Top managerial changes and their impact on European football

Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid

Mourinho’s departure after a 3-year stint in the Spanish capital attracted mixed reaction from the Los Blancos faithful.

While, Jose made long strides in taking the club to league glory and bringing an end to the Barca dominance, the team’s defeats in the semis of the Champions League for 3 years didn’t go down well with the fans. So, Real had to appoint a high profile manager after having learned lessons from their Juande Ramos debacle.

In came Carlo Ancelotti from PSG. A call from Santiago Bernebau to coach the team is a rarity, and those usually can’t be turned down. A manager with UCL pedigree is exactly what president Florentino Perez needed, to reorganize and motivate an egoistic team.

Mourinho’s tussle with the players last season has left the squad in bad shape in terms of morale and Carlo is the right man to bring everyone onto the same boat.

While the manager’s appointment was a bit delayed, the club didn’t wait on transfers. Very highly rated Spaniard, Isco was signed from Malaga for 26.4 million pounds and Daniel Carvajal was signed back from Bayer Leverkusen for 5 million. The loan contract of Brazilian defensive mid Casemiro was made permanent with a transfer fee of 6 million pounds.

The biggest signing though, is of the midfielder Asier Illaramendi for 34 million pounds (including all clauses). This might look like a protracted move to prevent a future star playing for any other team, but nonetheless, it is a great signing.

The real problem Ancelotti will face is managing the large squad with a limited number of starting spots. Kaka becomes the instant talking point. The Brazil star became what he is today under the guidance of Carlo at Milan, but to how much extent will he be favoured over Mesut Ozil and Isco needs to be seen.

With Zenedine Zidane as the assistant coach, that minor communication gap between the player and manager will be well bridged. Gonzalo Higuain is expected to leave the club sooner or later, so a world class striker is very much likely to be signed. Luis Suarez would work wonders for Carlo and Madrid and might be the difference between Real Madrid and any sort of silverware next season.