He's the manager I wanted when Fergie retired. When you look at the teams he's managed, his career kind of mirrors José's but, unlike José, he gets sacked because the boards he works with are very trigger happy, rather than he antagonises and alienates them to the point where they have to get rid.
Carlo Ancelotti | Real Madrid manager
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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He was still considering one of the best managers in the world back then though and had some great teams - didn't win the league with Juventus with peak Zidane, one league with quite a superstar Milan.
Ancelotti could not have done in a million years what Fergie, Pep, Klopp or Mourinho have done at their clubs. He just doesn't possess or at least show their skillset. But likewise, I don't think any of them could or would even survive at the great Milan and the Real Madrid sides, let alone take them to all them CLs. His skillset is tailor made for the politics, dynamic and profiles of these clubs and he will go down in history as the ultimate CL specialist. He definitely deserves his place as one of the greatest managers of his generation and maybe who ever lived, but he is clearly suited to a specific setup and is far from great at different environments. You could probably say the same about all managers though, no one is good at everything.
Abramovich firing him after doing the league and cup double in the era of Ferguson and Wenger is a capital crime.
Why couldn't Fergie?
May I say for the record: Don Carlo is an absolute gentleman and one of the managerial greats of the game. I especially admire his style of football which gives more freedom to it's attacking players, even though it's less rigid. His defensive chops are understated and yet I remember the feeling of hopelessness I felt watching United at the San Siro in 2005 and in 2007...
That 3-0 in the rain is still one of the most one sided games a fergie team endured. Not sure if united even had a proper shot on goal.
Also funnier after this from Andy Gray the day before
"I believe this Milan side is ordinary. "
"Not only will United get a result in Italy next week, they will beat Milan in their own backyard"
"Sure, Kaka is brilliant but go through the team - the keeper is dodgy and the back four is creaking and should hold no fear for United's forwards. Anything else to be scared of? Pirlo? No. Seedorf? No. Ambrosini? No. Gilardino? Definitely not."
"I believe we'll have an all-English final. The only question is whether Chelsea or Liverpool will be involved."
I would be very surprised if Fergie could toe the party line and take a backseat to how things are run to the likes of Berlusconi and Perez. He works best when he controls every aspect of the club and not as a diplomatic figure head who coaches what he's given. Fergie's personality was very dominant for clubs like Milan and Real where the politics and player power has always been too big and they allow it to be like that because it works for them. Fergie worked in an environment at United where he could take years to build and once he started winning, he had too much credit to ever be under pressure bar maybe a short period in the mid '00s. Milan and Real are clubs where they won't ask you to build a team but they also will settle for nothing short ot consistent CL finals, it forces a different way of working that is more targeted to results in the here and now, something that Fergie simply never had to do being in the English game where the position of manager, especially his, is vastly different.
This sounds crazy now but it definitely did not at the time. That Milan side was seen as aging with an abysmal record in the league. They barely ever played well at home. A close if not exact comparison would be Bayern vs Arsenal this year. One team was consistent and doing very well at home with an exciting bunch of young players whereas the other seemed disjointed with some players who were past their best. But it was CL heritage and all that, that Milan side, like some Real sides or even Chelsea sides under Huddink and Di Matteo, they just saved their legs and used all their experience for those knockout games.
We didn't. I watched that match only once and I can still see rabid Gattuso, Seedorf, Kaka... running all over the pitch
It is the year of hating, so I am allowed to say that we were involved in a grueling title race against Chelsea, while Milan had the luxury of not caring about the league
While I'd have given him the third season due to credit in the bank his second season was utterly pitfull.
In regards to this season though, I think he's done one of the best managerial performances in a season of all time (atleast at a big club), had a really destructive injury crisis yet pissed the league and is in a great position to win another UCL.
I agree! This season is his crowning jewel. They sold Benzema and replaced him with Joselu! There'd be riots if we did something similar. He lost his GK and 2 best defenders and the club refused to buy him cover in the winter. Again, imagine if we or any English club did that. The media would the manager licence to be relegated. Of course it helps to have Vinicius and Bellingham and maybe more importantly, the ingrained confidence and ego of a club that won 14 CLs, but if he does the double this season, he really has never had a better season.
Thing is, I'm sure we would have lost the first leg if Gattuso didn't come off injured and replaced by Brocchi. They were the better team and leading when he came off. The warning signs were there
But that neglects the fact our starting CBs for that game were Heinze and Brown. We can't mention one mitigating factor without mentioning all of them. Also we were involved in a gruelling PL race whereas their players were saving themselves for the CL. I think their top level was higher than us because that team had all the experience in knockout CL football but we were definitely the better over the season. We just lack energy at the end of that season and had too many players inexperienced playing on that stage.
Which is why Fergie rectified our lack in depth by getting Nani/Anderson/Hargreaves/Tevez, and by bringing Evans/Pique into the squad. I remember more rotation which did us well in the later part of the season
Definitely plus just the natural progression you get from the experience. It's similar to Arsenal this year to last year except we were better and had the best player in the world at the time. It's almost unheard for a side to win the CL at its first go, you almost always need the experience of failed run. Our 2007 was very exciting but it just lacked some of the maturity that we gained the year after.
You’re the toughest crowd I know
At times, then I realize I'm being an obstinate jackass and give proper due:
Milan genuinely didn't care. As long as they won it every once in a while, say, 3-4 years, they were happy letting Moggi acquire the titles for Juventus. Hell, Galliani all but said so himself. It just wasn't a priority for them year to year, it was all about the CL for them in those yearsWhere have we heard that before, not caring about the league?
Sure, could have won 2 titles with PSG, could have won more with Madrid, could have won more with Chelsea...
Milan, no. Funny thing is he managed Juventus in the 2 years were higher political concerns forced them to let the Roman teams win
Running out of time. Perez might get Zizou in as an interim by Christmas time if things don’t improve. Team looks abysmal.
TF is going on? Both Bayern and Madrid failing in the CL.
Feels at this point that the only thing to stop Abu Dhabi FC from winning it is if the charges stick.
Feels at this point that the only thing to stop Abu Dhabi FC from winning it is if the charges stick.
At least Bayern lost to an Emery Villa team. We lost against fecking Lille
Or against ourselves really, been poor against every single opponent. Things aren’t working for us.Funny, if ancelotti was Utd manager he’d be given a lifetime contract, Real are thinking of sacking him after a few average performances. We on the other hand continue to back a loser like ETH.
He has one of the best squads in the world. No excuses. Need to win and play much, much better.
He tweaked things last season and found the winning team. But it looks unlikely this season. Two months in and it’s a rough watch game after game.
Good. Let's hope they sack him so we can have him before Christmas
He's got 5 Champions League titles, no other manager in history has more than 3.
He's won league titles in all of Europe's top 5 leagues, no other manager has won titles in more than three of those leagues.
Surely that's worthy of some praise? At least a "good enough"?
The team is emotionally drained after last year, coach included. They could sack him but I think the next one would find the same indolence.
A good beating against a serious rival would do them good.
On the other hand Tchouameni is not up to the level to run the midfield.
A good beating against a serious rival would do them good.
On the other hand Tchouameni is not up to the level to run the midfield.
Kind of had problems written all over it with Mbappe coming into a already ego heavy squad. Don Carlo likely to be available before Xmas?
Am I correct in saying this is his last year with Madrid, and then he's retiring?
If so, who do you think will take over?
I think Xabi Alonso is nailed on for the job.
He has a two-year contract. If he gets sacked before , I think he would take a chance on Brazil.
It seems that the favorite is Xabi Alonso. It could also happen that everything goes very very bad for Carletto. In that case I would bet on Zidane until the end of the season and then maybe continue for another year.
He has to go.
I thank him for the trophies we have won but to tune in week in and week out to watch this team, especially so far this season has become into a nightmare.
Our football is so abysmal, we are a tactical mess, many players look lost on the pitch, and the fact that any semi good team make us look poorly coached is shocking, among many other issues. It makes you think what the hell they do in the week to be this bad. I know that Carlo only idea of football in the past seasons have been long balls to Vini and wait for a moment of brilliance, and/or a mix of both Vini + parking the bus, and some luck for most games.
Lot’s of things aren’t working, that's for sure. But if he can only think of bringing in more fullbacks and play with six defenders when things need some tweaking, then, I very much doubt that he’s going to get away with it this season.
I thank him for the trophies we have won but to tune in week in and week out to watch this team, especially so far this season has become into a nightmare.
Our football is so abysmal, we are a tactical mess, many players look lost on the pitch, and the fact that any semi good team make us look poorly coached is shocking, among many other issues. It makes you think what the hell they do in the week to be this bad. I know that Carlo only idea of football in the past seasons have been long balls to Vini and wait for a moment of brilliance, and/or a mix of both Vini + parking the bus, and some luck for most games.
Lot’s of things aren’t working, that's for sure. But if he can only think of bringing in more fullbacks and play with six defenders when things need some tweaking, then, I very much doubt that he’s going to get away with it this season.
So nice to just have zidane around whenever the club finds itself in trouble
Ten Hag can fix Madrid
If I was Xabi, I would stay the feck away. This has post SAF United or post Zidane Real vibes written all over it.
Ironically, at this moment, we are the best team he can manage to further his career. Walking into that ego infested dressing room with players who will refuse to follow his tactics, will surely get him sacked sooner rather than later.
The way I see it, the Real job with Vini and Mbape is like a poisoned chalice. Wouldn't risk my CV going there.
Sign him up
Is the same thing happening with them that happened with us, has signing mbappe effected there chemistry? Like Ronaldo under Ole for us.
Ancelotti gives me Fergie vibes. He’d get the respect of the players. He’d demand a lot.