Carlo Ancelotti was ultimately a huge disappointment at Bayern Munich. Despite a wealth of trophies from across Europe, the parting words from chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for his Italian coach were notably blunt: “The performance of the team since the start of the season did not meet the expectations we’ve placed on them.” Essentially, for quite some time things have looked a little off.
And that’s not all that surprising when you consider the bigger picture. Sure, Ancelotti was brought to Bayern off the back off his ability to win Champions League trophies, but he was also joining a club that had redesigned itself around the image of a predecessor that couldn’t have had more contrasting methods from his own.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola’s shadow still looms over the Allianz Arena with most working at the club or paying to stand on its terraces well aware of the fact that his new-age tactics and man-management has been sorely missed since Ancelotti arrived and took a more hands-off approach to both aspects of the job.
Where Ancelotti’s warmer, old-fashioned approach to coaching has worked to coax the best out of world-class players at AC Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid, it fell on deaf ears in a Bayern squad hard-wired in to precise, tough coaching from Guardiola. Which led to poor performances, results and ultimately his demise in Munich.
Yet it’s not just Guardiola that Ancelotti starkly contrasts with. The entire Bundesliga is full of young, exciting coaches that subscribe to a modern approach to football and they too underline Ancelotti’s limited appeal in this new-look sport.
The man strongly linked as Ancelotti’s successor, dubbed the “millennial manager” by some, is Julian Nagelsmann of Hoffenheim. The 30-year old studied sports science and has a bachelor of arts. He believes “social competence” is more important than tactics in football and if asked for his biggest influences he’ll rhyme of handball and hockey coaches and how Volkswagen run their factories and treat their staff.
Beside Nagelsmann in the manager shortlist is Thomas Tuchel, 44, who guided a spirited Borussia Dortmund side to two wins over Ancelotti last season with precision tactics and an outspoken approach to man-management that would make the Italian blush.
Throw in the relatively new Ralph Hassenhuttl, Pal Dardai at Hertha Berlin and Peter stoger at Koln, Alexander Nouri and Christian Streich at Freiburg and you have an average age of the coaches running the next seven teams in the Bundesliga standing at 38 years of age. A whole 20 years younger than Ancelotti.
A number of things went wrong for the old Italian coach in Munich but one thing that seemed to stand out was that he couldn’t cut it in the young-man’s game that is the Bundesliga.
