Carlo Ancelotti faces a different challenge at Everton but he has the trust of players and fans and that matters, writes Adam Bate
Saturday 28 December 2019 16:59, UK
“In Italy, they call it la frusta,” Carlo Ancelotti once noted.
The whip.
"It happened at all of them. Parma, Milan, Paris, Chelsea. Always in a difficult moment, someone says: 'You give the players too much freedom, you have to whip them.'
"But that's what you do to horses."
The irony, for Ancelotti, is obvious.
"They appoint me for being calm," he adds.
"Then they sack me and say that I was too calm."
Ancelotti already knows how his Everton adventure is likely to end. The more interesting question is what he can achieve on Merseyside in the intervening period. If the roar that reverberated around Goodison Park for Dominic Calvert-Lewin's winner against Burnley on Boxing Day is any clue, Everton supporters are just aching to enjoy the ride.
The appointment of the esteemed Italian coach has - appropriately enough given that famously overactive ridge above his left pupil - raised an eyebrow or two. On the face of it, Everton have acquired the services of one of the most decorated coaches in the game's history. Given the club's current plight, is there any need to look much deeper than that?
Some argue so. Look beyond the trophies and it is claimed that Ancelotti is no overachiever. He has won with the very best but he has also failed to win with the very best too. He was beaten to the title by Montpellier when at Paris Saint-Germain. He once finished third in a two-horse race at Real Madrid. With AC Milan, Ancelotti won one title in eight attempts.
All of which has led to the prevailing view that he is a great cup manager rather than someone suited to the course and distance of the league season. That fits with what is known of his character. The man who, by his own admission, eschews the whip. He takes the pressure off his players on the big occasion but struggles to maintain those standards.
"Players do their best when they are comfortable," he insists, "not when they are uncomfortable."
How fair is this view of him? Like his compatriots, Ancelotti studied at Coverciano, the famed Italian coaching school. His thesis was said to be 'full of charts and diagrams'. This is someone who won two European Cups under Arrigo Sacchi. He knows the importance of tactics.
Against Burnley, Ancelotti made an interesting tweak to Everton's system, deploying Seamus Coleman on the right side of a back three. "It was something the manager worked on during the week," Coleman explained. "When we have the ball to drop into a back three." The change was a success, allowing Lucas Digne to attack down the left flank.
And yet, it is clear that he has shown no great desire to be seen as a details man. When he talks of Antonio Conte's obsession with "the little details" there is more than a hint of knowing indifference. After all, Ancelotti once allowed the Chelsea players to choose the tactics for the 2010 FA Cup final - a game that sealed the club's first and only double.
At Parma, when turning down the chance to sign Roberto Baggio, he learned the lesson that no system is more important than the players. At Milan, in working with the unpredictable Silvio Berlusconi, he learned the lesson that no coach is more important than the president.
"My style is not to impose," he has said.
What is fascinating is whether this minimalist approach will work at Everton, a club seemingly in desperate need of discipline and direction. It is easy to anticipate difficulties.
For example, Ancelotti is on record as saying that it is easier to manage superstar players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic than it is to coach ordinary players. "Usually they are more professional than the others," he says. There is no reason to doubt him but, for once in his career, he won't find too many superstars waiting at Finch Farm.
Likewise, his past views on the problem with the English player make for interesting reading. "Sometimes it's difficult for them to understand that they don't have to work 100 per cent in training. There are some training sessions where it's important not to work 100 per cent."
Everton's new fitness coach Francesco Mauri is a passionate advocate for working smart rather than working hard. "People cannot handle the thought that a millionaire footballer will train for an hour and fifteen minutes a day," he has said.
No wonder Ancelotti is regarded as a players' manager.
It is an approach that makes sense in the context of managing the best. But when asked to coach the rest, there is a danger of this being interpreted as an easy ride at a club where Duncan Ferguson has provided a quick reminder of how much hard graft is appreciated.
The hope, of course, is that Ancelotti's mere presence will raise the calibre of player at Everton. It is noteworthy that Ibrahimovic was among the names first touted for a move to Goodison Park. Ancelotti enhances the profile. He is, as Farhad Moshiri once put it, a Hollywood name. He can elevate Everton's status to a level befitting their history.
It is true that he has rarely put himself in a position like this before. Ancelotti must cast his mind back to his first job at Reggiana some 24 years ago to find an example of when he assumed control of a team that had finished outside the top six in the previous season. In fact, it is 18 years since he last took a job where the club had finished outside the top three.
But should that be seen as a negative or a positive? The fear is that, like a more glamorous version of Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham, Ancelotti finds himself in a situation to which he is unsuited. The hope is that the example of Rafa Benitez at Newcastle is more appropriate.
Benitez was adored at Newcastle not because he had the team playing glorious football but because supporters relished the fact that a top-class manager wanted to be at their club. Pride was restored and the players readily responded to that too. They wanted his wisdom.
The early indications are that Ancelotti has been similarly moved by his reception at Everton. Marco Silva, by his nature, could feel distant. Ancelotti can connect. He is a humble man in spite of all he has achieved and is unlikely to regard this job as beneath him.
Even at 60, there is still every reason to expect that he will bring enthusiasm too. Mauri is one of a number of young coaches on his staff, so - unlike Pellegrini who is assisted by the 62-year-old Ruben Cousillas - Ancelotti has made a conspicuous effort to keep things fresh.
All of which could be enough to provide some much needed momentum at Everton. Expect Italy international Moise Kean, who has endured a difficult time of it since his arrival from Juventus, to respond to his man-management techniques. Do not be surprised if many others redouble their efforts in an attempt to win over the avuncular Ancelotti too.
He allowed the players to stay at home on Christmas Day rather than spend the evening before a game cooped up in a hotel as is customary. Trademark Ancelotti. And while he might be more accustomed to working with higher-profile players, the fact that this group are not so used to such a high-profile manager should ensure they are receptive to him.
"He's a manager who, when he speaks, you listen," said Coleman. "When he walks into a room, you perk up."
Everton now have a coach with as many Champions League wins as Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola put together. That is already bringing some swagger back to Goodison Park. In Carlo Ancelotti, the club have a coach whose past speaks for itself. The challenge now is for him to whip Everton into shape for the future. Just don't expect him to use the whip to do it.
