Former Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has backed Jose Mourinho as a strong option for a return to the club.
The Italian, who famously led Real to their ‘La Decima’ Champions League title after replacing Mourinho in 2013, believes the Portuguese coach still has the capacity to succeed at the highest level.
Speaking in an extensive interview with The Athletic, Ancelotti, now manager of the Brazil national team, expressed support for his former colleague returning to the Santiago Bernabeu.
“To be back at Real Madrid, I will be really happy for him,” the former Los Blancos manager said.
“He can do a fantastic job, as he always did in all the clubs that he was at.”
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One of the key concerns surrounding managerial changes at the club has been the issue of dressing room control and discipline.
Previous reports suggested that Xabi Alonso struggled to manage the squad during his brief tenure, but Ancelotti rejected that narrative and defended the players’ professionalism in strong terms.
“No, because it (makes it sound like) that players at Real Madrid do what they want. It’s not true. Absolutely bulls. It is absolutely bulls,” Ancelotti said, having been in charge at Real before Alonso’s appointment last summer.
“Not true! The players… when I was there, I had an idea and tried to discuss this idea with the players, and I would see if they agreed or not. We even did this in the final of the Champions League. When I have an idea, the player has to be part of this idea. I don’t want to impose a strategy. But that does not mean that we do not have a strategy.”
He added, “We had a strategy, and we had a strong strategy, because we won two Champions League trophies in four years, and the players were really focused on following the strategy and following the plan. The idea that Real Madrid doesn’t want to follow a strategy, it is not true.”
Looking ahead, Ancelotti suggested that success at Madrid requires more than tactical structure alone.
He stressed the importance of man-management and building relationships within the squad, an approach he believes is essential in a demanding environment.
“As usual, I tried to have a relationship with the person, not with the player, because what you are is a person. You are just a person who plays football. That is clear in my mind,” Ancelotti explained.
