Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid secured a thrilling 5-4 aggregate win over Chelsea yesterday, further proving that the Italian coach is quietly one of the best in the business.
The 62-year-old Italian coach took over Los Blancos last summer, taking over from Zinedine Zidane, and initial hopes were not high, with many anxious of what the future held. The former Milan coach has dispelled these doubts, doing well to guide Real Madrid to their 35th La Liga title and booking their place in the Champions League semi-finals.
Ancelotti’s CV is proof of his quality; the Italian coach is on course to become the first coach to win the league title in all of Europe’s top five leagues and he’s already the first coach to reach the Champions League semi-finals in four different decades (five if you include his playing career).
Unlike Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola, Ancelotti does not have a specific philosophy he employs when coaching. Instead he adapts to the team available to him, seen with his more attacking Real Madrid side in the recent Chelsea clash and his incredibly defensive Everton during an injury crisis.
The Italian coach is a calm figure on the sidelines, is rarely outspoken in the press and generally keeps a low profile, meaning many casual fans don’t notice his quality from afar. Should he guide Real Madrid to their 14th Champions League title this season, however, things may change.
He sure was a bust at Napoli.
@Joel Totally agree. Had plenty of talent.
It is a bit presumptuous real haven’t won a trophy yet this season under ancelotti however i do see the point despite starting management in the 90s he has managed to be relevant enough to get some of the biggest jobs in club football. It is also interesting to see a football style and conception which is that of that 90s and early 00s compared to klopp or pep with they big football culture concepts it is undated to say the least. I would think a key characteristic is his ability to manage so many big egos and managing to get them to function together effectively.
@Paolo, I agree with you on the man management aspect and his leadership skills.
But Ancelotti’s style is far from outdated.. it’s actually a timeless, stripped down, style that could potentially work with any group of players.
This narrative of Klopp/Guardiola is the prevalent one nowadays thanks to the powerful media presence of the Premier League.
They are great managers and they play great football, but there are different ways to achieve attractive attacking football and still be successful.
Ancelotti has more in common with those managers than you think, the high pressure, the high line defense. These things go back to Sacchi, and Carlo was a student of Sacchi. Ancelotti is more pragmatic of course.
This version of Real Madrid is less attractive than the team he coached in 2013-2015 because they’re older and some of the players are different.
Instead of Marcello, an all attacking fullback, he has a more conservative one like Mendy.
Instead of Ronaldo, he now has Vinicius, who’s fast and likes to dribble, so it’s imperative to play on the counter and focus on the left side.
I support the team under his coaching