Carlo Ancelotti is different: he puts players and owners before systems, as Everton will find out
Jack Pitt-Brooke, Sarah Shephard, Rafael Honigstein and Adam Crafton Dec 21, 2019 61
Carlo Ancelotti is not like most modern managers.
The new generation of elite coaches share certain characteristics. Above all they are ideological. Each man has his own philosophy of play, a unifying vision that takes in theory and practice, training and tactics. He believes in it with religious zeal, so much so that he can persuade his players of its absolute truth.
Only through my Plan A will you win games, he says, and any non-believers are discarded.
Management then means instructing his players in every last detail until they know it off by heart, then watching his little band of cultists go off and make his vision real on the pitch.
Most of the recent triumphs of management fit into this. Pep Guardiola racking up 198 points across two Premier League seasons with Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp resurrecting Liverpool and winning the Champions League. Antonio Conte winning 102 points in a single season with Juventus, one of four league titles to...