Marcello Lippi has revealed he never expected Zinedine Zidane to become a Coach, having worked with the Real Madrid trainer at Juventus.
Lippi was on the bench when Zidane quit the Old Lady for Los Blancos, and has told ’Equipe of his reaction when he heard the now-former midfielder wanted to make the move.
“I said he was crazy and here he would always start,” AS reports the veteran boss saying.
Lippi coached Juve in two spells, 1994 to 1999 and 2001 to 2004, and admitted there was a France international he worked with that he thought would become a successful boss, but it wasn’t Zidane.
“It’s a cliché to say a player is already a Coach on the field, but in my career I had only one player with these features: Didier Deschamps,” he acknowledged.
“Other great players have become coaches and for it was a surprise. Among these is Zidane.
“[The chance to coach Madrid] is an incredible fortune, because people such as Zidane should be at great teams because they are intimately familiar with the psychology, in case of victory and defeat.
“In any case, the opposition plays with an eye on Ronaldo and company, not Zidane on the bench.”
