Carlo Ancelotti in his book: "Florentino said we didn't give enough"

Under the title 'Quiet Leadership' (Ediciones Urano, 2016), Carlo Ancelotti has launched a new way of writing memoirs. He did so as a leader at Milan, Juventus, Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid. A book that collected his experiences after leaving the white club and taking a sabbatical year due to medical problems and before joining Bayern Munich. 

Who would have thought that good old Ancelotti's writing in 2016 would be the guiding light for what his new present at Real Madrid might be like. 

But the book would not be so interesting were it not for the fact that Carlo Ancelotti reveals the most tense moments he has experienced in the dressing room, especially at Real Madrid, where he confirms that the white club is unlike anything else in the world of sport. The impact of Florentino Pérez, transfers, Casillas and Mourinho are some of the headlines he has given over the years as Real Madrid coach.

The testimonies of personalities such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Beckham and Ibrahimovic, which are offered in the book, are also of great value. They reveal another facet of Ancelotti as a close friend and a person who cares about people.

There are moments from those years that are better understood after reading Ancelotti's reflections and memories. 

"The second season was considered a failure because we didn't win any trophies and I was sacked. The statistics revealed that our players did not work hard enough compared to other European teams. UEFA data showed that Real Madrid spent less time than other European clubs in training players for matches. But it turned out that we interrupted the winning streak when the statistics were made public". (...) The president heard about the statistics and said that we were not doing enough. I wanted to explain to him that what was important was not the length of the training session, but its intensity. (...) He didn't listen. If the president had been patient, when 21 days later the tests came back, he would have seen that we really needed to relax a bit".

Cristiano Ronaldo: "If the atmosphere with Ancelotti was so good, it was because, among other things, he protected the dressing room from the president and from anything else that could upset the balance of the family.

Ibrahimovic: "I heard that the Real Madrid president complained that some players were taking advantage of Carlo's good character. That is not true. Maybe the president was jealous because he didn't have the same relationship with the players as Carlo had. I don't understand these criticisms.

"Before my arrival at Madrid, the players had been told to play in a non-Madrid style, with more counter-attacking football. In my opinion, the players were not the problem. My job was to let them play in a Madrid style. It helped that more players were signed who fitted the fundamental identity of the club. This was what the president wanted and this coincidence makes things easier". (...)

I have often been asked why Real Madrid hired Mourinho. The answer is simple: they wanted to beat Barcelona. At that time, Mourinho was the best manager in Europe. (...) Aligning yourself with the identity and culture of the club is not enough if you don't win.

Ibrahimovic: "Carlo Ancelotti was talking to us and he had a box in front of him and suddenly he kicked it, it flew through the air and hit me in the head. "Fuck," I said to myself, "he's really pissed off". I had never seen him like that.  Jose Mourinho knows how to treat a footballer, but Ancelotti knows how to treat a person".

"The club had more faith in the numbers than in me. One morning in March I got the phone call from the general manager, who told me that the chairman wanted to speak to me at the end of training. When I went to see the chairman, he told me that Gareth Bale's agent had been in his office to discuss the player's situation. He told him that Bale wanted to play more in the centre. The chairman asked me what we were going to do and I said, "Nothing". I wasn't going to change his position at that stage of the season. Besides, I was surprised that the player hadn't approached me".

"When Real Madrid decided to sign a sixteen-year-old Norwegian boy, Martin Odegaard, I said to myself: "I don't care if he comes or not, because he's not going to play for me now". (...) Perez was determined in his "galactic era" to sign the biggest and most expensive stars in world football, so players were arriving that maybe I would not have chosen. (...) If the president, as a public relations exercise, needs the Norwegian boy to play three games with the first team, I will have to find a way to do it. If he wants to sell Xabi Alonso, I will also have to accept that".

"When I arrived at Real Madrid, Casillas had not played under Mourinho, who had preferred to put in Diego López. For me it was a difficult choice because Casillas had a magnificent record. (...) I decided to put Diego López as first-choice goalkeeper and before the first game I spoke to Casillas. I told him that, in my opinion, Diego López, at that time, was more prepared than him. He didn't argue with me because Diego López had done a full pre-season and Casillas hadn't". (...)

"The captain is not always the main leader. At Madrid, Ramos was not the captain of the team - that honour belonged to Casillas - but Ramos was the leader, particularly because Casillas didn't play every game. Casillas was captain because he came from the youth academy and had played many games for the club, but Ramos was the stronger leader."

"People say I put James in because the president had invested a lot of money in him after the World Cup, but I was not influenced by that. Money doesn't matter once a player is at the club; I wanted James on the wing because of his footballing qualities. He is a hard worker and not selfish at all: a real professional.

"In my first year at Real Madrid I put Sergio Ramos at right-back, but we weren't very good friends yet, he didn't know me well. After the game he said to me: 'This is the last time I'll play at right-back'. (...)

"At Madrid, Marcelo used to approach me to tell me that he wanted to play every game. And that if he didn't play, he would talk to the president to ask him to send him on loan to another club. I would say to him: 'Listen, this is not the time, because the market is closed, so you will have to stay here until the end of the season'. (...)

"There are only a few occasions when I have been forced to recommend that a player leave the club. One of them came shortly before the end of my season at Madrid, when Javier Hernández 'Chicharito' approached me to ask me about his future. It was clear to me, so I told him: "I don't even know my own situation in the future, so I can't answer you. If I stay, I want you to stay too, but it doesn't depend on me".

"At Milan I learned that no system is more important than the president of the club. If Berlusconi wants to enter the dressing room to tell his jokes, I have to understand that it's his dressing room. I even allowed him in before we played Juventus in the Champions League final in 2003. He's the boss, so if he feels like it, he can even listen to the players' chats".

"I can't understand the player who moves country and after 10 years is not able to learn the local language. The maximum should be six months. If an old man like me can do it, so can the players. I think it should be in the contract because if a player doesn't learn, it will normally have a negative effect on his performance."

"When I meet a player at a new club for me, I ask him: "Who are you?" He might say: "I'm a player, I'm a great attacking midfielder". And I might reply: "No. You're a so-and-so. You are a man who plays football. You're brilliant at it, international class, but that doesn't define you". I try to see the whole person and help them to see themselves in a broad sense.

Paul Clement: "Carlo judges everyone on their merits. No one in his eyes is better or worse than anyone else, everyone has their value. He cares about people: his players and his technical staff.