Carlo Ancelotti and the answer to greatness

TPO - For a while, people forgot Carlo Ancelotti in discussions about the greatest coaches. And then when looking back at what he has done in the past quarter century, everyone is forced to admit, perhaps this is truly the greatest.

On Tuesday afternoon, the press conference room at Valdebebas, Real Madrid’s training center, was packed with reporters. Many were forced to stand because there were no seats. Everyone, including a large number of Brazilian reporters, wanted to hear from Carlo Ancelotti, who is nearing the end of his glorious reign with Los Blancos.

This is a rather strange situation, because the Brazilian Football Confederation announced the appointment of Ancelotti, while his contract with Real has not ended, and the Spanish Royal team has not yet made any announcement about the farewell.

However, the end of the Don Carlo era has been set. The Italian coach said: "I came to Madrid thinking that one day everything would end, and that was May 25. I wanted a good ending, because of the professionalism that I have always valued, and because I have never had any problems with the club. Real will always be in my heart. The wonderful memories with the club will stay with me for the rest of my life. And I will also be a Real fan for life."

Carlo Ancelotti's reign at Real ended with 15 major and minor titles.

With two terms and 15 titles won (including 2 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 3 Champions League, 2 Spanish Super Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 2 FIFA Club World Cups and 1 FIFA Intercontinental Cup), Ancelotti has become the most successful coach in the history of the Royal team.

The strange thing is, while most coaches have cycles of success, Don Carlo gives the feeling that his success has no end. It has been 26 years since his first title, the 1999 Intertoto Cup, but Ancelotti has not stopped. He is the only coach to win all five of Europe's top leagues, from the Premier League, La Liga to Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. No one has won more C1/Champions League than him, with 5 times.

Football is always changing, generations of stars appear, fade away, giving way to new generations, similarly trends, styles, philosophies are constantly innovated. However, Ancelotti is still persistent. Especially, he never lags behind even at the age of 65.

Ancelotti and his huge fortune of 30 titles, including championships in 5 different countries and 5 Champions Leagues.

Ancelotti did not invent anything new, like total football, tiki-taka, bus defence or gegenpressing. Nor was he obsessed with football to the point of eccentricity like Arrigo Sacchi, face-scratching like Pep Guardiola, explosive like Jurgen Klopp or eccentric like Jose Mourinho. Instead, Don Carlo was comfortable drinking coffee on the pitch, smoking cigars after every trophy won and always polite, giving intelligent answers in the press conference.

"I'm not obsessed with my job. Never. Because I really like football, enjoy it as a player or a coach. I don't go crazy about it. I'm calm. Whether the game is good or bad, I'm in control. I'm not worried about creating a style of football that bears my name. I'm always changing," he said.

Ancelotti's coaching art is about flexibility and adaptation, something he learned early on. At the dawn of his coaching career, at Parma, Ancelotti was inspired by his former coach Arrigo Sacchi and believed that the 4-4-2 system was the basis for all success. That is why Gianfranco Zola and Hristo Stoichkov both failed to develop their abilities in this formation, and Roberto Baggio was also rejected for signing because "4-4-2 does not reach the number 10".

Ancelotti and his star-studded Milan side, where he created a golden era with eight titles, including two Champions Leagues.

Then Ancelotti realized he was wrong. From then on, instead of imposing, Ancelotti changed the system and tactics depending on the quality of the players as well as the opponent. Until now, people still talk about Milan's Christmas tree formation in the 2000s with Andrea Pirlo in the deep-lying playmaker position.

Arriving at Real in 2013, after hearing Cristiano Ronaldo speak of his desire to start from the left and move through the middle, Ancelotti said: “Your comfort is the most important thing.” So Real switched flexibly between two systems, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3, on the way to La Decima.

Back at the Bernabeu in 2021, Ancelotti continued with the 4-3-3 system in the absence of Ronaldo. A strong team was still created as he inspired and built the right relationships to get the best out of his players. Just like in 2023/24, he established a new winning team with Vinicius, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.

With 344 matches, Ancelotti is the second most-played coach in Real's history, behind only Miguel Munoz (595 matches).

Don Carlo's resourcefulness was also evident this season, when he tried to integrate Kylian Mbappe into the squad. It's true that Real Madrid have come up empty-handed, but things would have been different if it weren't for the injury storm, or if the board had followed his suggestion to add a right-back and a centre-back.

Anyway, it was over. As usual, he made no excuses or blames. For a traveler, it was simply the end of an adventure in search of new experiences, new successes.

At this time, although still at Real, Don Carlo's new life had begun. He began to talk to Neymar, to Casemiro and discussed with his assistant team, convincing Paul Clement, Davide Ancelotti's son, Francesco Mauri, Mino Fulco and Simone Montanaro to come to Brazil.

"Football, like life, is an adventure that has a beginning and an end," said Ancelotti.

Thanh Hai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/carlo-ancelotti-va-cau-tra-loi-cho-su-vi-dai-post1742000.tpo