Why Ancelotti is the manager Man Utd desperately need
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 5 Apr 2022 16:37 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United are undoubtedly in something of a rut at the moment, as the club wanders aimlessly towards the end of the season.
Not only are the Old Trafford side out of all competitions, but their misfiring squad are truly struggling to finish in the top four of the Premier League under interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
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To make matters worse, despite Rangnick stepping in as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s replacement at the turn of the year, the club have yet to confirm what long-term plans they have for the managerial post at Old Trafford.
Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino remain the frontrunners for the job, but French publication UOL Sport are now reporting that Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti could have an outside chance of taking over this summer.
However, while Man Utd fans scoff at the suggestion, they may do well to take a second look at the senior manager’s record in domestic leagues before they rule Ancelotti out entirely.
Ancelotti’s league record speaks for itself
While most Premier League fans will struggle to look beyond Ancelott’s time at Everton it’s certainly worth taking a look at the Italian manager’s overall record in domestic leagues and just how consistent he has been.
There’s no doubt that Ancelotti’s time at Everton was a low point in his career, where he averaged just 1.5 points per game in his first season, then 1.55 in his second, but the Italian manager has bounced back at Madrid.
As far as I’m aware, if Ancelotti was to leave Real Madrid this summer, it would be to retire. Spanish club have no intention at this moment of dismissing him.
— Chris Winterburn (@cmwinterburn) March 3, 2022
Indeed, the 62-year-old manager is currently averaging 2.31 points per La Liga game in the Spanish capital, which not only has Madrid sitting top of the league but is actually his best return in a domestic league since 2016/17, when he was leading Bayern to a Bundesliga title.
In fact, over the course of the past 10 years, Ancelotti has only surpassed his impressive tally for this season on two occasions. And is even performing better than he did in 2009/10 when he won the Premier League with Chelsea.
So while the Italian manager’s stock may not be as high as it once was, there’s no denying that Ancelotti’s ability to grind out results and get points on the board in any of Europe’s top leagues remains as good as ever. And that may be exactly what Man Utd need next season.
