It has been revealed that Carlo Ancelotti has supposedly ‘always wanted’ to manage Manchester United.
Following on from the shock exit of Rúben Amorim following his explosive press conferences before and after the 1-1 draw against Leeds, Manchester United have begun the search for his successor.
Darren Fletcher has been placed as interim manager until an official caretaker manager has been employed till the end of the season. Former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his former assistant Michael Carrick are the two front-runners for the role.
After the change in system during the 2-2 draw against Burnley, should the result against Brighton in the FA Cup be better, that would also put Darren Fletcher in the fray to continue as interim till the end of the season.
With United wanting to wait till the summer and possibly after the World Cup to hire a permanent future manager, numerous high-profiles have been linked.
Ancelotti enamoured with United
Carlo Ancelotti is undoubtedly one of the greatest managers of all-time. His success with different types of clubs and being able to adapt to every new generation is outstanding.
Now the Brazil manager will be hoping to add to the World Cup to his massive trophy collection, which includes five Champions League wins.
Since the sacking of Amorim, Ancelotti’s name has been bandied around as a potential shock candidate to take the reins after the World Cup.
More than that, Duncan Castles has revealed that the Italian’s dream was to once manage the Red Devils.
He told the Transfers Podcast: “Carlo Ancelotti, I think, is interesting, because Ancelotti, I heard a long time ago – in fact, when he was Chelsea coach – from someone close to him, that he has always coveted the Manchester United job and wanted an opportunity to do that before he retired.”
Of course, time has passed since then, but the former Real Madrid coach is much closer to retiring than when he was the Chelsea coach, so now may be his last opportunity to do so.
Would he be the right choice?
With anyone who has the pedigree of Carlo Ancelotti, it would be disrespectful to outright say he would not improve United.
The respect he would command, his track record of amazing man management decisions and his previous experience in the Premier League with both a winning Chelsea side and the struggling Everton side he pushed into an unlikely race for Europe. He definitely would not be the worst option.
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However, in terms of managerial ability right now, there are many better options. While Ancelotti would get the team playing better in the short-term, he himself is neither a long-term manager nor would he manage to extract the maximum potential out of the players.
In terms of managers at the World Cup, the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann would prove to be better options. Despite not having the same pedigree as Ancelotti, they would be long-term managers who understand the modern-day trends of football and establish a clear style of play, something that would not be guaranteed under Ancelotti.
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