I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 887: Chapter 4: Shengchao and Zhongguan Golden Era_2

From ”a pig who can’t coach” to the current European League dominator, that’s Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti was deeply influenced by Arrigo Sacchi at the beginning of his coaching career.

During his playing days, he transferred to AC Milan in 1987 and was transformed into the midfield engine under Sacchi’s guidance; after retiring, he served as Sacchi’s assistant and competed in the 1994 United States World Cup together.

The 1990s were a star-studded era on the Apennine Peninsula, but conservatism prevailed, and Sacchi did not see superstars. All players had to make sacrifices for the formation.

In the early days of his coaching career, Ancelotti was a faithful adherent of Sacchi’s philosophy. In 1996, he led Parma and insisted on playing 4-4-2 with Chiesa and Crespo as the dual strikers, leaving Zola to play only as the left midfielder. In the end, Zola was unhappy with his role and left to join Chelsea in the Premier League.

After joining Chelsea, Zola became a club legend.

This incident became a point of regret for Ancelotti, which he expressed many times publicly, ”I lost a great player. One of my biggest regrets in my career will always be Zola, and I still apologize to him. That young coach Ancelotti needed to open his mind and was too entrenched in one philosophy and one formation, without knowing how to tailor playstyles to the players’ attributes.”

He also refused the one and only Roberto Baggio.

In June 1997, Parma’s sports director Soriano had already agreed on Baggio’s transfer with AC Milan, but Baggio demanded a first-team position at Parma, insisting he needed to play behind the forward in his preferred role. Ancelotti refused, as his system did not accommodate an attacking midfielder.

After being rejected by Ancelotti, Baggio joined Bologna.

Baggio later went to Bologna, scored 22 goals in a single season, ranking third in the Serie A scoring chart, and returned to participate in the French World Cup with the Italy National Team.

Ancelotti said, ”My football philosophy at that time was to put players into a (fixed) formation, and back then I didn’t need a number 10, whereas Baggio wanted to play that position. I already had Chiesa and Crespo on the front line, so I didn’t need Baggio, hence I vetoed the transfer. Through past experiences, I’ve learned one thing: there’s always a way for a talented great player to integrate into a team.”

Zidane and Berlusconi changed him.

Ancelotti didn’t stay long at Parma; after another season without titles, he was dismissed.

In March 1999, Lippi stepped down, and Ancelotti took over Juventus. After taking charge of Juventus, Ancelotti faced a challenge—the position of Zidane.

Zidane, who had just led the French National Team to win the previous year’s World Cup, the 1998 European Golden Ball Award winner, was the absolute core of Juventus and a rising star. Ancelotti’s football philosophy suddenly changed at this moment.

”Zidane changed everything, I had the whole team revolve around him and found that this worked.”

Later, Ancelotti admitted that if he had met Baggio after encountering Zidane, he would have adapted the formation, but unfortunately, their timings didn’t align.

Zidane became the absolute core under Ancelotti’s command.

Ancelotti changed the formation to 3-4-1-2, with Zidane as the attacking midfielder (the very position Baggio wanted), preceded by Del Piero and Inzaghi.

Zidane practically enjoyed all privileges.

Once when heading for an away game, Zidane arrived late, and Ancelotti instructed the driver to go, only for Montero to rush upfront saying the players wouldn’t allow the driver to go when the team was without Zidane.

Ancelotti conceded, ”Then let us wait a little longer for him.”

It was precisely due to the revolutionary changes that later, when Ancelotti coached AC Milan, he had the classic lineup of four number 10s playing simultaneously.

To this day, that remains a spectacle in football history and is a hallmark in Ancelotti’s coaching career—In the summer of 2002, after Shevchenko was injured, Ancelotti moved Pirlo from the attacking midfielder position to defensive midfielder, whom he surrounded with Gattuso and Seedorf, with Rivaldo, Rui Costa, and Inzaghi upfront.

The Christmas tree formation featured four number 10s simultaneously (Pirlo, Seedorf, Rivaldo, Rui Costa).

In the first three rounds of the Champions League, Milan scored 8 goals, achieving three consecutive victories, with Inzaghi scoring 7 of those supported by the stellar midfield.

Ancelotti compared his coaching experiences at Juventus and Milan.

At Juventus, everything was about winning, whereas at Milan, it was also about pleasing the club president Berlusconi, whose other identity was the Prime Minister of Italy.

Berlusconi was elected Italy’s Prime Minister four times and was the longest-serving Prime Minister after World War II. Ancelotti once said, ”I learned that nothing is more important than the club president’s system.”

Berlusconi demanded Milan win beautifully, so the appearance of the ”Christmas tree” formation and four number 10s was not solely because Shevchenko was injured. Ancelotti also famously said, ”Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Berlusconi once compelled Ancelotti to field Shevchenko.

However, if you think this was merely Ancelotti flattering Berlusconi, you might be wrong.

In summary, he managed to balance the authority of the head coach with the authority of the Prime Minister. ”If Berlusconi wants to come into the locker room and crack jokes, I must understand that it’s his locker room. I even allowed him to enter the locker room before our Champions League final against Juventus in 2003. Everyone thought Berlusconi was pressuring me, which wasn’t entirely true. He was a deeply emotional person. When we won, he did instruct me, but if situations became difficult, he actually supported me.”