The last Italy saw of Marcello Lippi was the 3-2 loss to Slovakia that ended a disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign in which Italy finished last in their group. Their display, described as the “darkest and most terrible day in Italian football”, was hardly what supporters envisioned when Lippi took over the Italian side after winning in 2006. If that championship side showed a Lippi team at their best - unselfish, tactically flexible, a winning mentality - then 2010 showed all that could go wrong with his team first approach. Choosing reliability over brilliance, Italy drew two matches, lost another, and scored four total goals. 

It could have been a disappointing end to an otherwise spotless career. He was 61 years old at the time. Over 30 years and 13 teams, he managed Italian clubs both big (Napoli, Internazionale, Juventus) and small (Atalanta, Lucchese, Cesena, amongst others). But having never worked outside of Italy, it was a surprise when he switched continents altogether to take over as manager of Guangzhou Evergrande in 2012. The most cynical of us would claim Lippi left for a final paycheck, but he insisted it was for the challenge of teaching in a new country. Looking back four years later, Lippi laid the tactical ground floor of an increasingly influential Chinese Super League.   

Broiled in a match fixing scandal that lead to arrests and the club being sold to the Evergrande Real Estate Group two years prior, Lippi was brought in to further the side’s ambitions in Asia. He subsequently won the next three domestic titles (the club are on their fifth consecutive title). But most importantly, Guangzhou Evergrande became the first Chinese team to win the Asian Champions League in 2013. In his three seasons, he managed 126 games and won 82, finishing with a goal differential of +160. He then stayed on as the club’s technical director after retiring in 2014, overseeing an academy of over 2000 youth.

To think of Lippi only as a tactician sells short the depth of his management. Every manager has some level mastery of tactics of course, and Lippi’s sides were known for their in game flexibility. Yet his emphasis on creating a team spirit and unity amongst individual players elevated his sides. According to Sir Alex Ferguson, he set the gold standard in building a winning mentality in his teams. He insisted on building a squad like a family (when the scale slide too far towards harmony, his sides invoked comparisons to Dorian Gray). He was defensive about his team being seen as defensive

Lippi used a 4-3-3 formation with Guangzhou Evergrande, referring to it as the most flexible formation in soccer with wingers moving in to overload the midfield. The ability of the holding midfielder to drop back and create a three man defense was also essential in his view of the modern game (he named Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and Daniele De Rossi as ideal players for the role). This tactical flexibility was the key factor in the club winning Asia’s most decorated trophy. Lippi combined his own South American attacking trio in Dario Conca (who was the third highest paid player in the world at the time, behind Messi and Ronaldo), Elkeson, and Muriqui with the tactical improvement of his domestic players. This was also the reason why Sven-Goran Eriksson stated the club could almost compete in the Premier League.

Lippi’s legacy in China was in transforming a dominant domestic team into a savvy continental champion. In the grander scheme, he bridged a team and league rocked by scandal into laying the technical and tactical groundwork punctuated especially by this January’s transfer window. His influence was so profound he was recommended to be named an honorary citizen. He retired from the club as the only manager to win an unusual treble of the Asian Champions League, UEFA Champions League and a World Cup. But Lippi’s presence and influence was only the tip to a financial iceberg for the Chinese Super League (that goes without mentioning the lifestyle, with Eriksson unable to decide between the cosmopolitan Shanghai and London). 

Paulinho left Tottenham last summer to join Luiz Felipe Scolari at Guangzhou Evergrande. Gervinho joined Hebei China Fortune this current window in a €18 million move. Ramires signed with Jiangsu Suning for £20 million. More importantly, the signings represent players in the prime of their careers (Paulinho is 27, Gervinho and Ramires are 28). Managers in domestic Brazil lament the talent drain to the Super League, yet cannot fault players for receiving up to five times their current salary to head abroad. Playmaker Lucas Lima is the outlier, rejecting a large bid to head East. 

The ambition of Super League clubs are matched by their resources. In addition to bringing in players, the league is looking to Portugal to continue developing technical and tactical talent. The credibility of the league has come along in light years since it was described as 2012, when the country’s game was known for its ineptitude. That article described why Chinese soccer was unlikely to “rule the world” in the near future, focusing on scandals, out of date player development, and a lack of ambition shown by its top players. Four years in the internet age is more than enough time to build a new infrastructure and future, it seems (although the section about scouting players based solely on height is a lesson applicable to any soccer country).      

As for Lippi, he recently reiterated his desire to return to coaching in Serie A. The rumor mill has him headed to AC Milan to reinvigorate the sleeping giants and complete the Bingo game of managing every big side in the league. The pairing would be an apt metaphor - an aging, legendary manager going one last round with a team steeped in, caught between their vast club history and new demands of the modern game.

After all, the last time Lippi managed in Serie A, Milan counted the likes of Maldini, Cafu, Pirlo, Kaka, Gattuso, Rivaldo, Shevchenko, Nesta and Seedorf in their side. How effective can Lippi’s approach be in contemporary Europe? He caught the tail end of tiki taka and missed gegenpressing altogether. His tactical knowledge can be the difference to a team winning domestically and internationally. Yet as Lippi heads home to Italy, he may find that the future of soccer is heading to the country he just left.