SOUTHAMPTON manager Mauricio Pellegrino was inspired to become a coach by Liverpool’s stunning Champions League final comeback in 2005.
Saints boss Pellegrino, who was a Liverpool player at the time, has revealed that it was Rafa Benitez’s tactics in the Champions League final that inspired him to be a coach.
The Argentinian reckons Benitez’s managerial imagination inspired him as a coach, as he changed the Reds’ set-up before they pulled off the stunning three-goal comeback against AC Milan.
Pellegrino, who Benitez brought in from Valencia, was an unused substitute in the final.
He told the Telegraph: “We were 15 days preparing the final, preparing how we press, how we attack, set pieces and in 30 minutes they killed us.
“And Rafa changed everything. For this reason there is something more important than organisation and planning – it is imagination. He changed everything.
“We played with three defenders! We never played with three defenders before but we had to control Crespo and Shevchenko better and maybe it allowed us to be stronger in the middle.
“We played 3-4-3 and we scored three goals and then we changed again and Steven Gerrard played at full back.”
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This change in tactics prompted the Saints boss to become a coach and win trophies leading a team after his retirement in 2006.
The Argentine replaced Claude Puel at St Mary’s, who failed to live up to the achievements of Ronald Koeman despite reaching a League Cup final.
Pellegrino will hoping to achieve a Europa league finish in order to progress the clubs position.
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