Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, remarkably, sometimes does not get the credit he deserves. Perhaps it is the pleasant demeanour and humorous press conferences, but Ancelotti is rarely regarded as a exceptional footballing brain.
And yet, as he points out, he is still at the top of the game. The Italian manager is the only one to have won the title in all five of the major European leagues, while he also has four Champions Leagues, and holds the record for the number of finals he has appeared in.
Speaking at Real Madrid’s European University, Ancelotti explained that football now is a different sport to the one he played.
“It has changed, it is changing and it will change. Both the intensity and the rules, the training and the methodology. It is a different sport than the one played in the 90s. The players are more professional than before. After 30 years I am still here and that means I have adapted well to the change. Technology has changed our lives. My coaching staff tells me I’m old school. I like technology and I try to make it an aid to my work.”
He was also asked about the job of the manager, and Carletto described what was needed to be successful.
“You need intelligent players and a club that supports you. I prefer to try to convince people rather than to impose,” he explained to Diario AS.
While at times Ancelotti, like any manager, has looked a little lost for answers, winning a Champions League with a Real Madrid side that many considered beyond their best was a remarkable achievement. The signing of Jude Bellingham is a major coup, but he is arguably working with one of the weakest squads of any manager at the Santiago Bernabeu in the past two decades. What stands out from his management is no doubt his ability to hold onto the support of the dressing room, come what may.
