CARLO ANCELOTTI’S laid-back style seemed cool for a while.
This urbane Italian was on-trend, mastering the fine art of man-management as he went on a trophy tour with the continent’s top clubs.
The Emirates is an obvious destination for an old-school charmer like sacked Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti
At 60, with a glittering career at Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich behind him, he should have the pick of jobs.
Instead, less than 48 hours after he was fired by Napoli — who appointed Gennaro Gattuso yesterday — Ancelotti now faces accusations that his methods are old hat.
Arsenal and Everton, seriously, Everton, are nervous about approaching him because of his relaxed approach.
Players responded to it in the past because he treated them like adults in a world regulated by training schedules and travel times.
He would love a return to London, favouring it above any other city because he regards it as the gastro capital of the world.
TRIED AND TRUSTED
During his spell at Chelsea he was pretty much a resident of Lucio’s fancy Italian restaurant on the Fulham Road.
The owner has missed him, especially because this foodie football manager is also fond of a bottle of expensive plonk.
He could walk through the doors soon, especially if Arsenal make contact with Ancelotti’s people.
Arsenal, despite a complicated, chaotic management structure, is an obvious destination for this old-school charmer.
Plan B is Everton, 240 miles up the road and a tad less attractive to a coach with Ancelotti’s track record in the sport.
He is tried and trusted but there is an obsession at the minute with appointing fresh-faced coaches straight off the Pro Licence course.
The games current movers and shakers — the likes of Mikel Arteta, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann — are all highly regarded, emerging coaches.
Arsenal axed Unai Emery after poor results and plodding performancesCredit: Getty – Contributor
Ancelotti has course and distance. It was only a year ago that Chelsea legend Frank Lampard declared he was the best coach he had worked for.
Considering the competition — Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Avram Grant (OK, maybe not) — it is quite the compliment.
Lampard spoke highly of Ancelotti’s inter-personal skills, his ability to work with players and treat them as equals.
Ancelotti did not like confrontation and always found it difficult to drop key players from the starting line-up.
He had been one himself, of course, during his stellar playing career with Parma, Roma, AC Milan and the Italian national team.
Even so, it worked. He has won trophies everywhere, adding three Champions League titles to the two European Cups he won as a player.
CHILLED ATTITUDE
At Chelsea he won the Double in 2010, despite telling close friends that the working conditions were “intolerable”.
Despite their differences, he is the only previous Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich would consider hiring again.
In the years since he was sacked at Stamford Bridge, he has won Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain, ‘La Decima’ — Real Madrid’s tenth European Cup — and the Bundesliga with Bayern.
He worked well with Paul Clement, taking him to clubs on the continent to continue his education.
When Clement broke free to manage Derby, Swansea and Reading, Ancelotti lost a key man from his trusted inner circle.
Clement provided structure, a necessary dimension for a coach with a chilled attitude towards life.
It cost him his job at Napoli because he did not respond when results started to go wonky in Serie A this season.
He rarely shows any emotion, despite intense provocation down the years from all manner of demanding owners and chairmen.
His stay at Stadio San Paolo, which will be remembered for the disintegration of his relationship with president Aurelio De Laurentiis, was just OK.
They finished second behind serial winners Juventus in his first season back in Italy — but their form has tailed off in the league this time.
He leaves them seventh, 17 points behind Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan at the top. Despite their difficulties, they are through to the last 16 of the Champions League after demolishing Genk 4-0 on Tuesday.
That was his last game for the club, with Napoli announcing shortly after the game that Ancelotti had been fired.
It did not take long before the tributes started to flood in.
Lampard was among them, told of his dismissal just moments after walking off the field at Stamford Bridge following Chelsea’s win over Lille.
He expects him to return to the game, for another European super power to appoint a manager with unquestionable class and pedigree.
Arsenal and Everton, conducting endless meetings to identify their search criteria, could do a whole lot worse.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
