Lippi: Ferguson used Juventus as model

Posted Thursday, May 09, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Guangzhou Evergrande coach Marcelo Lippi indicated that Sir Alex Ferguson studied the Italian's Juventus side in the 1990s in a bid to achieve success at Manchester United.

The Scotsman stunned the footballing world with the announcement of his impending retirement at the end of the season at a club where he spent 27 years of his life.

Over that period, he successfully moulded three generations of players and has achieved continual success, both on the domestic and the continental front.

Early on into that managerial stint, Ferguson did struggle to establish his imprint on the side as he only had an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup to show for in his first six years.

With the start of the Premier League era, Ferguson achieved more success but in order to ensure a sustained period of dominance, he began to blood youngsters from the youth setup and introduced them to the first team.

Lippi stated that Ferguson took inspiration from his own management style when he forged a Juve side that reached three consecutive Champions League finals. The Bianconeri had a number of talented Italian youngsters such as Alessandro del Piero, Gianluca Vialli, Antonio Conte but they were also not afraid in signing some of the best European talent in Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps and Edgar Davids.

"Many times he told me that he took the example of Juventus to build his great Manchester United [sides]," Lippi told La Gazzetta dello Sport recently.

"The first time we met, we were part of a get-together between Europe's most important coaches and I remember he said he was impressed by the concentration of my Juve players in the tunnel before games.

"I don't speak English and his variety is very unique and we always required an interpreter. Then we discovered that we both spoke French and communicated that way. We had a great rapport.

"We exchanged bottles. He gave me whisky and I gave him wine that he appreciated a lot. We discussed everything.

"I didn't expect it. A person with his culture and intelligence can do any work that he desires."

And the 65-year-old stated that he was surprised by Ferguson's decision to retire from the game, especially as the Manchester United man has always been unequivocal about his desire to manage the game for as long as possible.

"I did not think that within him was the desire to stop," Lippi continued.

"I spoke to him many times, including in recent years, and he always told me football was his life, so he didn't want to go home to ‘the boss' - his wife.

"It is only right that he now goes around the world as an ambassador for football, not just for United."