lilian Thuram and Gigi Buffon - all who would go on to become legends. This phoenix-like tendency was something that stuck to Juventus - immediately bouncing back from their relegation due to the Calciopoli Scandal all the way up to winning six straight Scudetti in the past few years.
Indeed, the team that will line up against Real Madrid in the final on 3rd June has a significantly different look from that which lost the crown to Barcelona two years ago. Pirlo, Tevez, Vidal and Pogba have given way to Pjanic, Dani Alves, Higuain and Pablo Dybala – but they don’t look weaker.
Though the man has been gone from the continent for more than half a decade, his coaching philosophy permeates through his proteges and his influence on the European game cannot be understated. The Godfather and his family are truly a dynasty that has stood the test of time.
