Two pieces of bad news in a few days. A suddenly uncertain future. And Roma, which can now really start hoping for Carlo Ancelotti.
Roma, due brutte notizie per Ancelotti: ora si può sperare (Foto: Ansa) – serieanews.com
There are times in a coach’s life when everything seems to turn out perfectly. The fits work, the results come, the players hang on your every word. Then, however, there are also the other moments. The ones when, without even realizing it, you start to lose pieces.
One goal conceded too many, a defeat that stings more than it should, a few crooked looks in the locker room. And just like that, the perfect machine begins to creak.
Here, if we had to choose where Carlo Ancelotti is today, we would probably choose the second category without thinking about it. Because in this final season, in the parts of Madrid, the wind has changed direction. And it is not exactly a favorable wind.
The clearest signal came from the Champions League, Ancelotti’s favorite ground. Three goals taken by Arsenal, in a quarterfinal that was supposed to be the springboard for the usual imperial run to Munich. Instead, the return leg will need an evening of those that remain in the annals. Not impossible, of course. But not so predictable either.
As if that were not enough, La Liga also began to throw a tantrum. Real suddenly found itself sucked in by Hansi Flick’s Barcelona. A Barcelona that not only returned to winning ways, but also dusted off that cannibal air that always causes a certain annoyance in the Bernabeu’s parts.
Real Madrid, Ancelotti rischia grosso: salta anche la panchina del Brasile
And to think that this was supposed to be the perfect year. The one of the dream team, with Mbappé leading the way and an army of phenomena completing the picture. The one in which, theoretically, Ancelotti should have strolled into Spain and taken yet another Champions League. Theoretically, indeed.
But it is not just a question of results. For in Spain they tell that in Real’s locker room something is creaking. Not mutiny or headline drama, for goodness sake. But that subtle feeling that some players have begun to stop following him like they used to.
Real Madrid, Ancelotti rischia grosso: salta anche la panchina del Brasile (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
And when internal trust begins to waver, it is always a moment for society to start looking around. Who? Easy: Xabi Alonso, who with Bayer Leverkusen made a masterpiece and is now first on the list to sit on that legendary bench. But Ancelotti? Where does Ancelotti go from here?
Until a few months ago, the answer seemed to be Brazil. The greenoro national team had been courting him for some time, ready to entrust him with the most ambitious project of all. But instead, slowly, that hypothesis has grown fainter and fainter. Today the name at the top of the federation’s wish list is that of Jorge Jesus, a navigated coach who is definitely closer to sitting on the carioca bench.
That’s quite a blow for Ancelotti. Because losing Real Madrid and losing Brazil at the same time was just not in the cards. And this is where Roma comes in. Because AC Milan will apparently try to get Roberto De Zerbi. But Roma won’t. In Trigoria they are reasoning about a more experienced, reliable profile, capable of managing a complicated and ambitious environment at the same time.
Stefano Pioli’s name is at the top of the list. But should Carlo Ancelotti really find himself free tomorrow morning and with few first-rate alternatives, well … hard to imagine anyone in Rome not trying to make a splash. There is no wresting him from anyone. There is no convincing him to leave Madrid or give up Brazil.
There is only to offer him a credible project, perhaps the last major project of his career. A way to close the circle there where, so many years ago, it all began.
This article Roma, two pieces of bad news for Ancelotti: now you can hope appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
