Arrigo Sacchi has lifted the lid on Carlo Ancelotti as a player and Coach and enthused that he is the right man for Real Madrid.
Former Madrid sporting director Sacchi has reflected today on his compatriot’s strengths on the bench, as reports continue to suggest Los Merengues are waiting to sign him, should he be released from his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
“His best quality is that he is a chameleon. He plays differently depending on the players he has,” Sacchi told AS today.
“I always say that a Coach’s success depends much on the squad they have to work with.
“But he has the ability to adapt. Carlo is a great person. Very nice.
“The day before the 2007 Champions League Final for Milan, Ancelotti said: ‘[Milan President Silvio] Berlusconi has told me he would like to see [Filippo] Inzaghi in the starting line-up, he gave me the team’.
“What did Ancelotti say to the President? ‘Hopefully he won’t make a mistake’. Obviously, he had already planned to include him.
“Carlo is an extraordinary person and he has never, ever had problems with anyone.”
When he was Coach of Milan himself, Sacchi had Ancelotti as a player in his midfield.
“He was a player of great generosity, great tactical ability in midfield, with personality, character and professionalism. Fantastic.
“I remember Berlusconi saying: ‘I cannot sign Ancelotti, the doctor says he has a 20 per cent less mobile in his knee after his last operation’.
“He had a meniscus problem, it was operated on many times. But I said: ‘If I sign Ancelotti we will win the League. And I do not care if he has a 20 per cent less mobile in the knee, I worry if he is 20 per cent less mobile in the mind’.
“Ancelotti was a master of the midfield. Once [Diego] Maradona said: ‘Arrigo, under you, Ancelotti runs fast’. I replied: ‘He doesn’t run fast, he thinks fast’. He always played on the first touch.”
