Lippi: Conte has always been a leader

Date: 23rd December 2014 at 9:04pm
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Lippi-ItaliaLegendary Italian tactician Marcello Lippi believes that Antonio Conte was always destined to be a great coach because of the attitude he constantly displayed throughout his playing career.

Conte was an integral part of Lippi’s great Juventus team of the mid 90’s which won numerous Scudetti and a Champions League title, victories in which both men formed a strong bond which has remained to this day.

“He was one of many leaders that I had at Juventus,” the 66-year-old told Rai Sport. “The leaders were varied in nature: there was the technical leader in [Zinedine] Zidane and [Alessandro] Del Piero was a leader in terms of personality.

“Conte was the silent one with a quiet determination. He was driven and led by example. He was always the first to arrive at training and had incredible desire and determination, especially upon the pitch.

“The divorce with Juve? Sometimes these situations arise between great loves as a result of a small misunderstanding, and there is no doubt that a great love exists between Conte and Juventus.”

Lippi then had some advice for Conte in his new role in charge of the national team, a position the veteran occupied twice.

“He has always been a fighter and his determined behaviour with the Azzurri does not surprise me. International friendlies are obviously important but are not the main thing.

“He should work around the dates of the league and so have 15 more days to prepare for the European Championships.

“I talked a lot with the coaches of the clubs. The real problem of those called up for duty is poor training. The players can not prepare themselves physically for the [national] games.”

Lippi retired from coaching in November but will continue to work in the sport as the director of football at Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.

 

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