Wen | Guo Huan
After a long vacation in the Caribbean, Marcelo Lippi is finally back. During the long winter, he chose to travel to the lower latitudes to enjoy the warm sunshine.
After he returned, he felt that he had adapted to a leisurely life and did not want to return to work and return to the coaching bench. Although he has already achieved great success, leading Juventus to the Champions League, leading Italy to the World Cup, and leading Guangzhou Evergrande to the AFC Champions League.
Lippi has never forgotten his beloved China, where he coached Guangzhou Evergrande and the Chinese national team, and also made him a household name in Asia, becoming the new Marco Polo on the Italian-To-Asian route.
At this extremely difficult moment in Chinese football, Lippi also gladly accepted an exclusive interview with Tencent Sports, on the contrary, he was reluctant to say a word about the situation of his native Italy...
Following the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Blues will miss another World Cup. Lippi led Italy to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and now he has too many regrets about this Italian team.
Tencent Sports: In the case of naturalized players, the outside world believes that the strength of the Chinese team has improved, but it has once again impacted the World Cup failure, how to view the help of naturalized players to the Chinese team? What do you think is the problem of ultimate failure?
Lippi: There is no doubt that naturalized players will play an important role for the future Chinese national team. But you have to be patient and not think that they can solve all the problems in a short period of time.
In the coaching line of the national team, it must be clear that you must trust a person completely, and then let him take full responsibility and decide on the selection of players for the national team.
In this way, the quality will naturally increase. With a population of more than 1 billion, China will not lack naturalized talent and offer plenty of options. Players need to have enough room to grow. But I still need to repeat it, as I expected when I was working: there must be a long-term plan.
Tencent Sports: Can anyone save Chinese football?
Lippi: Sorry, I can't say specific names, that's not fair or right, it's so far from China, I don't have the ability to judge that. What I can say is that when I was in China, I really had great willingness and enthusiasm to help Chinese football, and there was indeed a great trend of progress in those years.
China wants to become a football powerhouse, specific to the national team, we have done some important things before. Maybe some people have forgotten that we used to play in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup and we beat South Korea, which was an unusual result and we tried to go hand in hand with the strong teams in football. We have also shown that we can be competitive at a high level in Asia.
Sometimes there are some misses and misses, there are some lessons and lessons to be learned, but you can never say that those are not important years. At that time, progress within the system was indeed demonstrated, so there was no reason not to continue, not to seek longer-term development.
Of course, I can't imagine anyone who can one day solve all the problems with a magic wand, because this does not exist in the Chinese team, nor does it exist in any national team in the world. The development of football requires specific work, patience, planning, and clear thinking.
2018 World Preliminary Tournament Asia China 1-0 South Korea
Tencent Sports: After Li Tie left class, the national football team set up a 16-person coaching team, and the role of coaches accounted for how much of a team?
Lippi: I'm not good at it right now, after all, it's such a long distance away. Of course, having 16 coaches form a committee is a complicated thing to understand. In the history of the Italian national team, we have had a huge coaching board, but that was before the 1970s. Most of the time, there are 2 or 3 FA technical advisors to help solve the problem, and at any time it should be decided by one person.
For me, a coaching staff of 16 is too big a number, which is also contrary to what I have emphasized before: we need clear thinking. Trust needs to be placed on the manager, he is responsible, and everyone will recognize that he can lead the national team. Just like when I was the head coach, I took on all the responsibilities, tasks and honors with the help of my team.
Tencent Sports: Zheng Zhi has also been directly or indirectly involved in coaching work in the league and the national team, especially coaching Guangzhou, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 5 games. How do you rate his performance as a coach? Talented? Or do you think he's going to be a good coach?
Lippi: I've always had a good opinion of Zheng Zhi. He is an outstanding man and I am very satisfied with him whether it is in Guangzhou or in the national team. So, whether it's from a professional attitude or a personal ability, I can appreciate him. I'm pretty sure he'll be a good coach in the future, there's no doubt he's ready now, and his record in charge of Guangzhou says the same.
Tencent Sports: What do you think is the real reason for the Chinese team to go out?
Lippi: Here and now, it's not easy for me. However, explaining success or failure cannot be a simple reason. What I want to repeat is that having a coaching team of 16 people doesn't seem like a solution, which doesn't seem to give a clear standard, and that's often fundamental. Everyone will have their own opinion, which requires a strong technical officer with sufficient management skills.
Tencent Sports: Recently, many fans on the Internet in China have been criticizing the national football team, have you faced such a moment in your career and coaching career? How do you think players should deal with and face criticism?
Lippi: Social networks are growing rapidly all over the world, and unfortunately, this development is boundless, sometimes invading our lives tremendously.
I live to this age, and if you need it, I can only give one piece of advice: let these sounds be in your body, one ear in and one ear out. When engaging in work, just focus on the profession, do not listen to the voices of criticism and criticism, because some of them are basically nonsense. If not, it will become the real devil in your life.
Tencent Sports: The scene of you leading Evergrande to win the Asian championship is still vivid, but recently the entire Chinese Super League is gradually moving away from the AFC Champions League, due to multiple objective reasons such as entry and exit policies and schedules, most of the teams choose to send young players to participate or give up, what do you think?
Lippi: It sounds sad because China has such a developed cultural, economic and sports strength, and it is one of the strongest countries in Asia. In the AFC Champions League, we have reached our peak and made us a strong team.
I remember when I first arrived in Guangzhou, the big boss received me and he immediately said to me, 'Do you think we can win the AFC Champions League in 5 years?' I replied, 'I don't know, but I can try'. In the time that followed, we did.
We also won Osaka 4-0, Seoul FC 3-0, and a number of big wins. We became the number one club in Asia! It was 8 years ago and I don't know what's going on now.
I am sorry to hear the news that I cannot participate in the AFC Champions League for objective reasons, which is a systemic crisis that affects everyone. I hope everything can come back and the Chinese Super League team can work hard for the best in Asia. Participating in high-level competition will make you stronger, not weaken your strength.
Tencent Sports: The national team is deliberately promoting the rejuvenation of the lineup, and the Guangzhou team encounters difficulties and also needs to replace the old and new, what do you think?
Lippi: It does have positive implications, and if you have to do that, then adapt to reality.
If you have millions of dollars, you can certainly invest widely to improve the strength of the team, of course, this is not to be wasted. If you can't afford it, it's also very good to tap into the potential of young people.
On the one hand, this can greatly reduce economic investment, and if high salaries are no longer provided, then star players will naturally not come over. Then, investing in youth training is naturally very important.
I said that when I was still in China, and I still said it before I left China. Academy, education and coaching are the most worthwhile investments because they will give you a lot of young and growing players on hand. To have good players, you have to have good coaches who know how to teach.
When I was in China, I also changed my philosophy of material selection. I remember a coach who asked the club in front of me, 'Can you tell me which players are good?' The club replied, 'This, that'. Then the coach called up the players according to the prompts they gave.
No, it's wrong! Coaches need to measure, choose, learn and analyze, and then they can help good players grow. Only in this way can you get good results, and you will see the scene of the Chinese team qualifying for the World Cup in the near future, which is not too late.