Commentary: Jose Mourinho hits the nail on the head – Real Madrid’s golden finger is spreading the crazy story | Sport

In the Champions League as a head coach, six finals, including five victories. More than 20 years between the first and the last trophy. The next in the statistics are the three championships Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola.

The only one in history who has won the national championship as a head coach in each of the five biggest leagues in Europe (Italy, England, Spain, Germany and France).

About 30 trophies in total.

Bring the trophy and then have a nice cigar photo with the players. That’s how it works Carlo Ancelotti.

Yet Italian Ancelotti, 64, is said to be underrated. This was stated, for example, on Saturday night during the Champions League final by MTV’s announcer Tuomas Virkkunen.

The narrative is ridiculous.

And now I’m not criticizing Virkku, but this kind of narrative around Ancelotti really revolves. The ridiculous thing is that it has been going on for years, when in reality Ancelotti is one of the greatest.

When a well-known football site FourFourTwo your list last fall, 100 coaches of all time, Ancelotti was found in 17th place.

For example, they barely left behind Louis van Gaal and Ottmar Hitzfeldwere above Vicente del Bosque and Jose Mourinho. It was fifth Pep Guardiolaat the top Sir Alex Ferguson.

Of course, this is only one listing, but a descriptive example.

Sports expert Markus Halsti signs that Ancelotti has not received the appreciation he deserves in the big picture.

Why is Ancelotti not considered “one of the greatest”?

The reason why Ancelotti is underrated is clear. He has not changed football in the same way as they did, for example Johan Cruyff or Rinus Michels. There isn’t even Pep Guardiola’s tiki behind or Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpress.

Ancelotti doesn’t have his own game philosophy, but that doesn’t interest him.

– He is not a social media coach, he is a real coach. Go to his office and see how many medals there are, Jose Mourinho gushed to Ancelotti during the Champions League final broadcast.

– They don’t sell philosophy, they put trophies in their office, Mourinho said of Real Madrid.

It is questionable whether Mourinho ranks ahead of Ancelotti in the coaching lists, but as a TV pundit he hit the nail on the head.

– The club is like a family. We have a wonderful environment. The atmosphere in the dressing room is really good. There are no big egos, they are really humble. It is not difficult to manage this team, Ancelotti himself praised.

It’s a white lie that Real Madrid doesn’t have big egos. In Madrid, arguing and politicking have broken many. Ancelotti was also fired from the club once before.

But even such people Ancelotti makes play for one goal. The Italian is a leader of people without equal.

Ancelotti is a model example that the most important task of a coach is to help individuals to be the best versions of themselves. He offers freedom, responsibility and trust without having to publicly emphasize his role.

“Like a big bear, so sensitive a person”, Cristiano Ronaldo praised Ancelotti. “It’s like finding your father again,” he said Andrea Pirlo.

After the Champions League semi-final, Real’s young superstar Jude Bellingham laughed in the TV studio about how he had seen Ancelotti yawning before the game and asked if he was getting tired.

– He said that “yeah, you have to go play and inspire me”. He brings such confidence and calmness.

According to Bellingham, Ancelotti’s greatest strength is how he is able to give so many players freedom.

“Luck or genius?”, The BBC ponderedwhen Ancelotti last won the Champions League, in the spring of 2022.

It has also been written about Ancelotti that his superior teams win despite him. “There is no game plan, but individuals save.”

The greatest philosophy

In his first period at Real, 2013–15, Ancelotti won “only” four trophies. When the latter season did not bring great success, Ancelotti got the boot. The Real management wanted a less soft and tactically tighter pilot.

And what did the president of Real do Florentino Perez, when it needed a replacement for Zidane in 2021? Get Ancelotti back.

Real Madrid had promising young stars and big players, but they couldn’t afford big acquisitions when there was, for example, a stadium project. A coach was needed who can succeed with existing resources.

The BBC reported an excellent example of Ancelotti’s best skills. In the 2020-21 Champions League season, there was an embarrassing incident when the striker was caught on camera Karim Benzema rage.

In summary, Benzema thinks a young winger Vinicius junior it was really sad. Benzema said the defender For Ferland Mendythat this should not be fed to Vinicius.

Then Ancelotti arrived. A year after the mentioned incident, Vinicius and Benzema had scored 36 goals together, often assisted by the other. At the same time, the entire Barcelona team had scored 35 goals.

And the lack of game philosophy does not mean that Ancelotti does not understand tactics. The players have widely raved, for example, about Ancelotti’s amazing ability to read the opponent and react during the game with changes.

– He can change his system with the click of a finger, French pack Lucas Digne glowed.

Ancelotti is one of the greatest football coaches in history because his biggest philosophy is this: any philosophy works if it fits the players available. He doesn’t need to change the entire football world.

However, winning is also a great philosophy in sports.

When Ancelotti had coached Real Madrid for 230 matches, he had brought home a trophy every 23 matches on average.