After leaving Real Madrid, the record of Carlo Ancelotti had not been something to cheer for. The old Midas touch was missing; still, his return has been welcomed because of the outstanding results as the coach of Real Madrid previously. Ancelotti knows, it is never easy in Real Madrid and he would be judged by how many trophies he wins and nothing else….
On June 25 2013, Carlo Ancelotti became the manager of Real Madrid as the replacement for the departing José Mourinho, signing a three-year deal. He was introduced at a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where it was also announced that Zinedine Zidane and Paul Clement would be his assistant coaches.
At Real Madrid, Ancelotti eventually deviated from the 4–2–3–1 formation which had been deployed by his predecessor, switching instead to a 4–3–3 formation to great effect, in which Argentine winger Angel Di Maria particularly excelled as a left-sided central midfielder, and played a key role in the club's successes.
In April 2014, Ancelotti won his first major trophy as Real Madrid manager after they defeated Barcelona 2–1 in the Copa del Rey final held at the Mestalla Stadium and thirteen days later, Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the Champions League by an aggregate score with Los Blancos reaching their first final since they last won the competition in 2002.
On May 24 2014, Real Madrid won their tenth Champions League trophy after defeating Atletico Madrid in the final where they were almost losing until Sergio Ramos jumped and headed to net the equalizer and the rest is history – La Decima was achieved.
He became only the second manager after Liverpool's Bob Paisley to win the competition on three occasions and the first man to win the Champions League/European Cup twice as a player and three times as a manager to this day.
In addition to winning the Champions League, they finished third in La Liga losing the tiebreaker for second place against Barcelona, and winning Copa del Rey.
Ancelotti won another European trophy, leading Real Madrid to a 2–0 victory over Sevilla in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup. In the last four months of 2014, his team set a Spanish record of 22 consecutive match victories in all competitions that began on 16 September and culminated with Real Madrid's first FIFA Club World Cup title in December 2014, finishing the year 2014 with four trophies.
Ancelotti was nominated as one of the three finalists for the 2014 FIFA World Coach of the Year Award. In 2015, Ancelotti was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame and also, he won the IFFHS 2014 Award as The World's Best Club Coach.
The 2014-15 season witnessed the rise of Barcelona and the charismatic trio – Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez devastating opponents. Barca won the Champions League and La Liga title, while Real finished second and scoring 118 goals in the process. The Los Blancos were still good, but President Florentino Perez took the tough decision of replacing Ancelotti with Rafa Benitez.
Real Madrid and Benitez never gelled well and after strings of poor outcomes, Real Madrid had to hand Zidane the duty and the great man created history.
Ancelotti travelled to Germany, Italy and England for coaching teams like Bayern Munich, Napoli and Everton.
There were flashes of brilliance, still, that Midas touch of AC Milan and Real Madrid was missing.
In the meantime, Real Madrid were going through a transition period and reappointed Zidane to the rescue – the World Champion did a great job and at the end of the season, he decided to leave.
Everton have started the search for their sixth permanent manager in five years having been stunned by Carlo Ancelotti’s sudden departure for Real Madrid.
The Italian signed a three-year contract with the Spanish club on Tuesday after Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, having missed out on Massimiliano Allegri as a replacement for Zidane, made a concerted effort to rehire the three-times Champions League-winning coach. Ancelotti informed Everton earlier in the day of his desire to leave after only 18 months.
His recent record as a coach is not something to cheer for.
His stock had plummeted after an acrimonious departure from Napoli. The Serie A club's owner Aurelio De Laurentiis brought an end to his 16-month stay and fired him less than an hour after qualifying for the Champions League knockout round.
De Laurentiis cited poor domestic form; Napoli were seventh in Serie A, eight points outside the top four and 17 off the summit. His departure came on December 10, 2019 - but just 11 days later, he was sensationally appointed Everton boss.
Ancelotti led Everton to a disappointing 10th-place finish in his one and only full Premier League campaign with the club. Everton had been in contention for European qualification but slumped to mid-table following a poor finale that culminated in a 5-0 defeat at Manchester City.
Everton set the tone at the start of the season by winning their opening seven games in all competitions. Ancelotti was named manager of the month for September, naturally leading to form falling off, but his side still sat second on Boxing Day.
Key to the improvement on the previous term had been the team's away form which would end up being the fourth-best in the league - 11 wins on the road were their most in a season since the 1984/85 title winners but just six wins at home - the 15th worst record in the division!
Ancelotti was at times bullet-proof among supporters when results were not materializing at Goodison Park; his team selection after an away defeat at Newcastle was criticized but the blame was largely placed on the players rather than his tactics when inconsistency became an ever-increasing problem.
Yes, Real Madrid played some outstanding football during his regime, but with the progress of time whether that ear would return or not remains a moot question.
In 2014, he had the stars under his belt and what he just needed to was put the players in their right position and deliver – it worked.
At present, the Los Blancos are in a transition phase and the talents are there. Under Zidane, the team has learned to fight under any circumstances, and what is now required is the smart exploitation of the talents and build the skill to become the champions again.
Being the manager of Real Madrid is never easy – the demand is always high and winning trophies matter more – last season Real Madrid could not add any trophies to their cabinet. Thus, Ancelotti knows very well, what he needs to do – he needs to win trophies and make the unit consistent which they were back in 2013-14.
A tough journey ahead – but Ancelotti is not unknown to handling the pressure of expectations.
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 02/06/2021 Can Carlo Ancelotti fulfill the expectations?
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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