Last week a series of quotes from the new Chelsea manager’s autobiography about his negotiations with the Abramovich hit the headlines – you can read what I thought about them here.
This morning – quite conveniently timed ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier tomorrow – more quotes from his autobiography have been plastered all over the back pages, this time about England Manager and compatriot Fabio Capello. A choice excerpt:
"Capello read games brilliantly that was his best quality. From that point of view, hats off to him. On a human level…he was surly, he didn't have a dialogue with the players, above all he didn't like to talk to us about technical issues. The discussion on certain questions was not relevant to him - it didn't exist."
An article on the Guardian website – published a week ago today, I might add - takes his quotes further, adding:
“Unsurprisingly, he fell out with many players. For example, I remember Ruud Gullit pinning him up against the wall”.
Nice one, Ruud. From a Chelsea fan’s point of view, it’s interesting that Ancelotti once again talks up the importance of man-management and ‘getting on’ with players – he spoke on Chelsea TV about the importance of creating a ‘group’. Turning back to the story though: the media love to stoke up a rivalry as it sells papers. But one thing looks certain: Ancelotti will be a bit more outspoken than we thought…
Maybe it will be like having Jose back!
Posted by: KD | 05 June 2009 at 14:41
There's been a lot of talk about the job at Chelsea being just a man-management role. The insinuation being that a team of good players wins games by itself, as long as everyone's happy. I don't buy this. The reason this impression was created is because the Mourinho Chelsea was so strong, had its roles so firmly drummed into it, that for a long time it survived without tactical direction. The decline under Grant, and the disaster under Scolari (especially when some acquisitions and injuries meant change was needed) shows that we do need a boss with tactical nouse - not just one who makes everyone feel loved.
Posted by: CFC_Forever | 05 June 2009 at 14:44
@ KD - not sure if having Jose back (in this way is a good idea). Don't forget this is one of the reasons why Roman got rid of Jose. Don't forget this is way we don't get anything but grief from the papers. Don't forget this is why UEFA hate us and we never get fair refs. I love Jose and will never forget winning the league for the first (hopefully not last) time in my life, but not sure he's done us long term favours.
Posted by: James | 05 June 2009 at 15:28