Ancelotti learned from Zidane that he was wrong about Baggio

Carlo Ancelotti admits he was wrong not to sign Roberto Baggio at Parma and he understood it when he got the Juventus job and coached Zinedine Zidane.

Italian tactician Ancelotti, who is about to take charge of his sixth Champions League Final as a coach, admits he was wrong not to sign Baggio when he had the chance in 1997. The Italian legend was about to leave Milan, but Ancelotti refused to sign him at Parma.

“I had one system that I learnt at Milan from Arrigo Sacchi. It was 4-4-2. And for this I refused to have Roberto Baggio at Parma because he wanted to play No10. I said, ‘No, I don’t play No10.’ He was one of the best players in the world at the time and I refused to have him because I just wanted to play with two strikers,” the Real Madrid coach told The Times.

Ancelotti learned from Zidane that he was wrong about Baggio

“Today, I would say, ‘Baggio, come to Parma, and we’ll arrange the situation.’ Instead, I told him, ‘Listen, Roberto, there is no space for you’ — and he went to Bologna instead. It was a mistake and I tried to change my idea when I went to Juventus. I had Zidane, and he was No10. Should I put him right, or left? Impossible. Zidane is the most important player in my team and he has to be No10 and I have to adapt. From there I always took into account the characteristics of the players to build the system.”

Despite that, Zidane did upset Ancelotti at times, especially once before an away game.

“There was a time at Juventus when Zidane was late, and we were on the bus waiting to go,” Ancelotti recalled.

“I said to the driver, ‘No more, let’s leave,’ but he was scared and wouldn’t move, and then Paolo Montero came down the bus to speak to me. I said to him, ‘Let’s get going, and then we’ll talk.’ But he said, ‘You don’t understand. Without Zizou, we’re going nowhere.’ So that’s when you think, ‘OK, I need to listen to this.’ So we waited.”

Ancelotti reiterated that his teams have more than one identity and that he changes the systems and tactics depending on his players’ qualities as well as opponents.

“To have only one identity of your team is a limit,” he said.

“We played a game in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk. Very good team, Roberto De Zerbi was their coach. What he was doing with full backs, and different positions, really good. But I said to my players, they want you to press. Don’t press. If you press they will pass the ball around you. Don’t press, and they will give the ball to you. We didn’t press — and we won 5-0.

‘No Ancelotti style’

“The key point is I have a lot of passion, but I’m not obsessed,” he continued.

“I’m not obsessed with my job. I never was, not about football. I really liked it, as a player, as a manager, but I don’t become crazy. I’m calm. It’s strange because before the game I am usually really nervous. The two or three hours before, I really don’t feel good. I have fast heart and I start to think bad thoughts, ‘They are going to score, what are we going to do?’ And when I am alone in the build-up, I try to sleep, but am not able to sleep.

“Then immediately when the referee blows his whistle — calm. Ah, we start the game, finally. Then I have no fear. The fear is before and when it starts — optimistic. It will go well. Quite strange. And my heartbeat goes from 120 to 90. Whether the game goes well or whether it goes badly, I am in control of myself. At the press conference, under control. And that is because I am not obsessed.

“There is no style for me. No Ancelotti style. My style is not recognised, because I change.”

Ancelotti recently released another interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, this time about Italian Football and the Azzurri at the Euros. A four-time Champions League winner, Ancelotti said the national team will rely on just one top-class player at Euro 2024.