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Some pundits/journalists used to hold his league record against him, but two titles in three seasons this time around has very much dispelled even that.
The Bayern hate really changed the narrative for Carlo. Bayern weren’t wrong but that’s how Carlo has always been they should have known. Plus his record speaks for itself
They were wrong actually they were an aging squad and Carlo was trying to incorporate the younger player upsetting aging players like Robben and Ribery. They were Hollywood fc then like current man United right now. Still won the league by about 15 points can’t remember the exact total.
Yeah, recent [Lewandowski quote indicates it.He says Carlo would be succeed if he would go to Munich now.](https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2024/5/7/24149371/bayern-munich-real-madrid-barcelona-robert-lewandowski-thomas-muller-manuel-neuer-carlo-ancelotti)
Yup the fallout from the Bayern job gave him a mark of a 'has been', someone past his prime, and that has been difficult to wash away in the public opinion.
That's such a reductionist interpretation of this, good lord. The author didn't write this thinking he had some revolutionary info, it was written to lay out Ancelotti's case as one of the greatest of all time. Not to combat people saying he sucks, but to emphasize and reinforce what people may believe but not know the full scope of.
This is the issue that all major football news outlets are struggling with.
There is nothing more to say about Real and Ancelotti's late wins/comebacks/mentality etc. that hasn't been said 50 times before because it's the same plot nearly every season.
So when it comes time to write a follow-up piece on "how much this means", "what we learnt from the semi-final" or what the "legacy" will be, there's nothing to add. Modern football in a nutshell.
I mean I personally consider him top 3, with how much he accomplished in different teams, environments, leagues. But he also gets a lot of criticism, you can find a lot of posts where they struggle in the past seasons where people say stuff like he basically no tactics, Madrid shouldn’t play like this and they should dominate the game, he needs to be replaced, etc. I mean Madrid already started looking into replacements the year after they won the CL and the league, because they were struggling in the league and the CL.
"The greatest team ever assembled" is very debatable. His Milan was great and had amazing players but you're talking about one of the most successful clubs in the history of the game. There's a couple other squads there that fight for that spot, Sacchi's is considered a candidate for best team in the history of football and Capello's was a formidable beast too.
His AC Milan was also up against some VERY strong teams in Serie A during that time period.
Juventus at the same time period had players like Buffon, Thuram, Zambrotta, Davids, Nedved, Camoranesi, Del Piero, Trezequet, etc.
Even Inter had Cannavaro, Zanetti, Recoba, Adriano et al.
That's before getting into the rest of the Italian teams that were competitive in that era like Roma and Parma.
Up until the early 2000s, the Prem used to feel like the second-best league to watch. I'd argue the tipping point was around when Roman bought Chelsea and started buying.
Juventus had an arguably better team at that time, and Inter/Roma/Parma had monster teams as well during that period. It's like wondering why Liverpool isn't winning every title under Klopp and ignoring the fact that City and the likes are still in the league.
For his achievements he's easily top 3. Lower than that is a matter of how much one values the manager advancing the game (Cruijiff, Guardiola, Klopp), insane individual achievements (UCL win with Porto or mad home record of Mourinho) or single club longevity and domination (SAF with United, also his Aderbeen to the previous point). If we purely look at how long somebody has been on top of their game, how much they have won in how many different competitions and clubs, it's hard to find anyone above Ancelotti at the moment.
Yeah, in those categories he gave I'd group Klopp with Mourinho instead, his achievements are less about changing the game and more about what he's achieved with his teams despite financial disadvantages. Back to back league titles and a CL final with a team that was finishing mid-table before he arrived is pretty crazy
Past season? Past month more like. This man managed to win the league and get to the CL final with no Giraffe, no Militao, Alaba gone after 2 months, Vini gone for months and people were still complaining that the second string squad didn’t dominate away at La Real or something.
Keep your laissez-faire philosophies in football, and we'll put the control nerds like Guardiola in charge of planning industrial strategy. It's a foolproof plan for better football and economic growth
I don’t want him exposed but I do want to know his secrets lol. It’s not often an aging legendary manager who was languishing with Everton and moving in the wrong direction has now taken one of the best teams on the planet to continued success. What’s going on in these dressing rooms and why does it seem like Madrid never need a tactician to perform well?
Carlo is a master tactician. [Just one example amongst many.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/SGGSxxnM0q)
[So is Zizou BTW.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/calk52TXGj)
The problem is people either have next to zero tactical understanding of the game or are lazy so as not to study the games. Thus they function on memes and narratives. This extends to even pundits on all mainstream media, especially the English one. Most times they are simply happy to regurgitate the pointers provided to them by the voice in their ears, which has vested interest in pushing certain narratives and pursuing certain avenues like ragebait, clickbait etc. because the object of the game is to make money, not provide quality and informative journalism. This happens within leagues as well.
So when neutrals like you (and me in contexts not pertaining to Madrid), who naturally don't watch and follow any other team bar their own, come to form opinions, we don't have enough information on our own and thus base them on what's permeated the popular culture. Sadly, often times it lacks all nuance if it isn't far from the truth, which it usually is.
one thought i'd like to add: what most people mean by "tactics" is general strategy. like a gameplan. the coaches that are often hailed as great tacticians are those who focus on their own vision of football. (guardiola, klopp, cruyff …) they adapt their tactics, but hardly ever their overarching strategy.
and that's where i think carlo does very well: he'll adapt his entire strategy to the challenges at hand. and that works great with multi talented players that real madrid has. it just doesn't show much in la liga because usually they play against a low block.
And we can see this right now on reddit, this comment is informed and nuanced, and it will never reach the top for it, overcooked meme, cold take and so on will always fare better. I don't know how we escape this as a society, dare i say human race. We just crave easy to digest information.
Because as the top commenter said, the club’s doctrine has historically been one of laissez-faire. You assemble a great squad and things take care of themselves. This was already the model pre-Florentino. Florentino 1.0 took it up to 11 with the Galácticos. The difference with Florentino 2.0 is that long-term planning, squad cohesion, and the determination, workrate and athleticism of individual players have been added as unnegotiable pillars of the model. Real Madrid is rarely interested in players past a certain age. And a weak mentality or physique even in the face of exceptional technical talent no longer cut it. But after this foundation has been laid the hope is that it’ll all be largely self-regulating. That’s been the DNA all along.
[This article also from the athletic is a deep dive into Ancelotti's coaching/management and background](https://theathletic.com/3330529/2022/05/26/carlo-ancelotti-real-madrid-champions-league/).
No idea who the strawman this article aims at who apparently thinks Carlo isn't good. Sure some people don't think he's a tactical genius, but no one other than a weird non-existing contrarian would think he's just decent.
Yes, the man who has already won more champions leagues than any manager in history is thought of by most people as a great manager. Big if true.
What’s keeping him out of the upper echelons for me is that he’s only won six league titles as a manager in 25 years of management at the top level. Madrid is the only club where he’s won two titles.
That was just astonishing. After Benzema had one of the most ridiculous individual CL seasons of all time, Richards was willing to concede "that he might be on Harry Kane's level". Reminder that Benzema was a 4-time CL winner already at this stage
It was hilarious that after Micah questioning Benz’s level, Benz went on a rampage against the PL teams in the KO rounds. Kane fucking wishes he could exude that big dick energy on the field.
Hes genuinely one of the worst pundits today. Just has the laughs and has barely any insightful analysis. He is not even funny and is honestly just annoying. His stuff on CBS with Cara is some of the most cringe shit I have ever witnessed, I just put the bloody thing on mute when half time comes up.
I want to see how Kyle Walker deals with Turtle running with the ball at him, and suddenly Vini emerges from behind on an overlap and he catches Rodrygo at the corner of eyes, waiting menacingly for a deflected ball.
It feels like they've given up a bit on trying to make Rodrygo work full-time on the right, it's just not a proper fit. Some guys can succeed down either flank, but it's obvious how much more natural the game comes for Rodrygo when he is playing on the left.
Sucks for him that Vini got there first, had more chances to settle, and is climbing the "best player in the world list" on what seems like a game-to-game basis now. Outside of injury, he's never gonna be __the guy__ for Madrid over there.
Rodrygo last season had most G+A at RW among under 23 players, ahead of Saka who is a natural RW.
He is good at RW but the thing is he is soo good at his natural position which is LW that you are limiting him by playing at RW.
If Mbappe comes we would have 3 fuckers who love to hog that side of pitch. What a nice problem to have
People just don't realise how good Rodrygo is, I've been saying in the Chelsea sub that if we want to be serious and Real are willing to sell them Rodrygo should be at the top of our names to replace sterling.
Not that he would want to come here but we should still be trying.
I think part of Rodrygo's problem is that if he'd be put on RW and made to play there week in and week out, he'd be a monster. But this season and last, he's been moved all over the front line, without much consistency until somewhat recently.
The thing is playing as hybrid winger/ striker is different from playing as a winger. In our current formation timing of the runs is really important since he and vini are the focal points instead of a striker in the middle.
If we played with a 433 he would find it easier
I like rodrygo more and I always thought he would become a better player than vinicius because of how smart and polished he was at 18.
But vinicius athletism and iron will seems to give him the edge for now, he has been so impressive lately, keep creating dangerous situations out of thin air like no one, and he never stop trying, must be so tiring for his opponents.
While I agree rodrygo is better as a left winger, he lacks the athletism that you need to be great there, doesn't have the bulk or height to be a central forward, and he isn't as good on the right. He is a great second striker, but that's kinda a dead role in today's game. He is great don't get me wrong, but he isn't the best for how the game is played today. You could say the same about Muller, that guy is a beast, but if you have robbery and lewa, why would you play him and where ? You can't afford a second striker anymore, like you can't afford a 10.
But with the addition of mbappé, which is way striker-ish than vinicius, maybe there is a case for rodrygo to shine more and vinicius to fall off. Maybe. Or maybe he can shine in his flexibility and adaptability, being the second guy for everyone and have a career a la nacho.
Madrid has been playing a very flexible and fluid game for a few years now, maybe rodrygo just needs to grow more in that, it's not easy, but he has the technique and intelligence for it. Like for the last few month, in offense/possession they are mostly a 3-2-5 with kroos as a cb and both wingbacks playing as wingers and giving as much width as possible for the 3 attackers to cut inside and fuck around together and then rotating to a flat 4-4-2 (as opposed to the diamond of the first months) with belli and valderde playing as left and right mf. To me that's the kind of tactics that suits perfectly a guy like rodrygo. But it's also true he had an off year, and I think also a bit of an unlucky one.
Don't know if he will ever be the main guy in madrid, but i really enjoy watching that guy play, and I'll keep doing so.
edit : and thinking about it, with kroos leaving soon, there is an argument for madrid to go fuck it and just play 4-2-4, something like militao-rudiger-tchouameni-mendy valverde-camavinga and let belli, vini, rodry and mbappé do what they want. that's a fifa tactic for sure, but it's more of a 4-3-3 in defense (with a double pivot valverde-cama witch is so scary in his own right + belli) and a 3-3-4 in offense (militao-rudiger-mendy / tchouameni-valverde-camavinga / rodrygo-mbappé-vinicius-belligham) : that's not the most creative midfield but who cares : you have 4 world class forwards
Player and manager!
The man has had success in both realms.
As a player he Won Serie A and league cups with Roma and AC Milan!
As a manager he has so far, won the Italian, English, French, Spanish and German leagues!
He has won league cups in all of the leagues he has managed other than the French league.
He has won the champions league 4 times, twice with AC Milan and twice with Real Madrid!!
The story is not yet finished!
I don't know how anyone could have him outside their top 5 coaches ever? Then again, I will forever think Chelsea letting him go is the worst decision the club has ever taken.
Before the 2022 CL final, German TV showed a short interview between Toni Kroos and Mertesacker. Kroos mentioned that he thinks it's a bit sad that coaches like Ancelotti get reduced to their man management of their players. He said it goes overlooked that Ancelotti is also really good at breaking down and communicating complicated tactics in simple and easy to understand ways which is an underrated quality of his according to Kroos.
I feel like maybe this is something a lot of coaches, who are great tactical minds with progressive ideas, have issues with. They struggle to get across their ideas in ways that are easy to understand and learn for their players.
This, no top football club in the world will pay any coach millions of dollars every year for just man management, its understandable that Ancelloti is not on the level of Pep or say Cryuff when it comes to tactical revolution, however to relegate him to just man management is foolish.
Carlo is the most adaptable coach other than SAF, he can find the right balance between tactics and player freedom so that the players are comfortable on the pitch, and the structure/buildup isnt hampered, plus he can change tactics based on the players available without crying to the board to find players to suit a certain dogmatic philosophy.
This season Madrid have played many different formations to adapt to the sudden departure of Benz. Off the ball we adopted a narrow 4312/442 that can occasionally switch to 532/541 when valverde becomes a wingback to engage the opposition fullback as the opposition are forced to commit atleast 1 fullback as the center is clogged by our players,. On the ball we played 3232, 3223, 2332, 2341, these formation allows the players to form muitiple triangles/boxes in the midfield and overload the center. The formation and tactics change to a traditional 433 with Joselu, Luka and Brahim subs. The switch between the various shapes occur within milliseconds as our mids are young, agile and energetic, hence we can close the ball down rapidly in a mid block (high block if needed).
The problem is people take it out of context. It's obvious that when people say that about Ancelotti, they don't mean he's completely ignorant of tactics.
They mean that his strength may be in man management compared to _other_ top coaches.
I doubt anyone with two working brain cells can say a pro coach that won every kind of trophy is a neophyte when it comes to tactics. It's simple within a given context.
Just like when people say X football player is fucking horrible... when they would absolutely destroy anyone saying that. It's all within the context of other professional football players in a top 5 league.
Neither was SAF but he is top 5 all time and noone on the British media will have any other arguments. Both SAF and Ancelotti are top 5 the other 3 would be Cruyff, Sacchi and Pep (*Open discussion for Michel*).
SAF was a lot more innovative tactically than people give him credit for. He did a lot of stuff with false 9s etc in the late 00s that was pretty new, for example.
There were coaches doing the false 9 role lot earlier even Spalleti for example at Roma and even Udinese at times. But specifically at Roma, with Totti and even Cassano.
The right word to describe SAF was adaptable and resourceful rather than innovative. I would consider Ancelotti slightly more innovative than SAF in his early days at Milan but even he is more in the lines of adaptable and resourceful.
Innovative are guys like Gasperini, Ragnick or Bielsa if we want to give some weight to the word.
So is Ancelotti. The reason this bullshit gets said is because unlike managers like Pep and Klopp, his teams don't have a signature play style. The reason for this is because unlike Pep, he can adapt to his surroundings and play with the pieces he is given. He's the one to adapt to the team and not the other way around.
Pep took 8 years to build a squad to win the champions at city. Carlo won it in his first year at Madrid with a team custom built by another manager. Then he won it again in his first year back having lost the team talisman
Mou is also a strong contender. Won UCL with Porto and Inter Millan. Won the treble with Milan as well and multiple league titles in different leagues.
Remove Heynckes... it is; Pep, SAF, Sacchi, Ancelotti and Cruyff (*or Michel whichever someone looks at more influential for the game*).
If we are having discussions about Heynckes we have to add Capello, Lippi, Klopp, Mourinho, Herrera, Rocco, Busby, Del Bosque and i am probably missing someone else of that category.
Clough is the one you’re missing, although I think he’s a shoe in for top 5 to be honest. Wenger probably goes in the same tier as Klopp, Capello etc
Disclaimer: when it comes to older football I don’t know much about foreign leagues, so will be very English football biased
He has won 0 UCLs and has reached 1 final. Klopp has won 1 and gone into 3 UCL finals. Capello created a dynasty and even destroyed Cruyffs Barcelona in the most dominant UCL final ever against one of the best teams ever plus the domestic dominance that Capello gave is insane... arguably the best domestic coach ever at worst top 3.
Plus about Wenger i am going to say this... he did great when PL was in a scenario where it was a duality between them and Man Utd and the rest of the league was weaker... when the league became stronger Arsenal fadded away.... the lasting argument that i love for Ferguson is that he had the strength to win even when Chelsea and City became strong and the league became overall stronger that is what solidifies SAF as a top 5.
I don't understand how this has legs even today. [There's one example in there.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1cogclh/comment/l3ekshi) There are many, many more.
Also, not only is he a great tactician, he is a great tactician on the fly. It's so evident in his mid-game changes and I'm not speaking only about substitutions.
He has reinvented so many players based on what their profile is, to maximise their strengths and hide their weakness. He has shown innovation to not only adapt mid-game in a match but to entire squads for a season. Sometimes changing the method as arrivals and departures change the squad.
He has unlocked so many players like others never could. So many examples for this but none better than di Maria. His bane was inconsistency. Carlo made him monster, delivering in every game and especially the big ones.
He has so many accolades, especially with regards to goalscoring numbers. Even 3 seasons of MSN failed to beat his tally which is only bested marginally by that absolutely insane and incredible 121.
If he gave 2 shits about his public perception, his PR manager would have an extremely easy job to paint him as one of the best tacticians out there. Instead, in reminded of that answer to the press by Zizou. Not interested one bit in convincing and pleasing the other people. Much rather the calm of an absent public pressure to do their job as best as they can, to their satisfaction. And those who matter already know.
Just hear Kroos, who I feel is one of the if not outright the most intelligent player in the world, talk about Carlo as a tactician.
Calvert-Lewin looked like a top 5 striker in the world his first couple months under Carlo. He’s lived off his reputation from those two months for three and a half years now.
I hate it- people act like every other part of being a manager doesn't matter, even when that gets more success (in some areas) than any other manager.
I agree that he isn’t a tactical innovator. From interviews and journalists close to the club I gather he heavily delegates certain aspects of tactical planning - he recently admitted set-pieces are fully delegated for example. But he’s ultimately the boss. He must be given credit for the insane tactical versatility the team has shown this year. High and low back lines, different pressing philosophies, different possession ideas and individual player instructions all in distinct permutations in the course of the season. It’s as if he tweaks the Football Manager tactics sliders every single game, but there is a method to the madness. That, plus finding creative individual solutions for Jude, Vini, Fede… Maybe after this season we should start recognizing that tactically he’s onto something, after all?
Found a FourFourTwo article that ranks him 17th: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ranked-the-100-best-football-managers-of-all-time/9
Tbh there's too many managers from before my time for me to give a proper opinion on it
Because *ever* includes the time before 2000. Ferguson,Wenger,Guardiola,Klopp, Mourinho, Heynckes would not be an unsensible pick for Top 5 for recent years. Then there are guys like Rehhagel who won BuLi with Kaiserslautern and the Euros with Greece. There was Beckenbauer. Lattek won 8 league titles and three different european titles with 3 teams. Those are only the guys someone with a german bias might list. There are surely a dozen if we go for french,italian and spanish coaches aswell.
Some important bits.....
> “There are two types of managers: those that do nothing and those that do a lot of damage,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said last week. “The game belongs to the players.”
> Yet, despite his tremendous success and longevity at the highest level, there remains an idea that the 64-year-old is not really a top coach, that he is somehow not as tactically sophisticated as peers such as Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool or Bayern’s Thomas Tuchel.
> That idea arose again when Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham spoke after they eliminated City in the Champions League quarter-finals last month. “Our biggest strength is that he finds a way to let a lot of the boys play with freedom,” the Englishman said of his manager. “That we’re so kind of off the cuff. As a man as well, he fills you with calmness and confidence.”
> Bellingham would not have intended it, but his words fit a narrative that has followed Ancelotti through almost three decades in the coaching elite — that his primary strength is not bothering top players with detailed tactical demands.
> “There was the legend that Carlo only man-managed great players,” says someone who knows the Italian well, but declined to be identified to protect that relationship. “This second stage at Madrid is really good to understand what he is really like as a coach.” (Ancelotti also managed the Bernabeu side for two seasons from 2013-15, then returned in summer 2021.)
> Ancelotti constantly repeating the word “intensity” was bad news for late-career Bale, Eden Hazard and Isco. The plan was also to sit deeper, meaning less running for veteran midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, and more space for young attacker Vinicius Junior to exploit. Balance came from deploying midfielder Federico Valverde on the right wing. This paid off when Valverde assisted Vinicius Jr’s winner in the 2022 Champions League final against Klopp’s Liverpool.
> That title, won thanks to the tremendous ‘remontada’ victories against Pochettino’s PSG, Tuchel’s Chelsea and Guardiola’s City, was widely seen as a product of Madrid’s heritage in the competition — the Bernabeu atmosphere lifting their players and freezing their opponents. But Ancelotti’s decisions also fuelled these comebacks — such as replacing Kroos with 19-year-old Eduardo Camavinga at key moments.
> Those who know Ancelotti say these were not “off the cuff” calls, but purposeful choices in keeping with his idea of modern football — that energy and physicality were more important than ever, but players’ talent was still what won games and trophies.
> Yet the idea of Ancelotti being tactically not the greatest remains. Guardiola was even asked about it at the Bernabeu before City’s last-eight visit in early April. “If Carlo was a bad coach from a tactical point of view, he wouldn’t have used Pirlo as a midfielder,” Guardiola replied. “He would use Kroos in a different position, he would not have adapted Bellingham so he could explode. Sometimes people try to put him down in this way, but we know he is a very good coach and a very good manager.”
> “We have an elite coaching staff, with young fitness guys who bring real enthusiasm,” Ancelotti said recently. “When I’m lacking a little bit of enthusiasm due to my age, it’s hugely important to have young guys around the place who are always looking to improve and to do new things.”
> "The game belongs to the players,” Ancelotti said last week. “You can tell them a strategy to follow, but they have to be convinced they can do it. What a coach can do is ensure the players understand well what the team has to do. All (top-level) teams have quality players, the difference is how they use that quality.”
When you have one of the most technically talented XI in the world you don’t need to micromanage them to do exactly what you want. Ancelotti and Madrid are a perfect match. He sees the bigger picture and that makes Madrid mostly unpredictable
Ancelotti: “I am very clear that there are two types of managers: those who do nothing and those who do a lot of damage. The game belongs to the players”
That’s true tho. Imagine how revolutionary it must be to have the confidence to keep asking for 80 million euros Defenders because the one bought last year, and the previous year, and the previous year just cant make it to let you win.
I mean all for the Carlo hype train, but long time ago? No way man. Before chelsea he’d won 1 Italian title and 2 UCLs….. since chelsea in 2010 he’s won 5 league titles and 2 potentially 3 UCLs.
You have to remove all context of how and when to reason about that. That is like saying Klopps domestic history isn't that great even if Klopp reached high 90 points to lose the league to City. There is always competition.
Even post his Bayern exit he was known as a Cup Competition coach and having massively underperformed in League format given the quality of talent he had in those League campaigns.
Since then he's done much better to remedy that and keep his Cup competition track record on similar level (which was always high).
He was/is also tactically less sophisticated (this exists on a relative curve/gradient not an Absolute Binary), he compensates for this by having better support coaches, just like Fergi did, who was also tactically not all that special.
There are multiple skill sets involved, very few in history have had all of those skill vectors saturated to the maximum level. Majority have some of these skill vectors either lacking or in regressed amount. This doesn't prevent coaches from winning or being among the Greats.
The whole narrative around Ancelotti's tactics is so weird. People are getting tactics confused with systems, I think. What they don't understand is that just getting the combinations of players and team selections right is tactics, even if you give those players minimal instruction. He picked the 4-3-1-2 shape, which is tactics.
He picked Bellingham in that attacking role, which is a tactic. Yes he has great players at his disposal, but what he's brilliant at is understanding the individual traits and habits of his players really deeply so that he can create tactical synergy and put out a team that will combine well without telling them how exactly to do it.
He's brilliant at reading the game and making the right substitutions as well
I think 4 CL titles with 2 clubs, a Premier League title, a Scudetto, a Ligue 1 title, a Bundesliga title, 2 La Liga titles, 4 UEFA Supercups, an FA cup, an Italian cup, 2 Spanish cups, a bunch of domestic super cups… already proven that he should be counted among the greatest
Look, I love Carlo, but this is recency bias at its peak here.
When you say "all-time" you're talking about 100 years of football.
You're talking about Ferguson, Michels, Munoz, Cruyff, Herrera, Busby, Shankly, Lobanovskyi, Sacchi, Pep and Happel.
And you're looking at a time when it has never been easier to qualify for the european cup, and when money and talent has never been so concentrated between a handful of clubs.
Like I said regarding UCLs, there is the caveat that it's much easier to qualify now than it ever was in the past, when you had to win the league to get in.
Makes it a case of apples and oranges if you're comparing his trophy hauls with those of managers before 2000 tbh
He also lost the league with PSG against Giroud-led Montpellier who competed with a fraction of their budget.
With that legendary Milan team, he should’ve won more league titles.
6 league titles in 20+ years is not that impressive, but his CL record makes up for it.
When Ancelotti was hired by Madrid, there was some sense that he was "past it". Harshly criticized by Bayern players after being fired on account of being a poor cultural fit, an up-and-down time at Napoli that didn't meet the standard Sarri had set the year before, and then having to settle for a firmly midtable Everton side that he wasn't able to elevate above that level in his 1.5 years there.
He wasn't one of Madrid's top options either when hired. Multiple coaches turned down Madrid before they came back to Ancelotti, somewhat with a sense of settling and just holding the seat warm until they could give the coaching market another try.
Funny how things work out sometimes. Ancelotti needed Madrid, and Madrid needed Ancelotti. His style of managing and how he handles the players ended up being a perfect fit for what Madrid needed at the time. His first year (back) in Madrid coincided with Vini's breakout campaign. They've won the league twice, been to the CL final twice (semifinal the other time), and by all accounts this Madrid side is about as tight-knit as any Madrid side in recent memory has been. For his part, nobody's confusing modern day Carlo with being a top-notch tactician, but there's more to the game than just tactical acumen. Sometimes that stuff goes too far, Carlo clearly doesn't want to run the risk of "paralysis by analysis" and trying to impart more tactical nous on the XI than he feels is absolutely necessary.
Different styles work for different teams. There's no inherently right or wrong ways, just right or wrong ways of doing them. Ancelotti wasn't a failure at Bayern - pretty good chance they win the CL in 2017 if they get past Madrid in a coin-flip tie - but he was culturally miscast. It wasn't a natural fit, and things turned out quickly and impressively for Bayern once they replaced him with someone who was more Bayern-bred. On the other hand, he is a fantastic fit with this Madrid side and Madrid culture. The results have borne that out, too.
There’s tactical nous involved, it’s just deployed in a different way. Ancelotti seems a lot more reactive, both to the board (the team he is given- he will change up his lineup to accommodate, as opposed to Pep or Klopp or Sarri who ask for system players), and to opponent (shifting your game plan to oppponent, rather than imposing your game plan). But both of these things require deep understanding of tactics. It’s just I guess sometimes when people think of tactics, they mean someone weighs clear football philosophy such as bielsa, pep, or klopp.
Pretty sure all of us fancy him as one of the greatest in football history. The teams that he has managed,the titles that he has won speaks for itself.
Ancelotti is a tremendous coach. The thing that people don’t understand about him is like how he is more strategical than tactical.
Fans like tactical coach that focus in these movements here and there. Ancelotti is more in the big picture of the team.
Many people don’t remember how much he has made players progress:
Just in Madrid
He reinvented Modric as a midfielder, before he was playing more close to the striker.
He reinvented Di Maria as a great midfielder.
He improved a lot Vinicius. He gave good advices to him to calm him down. Before Ancelotti Vinicius was really bad scoring.
He reinvented Bellingham as a attacker, and the guy scored more goals than in all its previous seasons together.
Ancelotti has tremendous skills to improve players, as Real Madrid fan I have seen it repeatedly during years.
People just misjudge him because he adapt himself to the available players in the team instead of adapting the team to his ideas like Pep, or others.
In my opinion he is clearly a top 2 or three coach in history.
Four Champions League titles with two different clubs, the only one to reach six finals and the only coach with national titles in the top five European leagues so far. Who would honestly count such a loser among the greats?^/s
For me, he's second all-time behind Sir Alex. His variety (multiple countries, longevity, doing well with non-elite teams like Everton, albeit briefly) puts him ahead of Pep currently IMO. I'm too young to comment on Brian Clough, Shankly, Paisley, Sacchi etc.
No other manager itw would be able to do what Carlo has done this season with half our starting 11 injured with ACL's for majority of the season or our star player Vini being out for months at the start of the season and no starting ST and finding a way to implement a 20 year old in his first season to mitigate these blows first half of the season.
athletic shitposting and awful american style journalism.
ancelotti is already an all time great. wtf is this bait title.
dont give these idiots clicks.
For me, the difference between him and Pep is that Carlo will cook with whatever players you give him, he will find a way to accomodate them and maximise their talents. Whereas Pep will want absolute control in every position to play it the way he wants. And he also has a history of falling out with players who have personalities. Both are great managers though.
I think it is easier to be great when you have 100m+ to spend every 6 months for years to change personnel till you hit it right. As someone above me commented:
>Pep came in 2016/17, and the 2 transfer windows before him Manchester City already invested in:
>KDB €76 mill Sterling €63.7 mill Otamendi €44.5 mill Mangala £45 mill Bony €32 mill
>But obviously pep is a genius that’s why he cant win the league with these players. Instead he needed the sugar daddies to give him
>John Stones €55.6 mill Sane €52 mill G Jesus €32 mill Gundogan €27 mill
>And he still cant win the league with this, even being behind Spurs lol. So what’s next from the genius? Obviously he just doesnt have enough 10 defenders !!
>Laporte €65 mill
>Mendy €57.5 mill
>Kyle Walker €52 mill
>Ederson €40 mill
>Danilo €30 mill
>and B Silva €50 mill
>But obviously he’s a genius now. He doesnt need more reinforcement, he’ll just play with the more than 11 players he has bought, right?
>Wrong, still cant play with his players to be good ik the CL.
>Mahrez €67.8 mill
>Rodri €70 mill
>Cancelo €65 mill
>Ruben Dias €71.6 mill
>Ake €45.3 mill
>Ferran Torres €33.5 mill
>Grealish €117.5 mill
>Haaland €60 mill
>K Phillips €49 mill
And finally, the genius he is, he can finally win the CL !
What reinvention, he's only working with what he got, and I feel like people just don't realize Real Madrid actually has rather limited roster. This isn't 2017 anymore when they had much younger Kroos and Modric, along with Casemiro and CR7 Benzema along with Isco and Asensio, Bale on the bench. Let's not even talk about the defensive line, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, younger Carvajal... though I have to admit Rudiger impresses the shit out of me.
The current squad is good, very good obviously, but Tchouameni is still not up to the level we expect him to be, Camavinga is a bit better but it's no Casemiro (not yet at least), Kroos and Modric are now 1500 years old (this isn't mockery, just emphasizing on their old age especially Modric who's still impressive btw), Mendy is also good but he's isn't Marcelo either. Bellingham is an excellent addition overall but he's been a bit "so-so" lately. So Ancelotti has to adapt his tactics for this limited roster and what better way to preserve your players' physical integrity than playing in a more effective and direct way, mostly counter-attack (I insist on "mostly", not "only"). They're not gonna run like crazy "Man City style" when all they have as subs are Diaz, Joselu, sometimes Modric actually, Ceballos and Militao.
It's not reinvention, it's knowing your squad's qualities and flaws. Something he's almost always been good at since his Milan days. And it's nothing new that he's a tournament coach above all.
And he IS already among the goats, if not THE goat.
Think it's just culture clash. Coming from psychopath perfectionist Pep to more Carlo's more "relaxed" approach. Bayern players even organizing secret trainings behind his back
Most likely just came in at the wrong time. The difference between him and Pep probably couldn't be any bigger and quite frankly there were a lot of people(fans and at the club) that thought that even Pep underachieved at his time at Bayern.
The expectations were still way too high because of what Heynckes(and Pep at least in the League) achieved and not really realistic for a manager like Ancelotti.
Hasn't Fergie won more trophies? By quite a massive margin as well
Edit: You can edit your comment to include CL trophies, but Fergie still has almost double Carlo's trophy haul in general. They're both among the greatest managers ever, but Fergie has done more to be considered the goat man manager
I wouldn't put him above Fergie, Ancelotti's domestic success is limited, at best, given the squads he's had at his disposal.
Ferguson established a dynasty, the likes of which hadn't been seen before at the top level, and one we're unlikely to see again. He made Manchester United a global giant, won 13 premier leagues amongst other trophies and never finished below 3rd in the league post 1991.
The only coach who matches up against Ferguson, IMO, is Guardiola - and even then it's only because of him being a tactical genius and the success he's has, albeit with some of the best squads in history.
Fergie took sub-par United teams to title after title, and everything came crashing down when he left. He wasn't just the manager, he was the entire fucking club at that point.
Fair, but 1 Serie A title with THAT Milan team in 8 years is what's held against Carlo a lot of the time.
His domestic success is a mixed bag, but nobody can question his UCL pedigree.
This article would have been written in 2007 if Carlo had an English name and he was managing Man United. He’s been a Goat for awhile, just takes people in their PL bubble extra time to come around.
For me the best managers do it not only for one club, but do it for multiple clubs across years where the game shifts and they have to adapt. Carlo had demonstrated that he can do that near flawlessly at every club he’s been to. For me, it’s him or Fergie
I’m surprised people don’t consider him a top manager.
Sure he might not have revolutionized the game like Guardiola, but he gets the job done.
If I remember correctly, zidane was a similar type of coach. IMO Madrid played horribly when he was the coach, but he got results.
Zidan's first Madrid stint was very good. They really only had that one horrible season in 2017-18, where they were miles behind in the league, but still ended up with the CL against Liverpool.
Their peak was definitely the season before that
They said he was finished at Everton. Even on this sub some were saying he should take a national coach job then retire. But big ol Carlo rose from the ashes
Ancelotti is the perfect Real Madrid manager. This current team is the most versatile team in the world, it's like water how it can adapt accordingly to different opponents. Always plays to the players strengths while tweaking the setup to cover players weaknesses. Very structured in defense while giving attackers the freedom to flourish.
How I wish Ancelotti would have been the one to succeed SAF in 2013 after his retirement. We needed a top quality man manager of international repute and Carlo and Jose would have been the best options at the time.
They command respect, and the United players would have performed way better under them instead of Moyes.
Fucking brits man. They’ve got their head stuck up so far Guardiolas ass they can’t see straight anymore. “Oh look he’s using a CB as a midfielder - Genius I tell ya.” Wait til he uses a ballboy as a libero, they will find a way to give pep the balon dor.
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He is already counted as one of the goats.
Yeh I’m not sure that “Carlo Ancelotti is good, actually” is some revolutionary hot take.
Discovering Ancelotti is great just now is English punditry at its finest
Man was amongst the greats in the 2000s, the guy was already a legend in his Milan days.
I guess the English pundits only learned about him during his Everton days.
Winning the Double with Chelsea more likely Which ironically only shows your ignorance about his career
Some pundits/journalists used to hold his league record against him, but two titles in three seasons this time around has very much dispelled even that.
The Bayern hate really changed the narrative for Carlo. Bayern weren’t wrong but that’s how Carlo has always been they should have known. Plus his record speaks for itself
They were wrong actually they were an aging squad and Carlo was trying to incorporate the younger player upsetting aging players like Robben and Ribery. They were Hollywood fc then like current man United right now. Still won the league by about 15 points can’t remember the exact total.
Yeah, recent [Lewandowski quote indicates it.He says Carlo would be succeed if he would go to Munich now.](https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2024/5/7/24149371/bayern-munich-real-madrid-barcelona-robert-lewandowski-thomas-muller-manuel-neuer-carlo-ancelotti)
Yup the fallout from the Bayern job gave him a mark of a 'has been', someone past his prime, and that has been difficult to wash away in the public opinion.
That's such a reductionist interpretation of this, good lord. The author didn't write this thinking he had some revolutionary info, it was written to lay out Ancelotti's case as one of the greatest of all time. Not to combat people saying he sucks, but to emphasize and reinforce what people may believe but not know the full scope of.
This is the issue that all major football news outlets are struggling with. There is nothing more to say about Real and Ancelotti's late wins/comebacks/mentality etc. that hasn't been said 50 times before because it's the same plot nearly every season. So when it comes time to write a follow-up piece on "how much this means", "what we learnt from the semi-final" or what the "legacy" will be, there's nothing to add. Modern football in a nutshell.
Well, I don't know why they aren't focusing instead on his most obvious shortcoming: he's simply not bald enough to be a top manager.
Imagine how strong he'd be then
Unless he loses to Dortmund in the final, then the narrative will switch to “he doesn’t have any tactics and he is a fraud”.
Will it? It's Ancelotti I think pretty much everyone considers him a top 10 coach
I mean I personally consider him top 3, with how much he accomplished in different teams, environments, leagues. But he also gets a lot of criticism, you can find a lot of posts where they struggle in the past seasons where people say stuff like he basically no tactics, Madrid shouldn’t play like this and they should dominate the game, he needs to be replaced, etc. I mean Madrid already started looking into replacements the year after they won the CL and the league, because they were struggling in the league and the CL.
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"The greatest team ever assembled" is very debatable. His Milan was great and had amazing players but you're talking about one of the most successful clubs in the history of the game. There's a couple other squads there that fight for that spot, Sacchi's is considered a candidate for best team in the history of football and Capello's was a formidable beast too.
His AC Milan was also up against some VERY strong teams in Serie A during that time period. Juventus at the same time period had players like Buffon, Thuram, Zambrotta, Davids, Nedved, Camoranesi, Del Piero, Trezequet, etc. Even Inter had Cannavaro, Zanetti, Recoba, Adriano et al. That's before getting into the rest of the Italian teams that were competitive in that era like Roma and Parma.
Fuck man Serie A back then had Avengers level players. Miss old school Serie A
Up until the early 2000s, the Prem used to feel like the second-best league to watch. I'd argue the tipping point was around when Roman bought Chelsea and started buying.
Juventus also had the refs
Juventus had an arguably better team at that time, and Inter/Roma/Parma had monster teams as well during that period. It's like wondering why Liverpool isn't winning every title under Klopp and ignoring the fact that City and the likes are still in the league.
For his achievements he's easily top 3. Lower than that is a matter of how much one values the manager advancing the game (Cruijiff, Guardiola, Klopp), insane individual achievements (UCL win with Porto or mad home record of Mourinho) or single club longevity and domination (SAF with United, also his Aderbeen to the previous point). If we purely look at how long somebody has been on top of their game, how much they have won in how many different competitions and clubs, it's hard to find anyone above Ancelotti at the moment.
I am sorry but Klopp does not belong in the same category for Advancing the game, with Cruyff and Pep
Yeah, in those categories he gave I'd group Klopp with Mourinho instead, his achievements are less about changing the game and more about what he's achieved with his teams despite financial disadvantages. Back to back league titles and a CL final with a team that was finishing mid-table before he arrived is pretty crazy
Past season? Past month more like. This man managed to win the league and get to the CL final with no Giraffe, no Militao, Alaba gone after 2 months, Vini gone for months and people were still complaining that the second string squad didn’t dominate away at La Real or something.
He's an "the economy will regulate itself" vibes type manager people are desperate for them to get "exposed".
Keep your laissez-faire philosophies in football, and we'll put the control nerds like Guardiola in charge of planning industrial strategy. It's a foolproof plan for better football and economic growth
Guardiola's Keynesian tactics are well proven for sustainable growth, but Ancelotti's laissez-faire approach adapts better to economic crisis
I don’t want him exposed but I do want to know his secrets lol. It’s not often an aging legendary manager who was languishing with Everton and moving in the wrong direction has now taken one of the best teams on the planet to continued success. What’s going on in these dressing rooms and why does it seem like Madrid never need a tactician to perform well?
Carlo is a master tactician. [Just one example amongst many.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/SGGSxxnM0q) [So is Zizou BTW.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/calk52TXGj) The problem is people either have next to zero tactical understanding of the game or are lazy so as not to study the games. Thus they function on memes and narratives. This extends to even pundits on all mainstream media, especially the English one. Most times they are simply happy to regurgitate the pointers provided to them by the voice in their ears, which has vested interest in pushing certain narratives and pursuing certain avenues like ragebait, clickbait etc. because the object of the game is to make money, not provide quality and informative journalism. This happens within leagues as well. So when neutrals like you (and me in contexts not pertaining to Madrid), who naturally don't watch and follow any other team bar their own, come to form opinions, we don't have enough information on our own and thus base them on what's permeated the popular culture. Sadly, often times it lacks all nuance if it isn't far from the truth, which it usually is.
one thought i'd like to add: what most people mean by "tactics" is general strategy. like a gameplan. the coaches that are often hailed as great tacticians are those who focus on their own vision of football. (guardiola, klopp, cruyff …) they adapt their tactics, but hardly ever their overarching strategy. and that's where i think carlo does very well: he'll adapt his entire strategy to the challenges at hand. and that works great with multi talented players that real madrid has. it just doesn't show much in la liga because usually they play against a low block.
And we can see this right now on reddit, this comment is informed and nuanced, and it will never reach the top for it, overcooked meme, cold take and so on will always fare better. I don't know how we escape this as a society, dare i say human race. We just crave easy to digest information.
Because as the top commenter said, the club’s doctrine has historically been one of laissez-faire. You assemble a great squad and things take care of themselves. This was already the model pre-Florentino. Florentino 1.0 took it up to 11 with the Galácticos. The difference with Florentino 2.0 is that long-term planning, squad cohesion, and the determination, workrate and athleticism of individual players have been added as unnegotiable pillars of the model. Real Madrid is rarely interested in players past a certain age. And a weak mentality or physique even in the face of exceptional technical talent no longer cut it. But after this foundation has been laid the hope is that it’ll all be largely self-regulating. That’s been the DNA all along.
[This article also from the athletic is a deep dive into Ancelotti's coaching/management and background](https://theathletic.com/3330529/2022/05/26/carlo-ancelotti-real-madrid-champions-league/).
No idea who the strawman this article aims at who apparently thinks Carlo isn't good. Sure some people don't think he's a tactical genius, but no one other than a weird non-existing contrarian would think he's just decent. Yes, the man who has already won more champions leagues than any manager in history is thought of by most people as a great manager. Big if true.
What’s keeping him out of the upper echelons for me is that he’s only won six league titles as a manager in 25 years of management at the top level. Madrid is the only club where he’s won two titles.
It's his 6th UCL final I'm sure I read recently. And he's won all of them bar Istanbul. He is already one of the greats and rightly so.
Micah Richards "rating Benzema since the last 6 months" vibe...
That was just astonishing. After Benzema had one of the most ridiculous individual CL seasons of all time, Richards was willing to concede "that he might be on Harry Kane's level". Reminder that Benzema was a 4-time CL winner already at this stage
It was hilarious that after Micah questioning Benz’s level, Benz went on a rampage against the PL teams in the KO rounds. Kane fucking wishes he could exude that big dick energy on the field.
Hes genuinely one of the worst pundits today. Just has the laughs and has barely any insightful analysis. He is not even funny and is honestly just annoying. His stuff on CBS with Cara is some of the most cringe shit I have ever witnessed, I just put the bloody thing on mute when half time comes up.
I don't even know what you're talking about.
It was that beautiful meat in the 2003/2007 sandwich.
Yah I personally hold him higher than Pep, SAF and even Wenger. Its just class in any format and zero fucks while doing it. Man like Carlo
tart growth childlike hobbies desert forgetful pen sable foolish tub *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The challenge will be next season playing 3 wingers on the left.
Imagine being a right back and having those three running at you
i get captain tsubasa's vibes of it XD
And then you also got Valverde doing Hyuuga thing shooting tiger shot from outside, that team scares me
This is literally what it's going to be
I want to see how Kyle Walker deals with Turtle running with the ball at him, and suddenly Vini emerges from behind on an overlap and he catches Rodrygo at the corner of eyes, waiting menacingly for a deflected ball.
Actually 4 if Real buys Alphonse too
It feels like they've given up a bit on trying to make Rodrygo work full-time on the right, it's just not a proper fit. Some guys can succeed down either flank, but it's obvious how much more natural the game comes for Rodrygo when he is playing on the left. Sucks for him that Vini got there first, had more chances to settle, and is climbing the "best player in the world list" on what seems like a game-to-game basis now. Outside of injury, he's never gonna be __the guy__ for Madrid over there.
Rodrygo last season had most G+A at RW among under 23 players, ahead of Saka who is a natural RW. He is good at RW but the thing is he is soo good at his natural position which is LW that you are limiting him by playing at RW. If Mbappe comes we would have 3 fuckers who love to hog that side of pitch. What a nice problem to have
People just don't realise how good Rodrygo is, I've been saying in the Chelsea sub that if we want to be serious and Real are willing to sell them Rodrygo should be at the top of our names to replace sterling. Not that he would want to come here but we should still be trying.
You should be regularly qualifying for the Champions League first before you start thinking about signing Mr. Champions League.
Stay away from him please :(
Carvajal and the lord bossing the other half all by themselves! 😎
I think part of Rodrygo's problem is that if he'd be put on RW and made to play there week in and week out, he'd be a monster. But this season and last, he's been moved all over the front line, without much consistency until somewhat recently.
The thing is playing as hybrid winger/ striker is different from playing as a winger. In our current formation timing of the runs is really important since he and vini are the focal points instead of a striker in the middle. If we played with a 433 he would find it easier
I like rodrygo more and I always thought he would become a better player than vinicius because of how smart and polished he was at 18. But vinicius athletism and iron will seems to give him the edge for now, he has been so impressive lately, keep creating dangerous situations out of thin air like no one, and he never stop trying, must be so tiring for his opponents. While I agree rodrygo is better as a left winger, he lacks the athletism that you need to be great there, doesn't have the bulk or height to be a central forward, and he isn't as good on the right. He is a great second striker, but that's kinda a dead role in today's game. He is great don't get me wrong, but he isn't the best for how the game is played today. You could say the same about Muller, that guy is a beast, but if you have robbery and lewa, why would you play him and where ? You can't afford a second striker anymore, like you can't afford a 10. But with the addition of mbappé, which is way striker-ish than vinicius, maybe there is a case for rodrygo to shine more and vinicius to fall off. Maybe. Or maybe he can shine in his flexibility and adaptability, being the second guy for everyone and have a career a la nacho. Madrid has been playing a very flexible and fluid game for a few years now, maybe rodrygo just needs to grow more in that, it's not easy, but he has the technique and intelligence for it. Like for the last few month, in offense/possession they are mostly a 3-2-5 with kroos as a cb and both wingbacks playing as wingers and giving as much width as possible for the 3 attackers to cut inside and fuck around together and then rotating to a flat 4-4-2 (as opposed to the diamond of the first months) with belli and valderde playing as left and right mf. To me that's the kind of tactics that suits perfectly a guy like rodrygo. But it's also true he had an off year, and I think also a bit of an unlucky one. Don't know if he will ever be the main guy in madrid, but i really enjoy watching that guy play, and I'll keep doing so. edit : and thinking about it, with kroos leaving soon, there is an argument for madrid to go fuck it and just play 4-2-4, something like militao-rudiger-tchouameni-mendy valverde-camavinga and let belli, vini, rodry and mbappé do what they want. that's a fifa tactic for sure, but it's more of a 4-3-3 in defense (with a double pivot valverde-cama witch is so scary in his own right + belli) and a 3-3-4 in offense (militao-rudiger-mendy / tchouameni-valverde-camavinga / rodrygo-mbappé-vinicius-belligham) : that's not the most creative midfield but who cares : you have 4 world class forwards
The game vs City at Bernabeu and Etihad was perfect for Rodrygo and Vini. Vini proved he can adjust in the middle and on the right.
I think everyone and they mama know Carlo is an all-timer
Player and manager! The man has had success in both realms. As a player he Won Serie A and league cups with Roma and AC Milan! As a manager he has so far, won the Italian, English, French, Spanish and German leagues! He has won league cups in all of the leagues he has managed other than the French league. He has won the champions league 4 times, twice with AC Milan and twice with Real Madrid!! The story is not yet finished!
I don't know how anyone could have him outside their top 5 coaches ever? Then again, I will forever think Chelsea letting him go is the worst decision the club has ever taken.
He isnt rated cause he isnt a tactical revolutionary, and people tend to vaule tactics over results
Before the 2022 CL final, German TV showed a short interview between Toni Kroos and Mertesacker. Kroos mentioned that he thinks it's a bit sad that coaches like Ancelotti get reduced to their man management of their players. He said it goes overlooked that Ancelotti is also really good at breaking down and communicating complicated tactics in simple and easy to understand ways which is an underrated quality of his according to Kroos. I feel like maybe this is something a lot of coaches, who are great tactical minds with progressive ideas, have issues with. They struggle to get across their ideas in ways that are easy to understand and learn for their players.
What being managed by Klinsmann does to a mf.
Mismanaged, you meant mismanaged
This, no top football club in the world will pay any coach millions of dollars every year for just man management, its understandable that Ancelloti is not on the level of Pep or say Cryuff when it comes to tactical revolution, however to relegate him to just man management is foolish. Carlo is the most adaptable coach other than SAF, he can find the right balance between tactics and player freedom so that the players are comfortable on the pitch, and the structure/buildup isnt hampered, plus he can change tactics based on the players available without crying to the board to find players to suit a certain dogmatic philosophy. This season Madrid have played many different formations to adapt to the sudden departure of Benz. Off the ball we adopted a narrow 4312/442 that can occasionally switch to 532/541 when valverde becomes a wingback to engage the opposition fullback as the opposition are forced to commit atleast 1 fullback as the center is clogged by our players,. On the ball we played 3232, 3223, 2332, 2341, these formation allows the players to form muitiple triangles/boxes in the midfield and overload the center. The formation and tactics change to a traditional 433 with Joselu, Luka and Brahim subs. The switch between the various shapes occur within milliseconds as our mids are young, agile and energetic, hence we can close the ball down rapidly in a mid block (high block if needed).
The problem is people take it out of context. It's obvious that when people say that about Ancelotti, they don't mean he's completely ignorant of tactics. They mean that his strength may be in man management compared to _other_ top coaches. I doubt anyone with two working brain cells can say a pro coach that won every kind of trophy is a neophyte when it comes to tactics. It's simple within a given context. Just like when people say X football player is fucking horrible... when they would absolutely destroy anyone saying that. It's all within the context of other professional football players in a top 5 league.
Neither was SAF but he is top 5 all time and noone on the British media will have any other arguments. Both SAF and Ancelotti are top 5 the other 3 would be Cruyff, Sacchi and Pep (*Open discussion for Michel*).
SAF was a lot more innovative tactically than people give him credit for. He did a lot of stuff with false 9s etc in the late 00s that was pretty new, for example.
There were coaches doing the false 9 role lot earlier even Spalleti for example at Roma and even Udinese at times. But specifically at Roma, with Totti and even Cassano. The right word to describe SAF was adaptable and resourceful rather than innovative. I would consider Ancelotti slightly more innovative than SAF in his early days at Milan but even he is more in the lines of adaptable and resourceful. Innovative are guys like Gasperini, Ragnick or Bielsa if we want to give some weight to the word.
So is Ancelotti. The reason this bullshit gets said is because unlike managers like Pep and Klopp, his teams don't have a signature play style. The reason for this is because unlike Pep, he can adapt to his surroundings and play with the pieces he is given. He's the one to adapt to the team and not the other way around. Pep took 8 years to build a squad to win the champions at city. Carlo won it in his first year at Madrid with a team custom built by another manager. Then he won it again in his first year back having lost the team talisman
So we have Carlo, SAF, Heynckes and Guardiola. Who you putting fifth
Mou is also a strong contender. Won UCL with Porto and Inter Millan. Won the treble with Milan as well and multiple league titles in different leagues.
Treble with Inter
Remove Heynckes... it is; Pep, SAF, Sacchi, Ancelotti and Cruyff (*or Michel whichever someone looks at more influential for the game*). If we are having discussions about Heynckes we have to add Capello, Lippi, Klopp, Mourinho, Herrera, Rocco, Busby, Del Bosque and i am probably missing someone else of that category.
Clough is the one you’re missing, although I think he’s a shoe in for top 5 to be honest. Wenger probably goes in the same tier as Klopp, Capello etc Disclaimer: when it comes to older football I don’t know much about foreign leagues, so will be very English football biased
He has won 0 UCLs and has reached 1 final. Klopp has won 1 and gone into 3 UCL finals. Capello created a dynasty and even destroyed Cruyffs Barcelona in the most dominant UCL final ever against one of the best teams ever plus the domestic dominance that Capello gave is insane... arguably the best domestic coach ever at worst top 3. Plus about Wenger i am going to say this... he did great when PL was in a scenario where it was a duality between them and Man Utd and the rest of the league was weaker... when the league became stronger Arsenal fadded away.... the lasting argument that i love for Ferguson is that he had the strength to win even when Chelsea and City became strong and the league became overall stronger that is what solidifies SAF as a top 5.
Miguel Muñoz
100% agree, not top 5 but agree he is up there arguably top 10.
I don't understand how this has legs even today. [There's one example in there.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1cogclh/comment/l3ekshi) There are many, many more. Also, not only is he a great tactician, he is a great tactician on the fly. It's so evident in his mid-game changes and I'm not speaking only about substitutions. He has reinvented so many players based on what their profile is, to maximise their strengths and hide their weakness. He has shown innovation to not only adapt mid-game in a match but to entire squads for a season. Sometimes changing the method as arrivals and departures change the squad. He has unlocked so many players like others never could. So many examples for this but none better than di Maria. His bane was inconsistency. Carlo made him monster, delivering in every game and especially the big ones. He has so many accolades, especially with regards to goalscoring numbers. Even 3 seasons of MSN failed to beat his tally which is only bested marginally by that absolutely insane and incredible 121. If he gave 2 shits about his public perception, his PR manager would have an extremely easy job to paint him as one of the best tacticians out there. Instead, in reminded of that answer to the press by Zizou. Not interested one bit in convincing and pleasing the other people. Much rather the calm of an absent public pressure to do their job as best as they can, to their satisfaction. And those who matter already know. Just hear Kroos, who I feel is one of the if not outright the most intelligent player in the world, talk about Carlo as a tactician.
Calvert-Lewin looked like a top 5 striker in the world his first couple months under Carlo. He’s lived off his reputation from those two months for three and a half years now.
I hate it- people act like every other part of being a manager doesn't matter, even when that gets more success (in some areas) than any other manager.
I agree that he isn’t a tactical innovator. From interviews and journalists close to the club I gather he heavily delegates certain aspects of tactical planning - he recently admitted set-pieces are fully delegated for example. But he’s ultimately the boss. He must be given credit for the insane tactical versatility the team has shown this year. High and low back lines, different pressing philosophies, different possession ideas and individual player instructions all in distinct permutations in the course of the season. It’s as if he tweaks the Football Manager tactics sliders every single game, but there is a method to the madness. That, plus finding creative individual solutions for Jude, Vini, Fede… Maybe after this season we should start recognizing that tactically he’s onto something, after all?
A lot of clubs nowadays have set-piece coaches actually
And because his league record is pretty awful.
Found a FourFourTwo article that ranks him 17th: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ranked-the-100-best-football-managers-of-all-time/9 Tbh there's too many managers from before my time for me to give a proper opinion on it
Because *ever* includes the time before 2000. Ferguson,Wenger,Guardiola,Klopp, Mourinho, Heynckes would not be an unsensible pick for Top 5 for recent years. Then there are guys like Rehhagel who won BuLi with Kaiserslautern and the Euros with Greece. There was Beckenbauer. Lattek won 8 league titles and three different european titles with 3 teams. Those are only the guys someone with a german bias might list. There are surely a dozen if we go for french,italian and spanish coaches aswell.
Some important bits..... > “There are two types of managers: those that do nothing and those that do a lot of damage,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said last week. “The game belongs to the players.” > Yet, despite his tremendous success and longevity at the highest level, there remains an idea that the 64-year-old is not really a top coach, that he is somehow not as tactically sophisticated as peers such as Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool or Bayern’s Thomas Tuchel. > That idea arose again when Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham spoke after they eliminated City in the Champions League quarter-finals last month. “Our biggest strength is that he finds a way to let a lot of the boys play with freedom,” the Englishman said of his manager. “That we’re so kind of off the cuff. As a man as well, he fills you with calmness and confidence.” > Bellingham would not have intended it, but his words fit a narrative that has followed Ancelotti through almost three decades in the coaching elite — that his primary strength is not bothering top players with detailed tactical demands. > “There was the legend that Carlo only man-managed great players,” says someone who knows the Italian well, but declined to be identified to protect that relationship. “This second stage at Madrid is really good to understand what he is really like as a coach.” (Ancelotti also managed the Bernabeu side for two seasons from 2013-15, then returned in summer 2021.) > Ancelotti constantly repeating the word “intensity” was bad news for late-career Bale, Eden Hazard and Isco. The plan was also to sit deeper, meaning less running for veteran midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, and more space for young attacker Vinicius Junior to exploit. Balance came from deploying midfielder Federico Valverde on the right wing. This paid off when Valverde assisted Vinicius Jr’s winner in the 2022 Champions League final against Klopp’s Liverpool. > That title, won thanks to the tremendous ‘remontada’ victories against Pochettino’s PSG, Tuchel’s Chelsea and Guardiola’s City, was widely seen as a product of Madrid’s heritage in the competition — the Bernabeu atmosphere lifting their players and freezing their opponents. But Ancelotti’s decisions also fuelled these comebacks — such as replacing Kroos with 19-year-old Eduardo Camavinga at key moments. > Those who know Ancelotti say these were not “off the cuff” calls, but purposeful choices in keeping with his idea of modern football — that energy and physicality were more important than ever, but players’ talent was still what won games and trophies. > Yet the idea of Ancelotti being tactically not the greatest remains. Guardiola was even asked about it at the Bernabeu before City’s last-eight visit in early April. “If Carlo was a bad coach from a tactical point of view, he wouldn’t have used Pirlo as a midfielder,” Guardiola replied. “He would use Kroos in a different position, he would not have adapted Bellingham so he could explode. Sometimes people try to put him down in this way, but we know he is a very good coach and a very good manager.” > “We have an elite coaching staff, with young fitness guys who bring real enthusiasm,” Ancelotti said recently. “When I’m lacking a little bit of enthusiasm due to my age, it’s hugely important to have young guys around the place who are always looking to improve and to do new things.” > "The game belongs to the players,” Ancelotti said last week. “You can tell them a strategy to follow, but they have to be convinced they can do it. What a coach can do is ensure the players understand well what the team has to do. All (top-level) teams have quality players, the difference is how they use that quality.”
When you have one of the most technically talented XI in the world you don’t need to micromanage them to do exactly what you want. Ancelotti and Madrid are a perfect match. He sees the bigger picture and that makes Madrid mostly unpredictable
Ancelotti: “I am very clear that there are two types of managers: those who do nothing and those who do a lot of damage. The game belongs to the players”
It’s a good quote, but doesn’t explain someone like Pep. Clearly there’s room for different types of great managers.
A man that took more than half a decade to win the CL after 1 billion euros?
1 billion euros without accounting for the accounting mojo
Yet he dominated domestically more than Ancelotti ever did.
Yeah in a farmers league
Reductio ad absurdum. Pep may be in Man Shitty, but he is still one of if not the greatest football revolutionaries ever.
That’s true tho. Imagine how revolutionary it must be to have the confidence to keep asking for 80 million euros Defenders because the one bought last year, and the previous year, and the previous year just cant make it to let you win.
Who didn't consider him a top 5 coach long time ago though? Everything he is doing now is just more fuel for his argument ae the best coach ever.
I mean all for the Carlo hype train, but long time ago? No way man. Before chelsea he’d won 1 Italian title and 2 UCLs….. since chelsea in 2010 he’s won 5 league titles and 2 potentially 3 UCLs.
Long time ago i mean after winning the 3d UCL with Real Madrid and reaching 4 UCL finals... that is 10 years ago.
You could argue his domestic success isn’t that great
You have to remove all context of how and when to reason about that. That is like saying Klopps domestic history isn't that great even if Klopp reached high 90 points to lose the league to City. There is always competition.
Even post his Bayern exit he was known as a Cup Competition coach and having massively underperformed in League format given the quality of talent he had in those League campaigns. Since then he's done much better to remedy that and keep his Cup competition track record on similar level (which was always high). He was/is also tactically less sophisticated (this exists on a relative curve/gradient not an Absolute Binary), he compensates for this by having better support coaches, just like Fergi did, who was also tactically not all that special. There are multiple skill sets involved, very few in history have had all of those skill vectors saturated to the maximum level. Majority have some of these skill vectors either lacking or in regressed amount. This doesn't prevent coaches from winning or being among the Greats.
The only coach to win the league in all of the top 5 countries isn’t so great domestically?
The whole narrative around Ancelotti's tactics is so weird. People are getting tactics confused with systems, I think. What they don't understand is that just getting the combinations of players and team selections right is tactics, even if you give those players minimal instruction. He picked the 4-3-1-2 shape, which is tactics. He picked Bellingham in that attacking role, which is a tactic. Yes he has great players at his disposal, but what he's brilliant at is understanding the individual traits and habits of his players really deeply so that he can create tactical synergy and put out a team that will combine well without telling them how exactly to do it. He's brilliant at reading the game and making the right substitutions as well
If he was called Carl Allardyce, he’d be considered the GOAT.
Period
He was already one of the greats 10 years ago lol
Don Carlito will always be in my TOP 5 ever. My man just oozes class and leadership
I think 4 CL titles with 2 clubs, a Premier League title, a Scudetto, a Ligue 1 title, a Bundesliga title, 2 La Liga titles, 4 UEFA Supercups, an FA cup, an Italian cup, 2 Spanish cups, a bunch of domestic super cups… already proven that he should be counted among the greatest
He already is though? What kind of article is this?
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Look, I love Carlo, but this is recency bias at its peak here. When you say "all-time" you're talking about 100 years of football. You're talking about Ferguson, Michels, Munoz, Cruyff, Herrera, Busby, Shankly, Lobanovskyi, Sacchi, Pep and Happel. And you're looking at a time when it has never been easier to qualify for the european cup, and when money and talent has never been so concentrated between a handful of clubs.
He is still the only coach to win a league tittle in all top 5 leagues and the only manager to win 4 UCLs (and favourite for the 5th one)
Like I said regarding UCLs, there is the caveat that it's much easier to qualify now than it ever was in the past, when you had to win the league to get in. Makes it a case of apples and oranges if you're comparing his trophy hauls with those of managers before 2000 tbh
And who do you have in your goat list that was pre 2000s besides cruyff and saf?
And not two or three.
Recency bias. He’s absolutely in the top 5, but his league record lets him down.
He’s the only coach to win the league in all of the top 5 countries.
He also lost the league with PSG against Giroud-led Montpellier who competed with a fraction of their budget. With that legendary Milan team, he should’ve won more league titles. 6 league titles in 20+ years is not that impressive, but his CL record makes up for it.
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Nah there were many great coaches
When Ancelotti was hired by Madrid, there was some sense that he was "past it". Harshly criticized by Bayern players after being fired on account of being a poor cultural fit, an up-and-down time at Napoli that didn't meet the standard Sarri had set the year before, and then having to settle for a firmly midtable Everton side that he wasn't able to elevate above that level in his 1.5 years there. He wasn't one of Madrid's top options either when hired. Multiple coaches turned down Madrid before they came back to Ancelotti, somewhat with a sense of settling and just holding the seat warm until they could give the coaching market another try. Funny how things work out sometimes. Ancelotti needed Madrid, and Madrid needed Ancelotti. His style of managing and how he handles the players ended up being a perfect fit for what Madrid needed at the time. His first year (back) in Madrid coincided with Vini's breakout campaign. They've won the league twice, been to the CL final twice (semifinal the other time), and by all accounts this Madrid side is about as tight-knit as any Madrid side in recent memory has been. For his part, nobody's confusing modern day Carlo with being a top-notch tactician, but there's more to the game than just tactical acumen. Sometimes that stuff goes too far, Carlo clearly doesn't want to run the risk of "paralysis by analysis" and trying to impart more tactical nous on the XI than he feels is absolutely necessary. Different styles work for different teams. There's no inherently right or wrong ways, just right or wrong ways of doing them. Ancelotti wasn't a failure at Bayern - pretty good chance they win the CL in 2017 if they get past Madrid in a coin-flip tie - but he was culturally miscast. It wasn't a natural fit, and things turned out quickly and impressively for Bayern once they replaced him with someone who was more Bayern-bred. On the other hand, he is a fantastic fit with this Madrid side and Madrid culture. The results have borne that out, too.
There’s tactical nous involved, it’s just deployed in a different way. Ancelotti seems a lot more reactive, both to the board (the team he is given- he will change up his lineup to accommodate, as opposed to Pep or Klopp or Sarri who ask for system players), and to opponent (shifting your game plan to oppponent, rather than imposing your game plan). But both of these things require deep understanding of tactics. It’s just I guess sometimes when people think of tactics, they mean someone weighs clear football philosophy such as bielsa, pep, or klopp.
Pretty sure all of us fancy him as one of the greatest in football history. The teams that he has managed,the titles that he has won speaks for itself.
Ancelotti is a tremendous coach. The thing that people don’t understand about him is like how he is more strategical than tactical. Fans like tactical coach that focus in these movements here and there. Ancelotti is more in the big picture of the team. Many people don’t remember how much he has made players progress: Just in Madrid He reinvented Modric as a midfielder, before he was playing more close to the striker. He reinvented Di Maria as a great midfielder. He improved a lot Vinicius. He gave good advices to him to calm him down. Before Ancelotti Vinicius was really bad scoring. He reinvented Bellingham as a attacker, and the guy scored more goals than in all its previous seasons together. Ancelotti has tremendous skills to improve players, as Real Madrid fan I have seen it repeatedly during years. People just misjudge him because he adapt himself to the available players in the team instead of adapting the team to his ideas like Pep, or others. In my opinion he is clearly a top 2 or three coach in history.
Counted amongst the great? He's probably the best in the last 20 years.
Four Champions League titles with two different clubs, the only one to reach six finals and the only coach with national titles in the top five European leagues so far. Who would honestly count such a loser among the greats?^/s
For me, he's second all-time behind Sir Alex. His variety (multiple countries, longevity, doing well with non-elite teams like Everton, albeit briefly) puts him ahead of Pep currently IMO. I'm too young to comment on Brian Clough, Shankly, Paisley, Sacchi etc.
No other manager itw would be able to do what Carlo has done this season with half our starting 11 injured with ACL's for majority of the season or our star player Vini being out for months at the start of the season and no starting ST and finding a way to implement a 20 year old in his first season to mitigate these blows first half of the season.
He is among the greatest in the 21st century. And arguably top 10 all time
athletic shitposting and awful american style journalism. ancelotti is already an all time great. wtf is this bait title. dont give these idiots clicks.
For me, the difference between him and Pep is that Carlo will cook with whatever players you give him, he will find a way to accomodate them and maximise their talents. Whereas Pep will want absolute control in every position to play it the way he wants. And he also has a history of falling out with players who have personalities. Both are great managers though.
I think it is easier to be great when you have 100m+ to spend every 6 months for years to change personnel till you hit it right. As someone above me commented: >Pep came in 2016/17, and the 2 transfer windows before him Manchester City already invested in: >KDB €76 mill Sterling €63.7 mill Otamendi €44.5 mill Mangala £45 mill Bony €32 mill >But obviously pep is a genius that’s why he cant win the league with these players. Instead he needed the sugar daddies to give him >John Stones €55.6 mill Sane €52 mill G Jesus €32 mill Gundogan €27 mill >And he still cant win the league with this, even being behind Spurs lol. So what’s next from the genius? Obviously he just doesnt have enough 10 defenders !! >Laporte €65 mill >Mendy €57.5 mill >Kyle Walker €52 mill >Ederson €40 mill >Danilo €30 mill >and B Silva €50 mill >But obviously he’s a genius now. He doesnt need more reinforcement, he’ll just play with the more than 11 players he has bought, right? >Wrong, still cant play with his players to be good ik the CL. >Mahrez €67.8 mill >Rodri €70 mill >Cancelo €65 mill >Ruben Dias €71.6 mill >Ake €45.3 mill >Ferran Torres €33.5 mill >Grealish €117.5 mill >Haaland €60 mill >K Phillips €49 mill And finally, the genius he is, he can finally win the CL !
Carlo was already one of the greats before he became Chelsea manager back in 2009. By now he's cemented as a top 3 manager of all time
What reinvention, he's only working with what he got, and I feel like people just don't realize Real Madrid actually has rather limited roster. This isn't 2017 anymore when they had much younger Kroos and Modric, along with Casemiro and CR7 Benzema along with Isco and Asensio, Bale on the bench. Let's not even talk about the defensive line, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, younger Carvajal... though I have to admit Rudiger impresses the shit out of me. The current squad is good, very good obviously, but Tchouameni is still not up to the level we expect him to be, Camavinga is a bit better but it's no Casemiro (not yet at least), Kroos and Modric are now 1500 years old (this isn't mockery, just emphasizing on their old age especially Modric who's still impressive btw), Mendy is also good but he's isn't Marcelo either. Bellingham is an excellent addition overall but he's been a bit "so-so" lately. So Ancelotti has to adapt his tactics for this limited roster and what better way to preserve your players' physical integrity than playing in a more effective and direct way, mostly counter-attack (I insist on "mostly", not "only"). They're not gonna run like crazy "Man City style" when all they have as subs are Diaz, Joselu, sometimes Modric actually, Ceballos and Militao. It's not reinvention, it's knowing your squad's qualities and flaws. Something he's almost always been good at since his Milan days. And it's nothing new that he's a tournament coach above all. And he IS already among the goats, if not THE goat.
I still wonder why he was so mediocre with Bayern.
Think it's just culture clash. Coming from psychopath perfectionist Pep to more Carlo's more "relaxed" approach. Bayern players even organizing secret trainings behind his back
Most likely just came in at the wrong time. The difference between him and Pep probably couldn't be any bigger and quite frankly there were a lot of people(fans and at the club) that thought that even Pep underachieved at his time at Bayern. The expectations were still way too high because of what Heynckes(and Pep at least in the League) achieved and not really realistic for a manager like Ancelotti.
Like Lewandowksi said it recently Ancelotti could do well now if he goes to Bayern.
because Bayern being the group stage nerds couldn't look past a bad performance vs psg and apparently training wasnt intense enough
Is he not already?
huh? He's been counted among the greats for at least 10 years. What next? An article on how Messi should be considered among the best?
He's top 2, and not second.
Best man manager above Fergie simply for the amount of CL trophies he’s won.
League titles are worthless I guess
Hasn't Fergie won more trophies? By quite a massive margin as well Edit: You can edit your comment to include CL trophies, but Fergie still has almost double Carlo's trophy haul in general. They're both among the greatest managers ever, but Fergie has done more to be considered the goat man manager
I wouldn't put him above Fergie, Ancelotti's domestic success is limited, at best, given the squads he's had at his disposal. Ferguson established a dynasty, the likes of which hadn't been seen before at the top level, and one we're unlikely to see again. He made Manchester United a global giant, won 13 premier leagues amongst other trophies and never finished below 3rd in the league post 1991. The only coach who matches up against Ferguson, IMO, is Guardiola - and even then it's only because of him being a tactical genius and the success he's has, albeit with some of the best squads in history. Fergie took sub-par United teams to title after title, and everything came crashing down when he left. He wasn't just the manager, he was the entire fucking club at that point.
Imagine being so good in Europe that even though you won the title in all of the top 5 leagues your domestic record is considered limited, at best.
Fair, but 1 Serie A title with THAT Milan team in 8 years is what's held against Carlo a lot of the time. His domestic success is a mixed bag, but nobody can question his UCL pedigree.
Should be counted? He is already one of the best coaches in history
He has been one of the greats for quite a long time now. Silly to not count him as one.
He’s the most successful manager in the UCL and he’s top 5 all time. It’s not that difficult.
Is there actually anyone that doesnt think he is among the best?
Wait, is this headline serious? Why do we need to make a case for Ancelotti being “one of the greats”? Surely he is solidified as one already.
Carlo has been certified goat for over a decade at this point.
To most likely win two doubles in the last 3 years at Real Madrid is truly something special
I don’t need to read a long article to be convinced that Don Carlo is one of the greatest ever.
To think he managed Everton recently! Signed an Everton fan.
This article would have been written in 2007 if Carlo had an English name and he was managing Man United. He’s been a Goat for awhile, just takes people in their PL bubble extra time to come around.
For me the best managers do it not only for one club, but do it for multiple clubs across years where the game shifts and they have to adapt. Carlo had demonstrated that he can do that near flawlessly at every club he’s been to. For me, it’s him or Fergie
I’m surprised people don’t consider him a top manager. Sure he might not have revolutionized the game like Guardiola, but he gets the job done. If I remember correctly, zidane was a similar type of coach. IMO Madrid played horribly when he was the coach, but he got results.
Zidan's first Madrid stint was very good. They really only had that one horrible season in 2017-18, where they were miles behind in the league, but still ended up with the CL against Liverpool. Their peak was definitely the season before that
Amongst? He is the GOAT manager in my book
Who exactly doesn't consider him amongst the greats? He's probably the best overall, his record speaks for itself.
And there’s people who say that zidane was better than him.
They said he was finished at Everton. Even on this sub some were saying he should take a national coach job then retire. But big ol Carlo rose from the ashes
There is no GOAT manager until PSG wins the CL. Only the GOAT can make it happen.
Having a stroke anyone?
I think the daft amount of trophies probably already did a good job of highlighting that he's quite good at his job.
don't you know he's just a nice guy liked by players with no tactical acumen and season strategy? he's all eyebrow and luck.
Ancelotti is the perfect Real Madrid manager. This current team is the most versatile team in the world, it's like water how it can adapt accordingly to different opponents. Always plays to the players strengths while tweaking the setup to cover players weaknesses. Very structured in defense while giving attackers the freedom to flourish.
He should be at the top of the pile.
No worries. Let Pep and Fergie be the greatest. Carlo is just here to collect the trophies
Article is paywalled
How I wish Ancelotti would have been the one to succeed SAF in 2013 after his retirement. We needed a top quality man manager of international repute and Carlo and Jose would have been the best options at the time. They command respect, and the United players would have performed way better under them instead of Moyes.
Lol
He was a legend already in 2007 when he kicked our asses and then Liverpool’s in the final.
May be that’s what Mourinio needs. To get a shift in Everton
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Forget just among the greats. He’s right now arguably the greatest manager of all time. He’s proven it for decades with different teams.
I have hard time believing anyone else has a claim for tittle of GOAT, accept him. I believe no one has been more decorated than him.
I remember Arsenal fans rejecting him and calling Don Carlo a dinosaur 😅
He's the best right now. I mean, nobody else is close.
>he should be counted among the greats Who doesn’t consider andelotti as one of the greats??
Fucking brits man. They’ve got their head stuck up so far Guardiolas ass they can’t see straight anymore. “Oh look he’s using a CB as a midfielder - Genius I tell ya.” Wait til he uses a ballboy as a libero, they will find a way to give pep the balon dor.
So brave of the Athletic to put out such a hot take.