Ancelotti's toughest task

Taking over as head coach of the Brazilian national team, coach Carlo Ancelotti faces a challenge he has never encountered in his career: reviving a football industry.

Coach Ancelotti will still lead stars like Vinicius in the Brazilian team - Photo: REUTERS

2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Coach Ancelotti's coaching career. 30 years in the profession, 10 teams (2 times with Real Madrid alone), but this is the first time Mr. Ancelotti has sat in the head coach's chair of a national team.

The undefeated man of the coaching village

Ancelotti's salary for his new job is up to 9.2 million euros. It makes him the highest paid national team coach in the world .

Not only that, the Brazilian Football Confederation also provides him with a series of extremely ideal working conditions such as tight security, private jets, and promising bonuses. Just by bringing the Brazilian team to the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, Mr. Ancelotti will receive an additional 20% of his salary. And if he wins the championship, the bonus will be 5 million euros.

However, compared to the responsibility the Italian strategist faces, the treatment he receives is nothing. Strategists like Ancelotti are always invited by big teams when they are on the decline.

That is the situation Mr. Ancelotti faced at Chelsea, Real Madrid, Everton... With a density of 2-3 years/team, Ancelotti is classified as a good manager, can meet requirements quickly but is not a person who builds a system or long-term foundation.

Except for Juventus in his early years, wherever Ancelotti went, he reaped major titles. Even in periods considered not very successful, such as when he led PSG or Bayern Munich, Ancelotti still won the national championship. That makes Ancelotti special: a coach who does not know what failure is.

Vinicius is the star striker of the Brazilian team - Photo: REUTERS

Brazilian football has no shortage of talent.

But with that characteristic, Coach Ancelotti is almost only suitable for rich teams that already have a strong squad or a large budget to be able to supplement the force in a short time. Ancelotti is completely different from Guardiola or Klopp - coaches who are good at building systems. And when taking charge of the Brazilian team, it is an even more complicated responsibility.

Brazil is going through the worst period of form in its history. Since 2006, Brazil has played in 5 World Cups but only reached the semi-finals once. And in the last two World Cups, they stopped at the quarter-finals.

During the period 1982 - 1990, Brazil also failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals three times in a row. But during that period, they won the Copa America. On the contrary, Brazil is currently playing poorly in every tournament, to the point that in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Brazil played poorly and still faced the risk of losing the ticket that seemed certain in their hands.

Is Brazilian football lacking in talent? No. They are still one of the football nations with many world-class stars. Specifically, Mr. Ancelotti will have two top choices in the world for the goalkeeper position: Alisson and Ederson. In defense, Brazilian football has a series of top defenders such as Marquinhos, Gabriel, Murillo, Militao...

In midfield, Brazil is not rich in talent but still has many quality options such as Bruno Guimares, Ederson, Douglas Luiz... In attack, Brazilian football still has a series of famous players competing for the Golden Ball such as Rodrygo, Vinicius, Raphinha...

However, there are still some shortcomings in the Brazilian squad, such as the lack of a real conductor when Neymar has lost his form. Paqueta is not qualified to lead a top team like Brazil. And in the center forward position, Brazil does not have many options.

But if we look at it as a whole, no football team is perfect. For example, England is forever without a goalkeeper, Spain lacks a striker... As for Brazil, their problem lies in attitude and team spirit - a real difficult problem for coach Ancelotti.

The most successful strategist in contemporary football accepts to lead the greatest team in history, but don't be surprised if coach Ancelotti fails.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhiem-vu-kho-nhat-cua-ancelotti-2025051509453025.htm