EBN-Italian Carlo Ancelotti, coach of Real Madrid, sparked controversy when he spoke about his desire to become a “fly” in a strange statement.
Speaking on the PorettiCast podcast, Ancelotti spoke about the lesser-known aspects of coaching, noting that coaches are often underestimated in their true role within top teams.
“Sometimes it seems like we don’t get enough appreciation,” Carlo said. Asked why he wanted to be a fly, he said: “If I became a fly on the wall I would hear what a player says when he doesn’t play and goes home.
He added: “Throughout my career I had disagreements with many players but in the end everything was resolved. There was a player when I was talking in the locker room he would put a towel over his face so he wouldn’t hear me. One day I told him we can’t continue like this.”
Ancelotti stressed that some players have difficulty separating their personal feelings from the team’s requirements, saying: “There are players who, when you put them on the bench, do not even say hello in the morning at these moments. They mix their personality as players with their feelings as individuals.
It is noteworthy that Real Madrid dropped to third place in the Spanish League standings with 54 points, 3 points behind Barcelona, the leader of the standings.
Carlo Ancelotti – Manager profile
Carlo Ancelotti, born June 10, 1959 in Reggiolo (Italy), is a former Italian international footballer who became a coach. Widely considered one of the best technicians in the world and in history, he is the current coach of Real Madrid. Nicknamed Carletto or “Don Carlo”, Carlo Ancelotti had a brilliant career as a midfielder, first at Parma and then at AS Roma, where he wore the captain’s armband and won an Italian championship title and four national cups. After moving to AC Milan, he won two new scudetti (Serie A championships) and two European cups in five years. Called up twenty-six times to the Italian team, he took part in Euro 88 and the 1990 World Cup, which ended in third place.
Having become a coach, he successively managed AC Reggiana, Parma and Juventus, before being called in 2001 to the helm of AC Milan, with which he enjoyed great success: he won the championship in 2004, but above all the Champions League twice (in 2003 and 2007 as well as a lost final in 2005). He thus became the sixth footballer to win the C1 as a player and then as a coach.
In 2009, he left Italy to coach the English club Chelsea, where he won a historic Cup-Championship double in his first season, becoming the second non-British coach, after Arsène Wenger, to achieve this feat. After a stint at Paris Saint-Germain punctuated by a French championship title, he became the coach of Real Madrid from 2013 where he notably won a new Champions League in 2014 before being dismissed from his duties the following year after a blank season. In 2016, he discovered a fifth championship by being appointed coach of Bayern Munich where he won the Bundesliga in his first season before being dismissed a few months later.
Ancelotti then successively managed SSC Napoli, then Everton having mixed experiences before returning to the bench of Real Madrid in 2021 with which he won La Liga the following year, making him the first coach to have won each of the five major European championships. With the Spanish club, he won his fourth Champions League in 2022, making him the most successful coach in the competition.
