DYC. 7,542 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I've supported Milan for years and watched almost every match back in Ancelotti era. Yes, there were problems, but he had a very good squad that had no problems winning matches convincingly in the CL but often struggled to perform consistently on a weekly basis. The squad was good enough to win at least a few league titles, IMO. In what years though? When he first took over in 2001? The last time they won the league was in '99. Terim was sacked during the 2001/2002 season and Milan were in the UEFA Cup, which meant they didn't even finish in the top 4 in 2000/2001. What manager wins the league in a situation like that? They finished fourth under Ancelotti and qualified for the CL. Juventus were the best team in the league by far and deservedly won the title in Ancelotti's first two seasons at Milan. The gap between Juventus and Milan was far bigger than the one between Chelsea and Utd in 2006-2009, yet Utd dominated. Chelsea were great, Utd was better. I guess winning in 02/03 was a possibility but the odds were against them.Ancelotti wins the league in 2004. After that, Juventus buys two league titles. How do you fight that? Milan were punished in 2006/2007 and started the season with -8 points, Juventus were relegated. Only one team was going to win the league. After that season Milan kept declining without refreshing their team. Their team was just filled with players past 30, well past their prime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLyon 9,359 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 But but they have James! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel1980 1,425 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 In what years though? When he first took over in 2001? The last time they won the league was in '99. Terim was sacked during the 2001/2002 season and Milan were in the UEFA Cup, which meant they didn't even finish in the top 4 in 2000/2001. What manager wins the league in a situation like that? They finished fourth under Ancelotti and qualified for the CL. Juventus were the best team in the league by far and deservedly won the title in Ancelotti's first two seasons at Milan. The gap between Juventus and Milan was far bigger than the one between Chelsea and Utd in 2006-2009, yet Utd dominated. Chelsea were great, Utd was better. I guess winning in 02/03 was a possibility but the odds were against them.Ancelotti wins the league in 2004. After that, Juventus buys two league titles. How do you fight that? Milan were punished in 2006/2007 and started the season with -8 points, Juventus were relegated. Only one team was going to win the league. After that season Milan kept declining without refreshing their team. Their team was just filled with players past 30, well past their prime.In 2002-03 he had a good enough team to win it. The team wasn't much worse than Juventus's and certainly shouldn't have finished 11 points behind them. After the 8-point penalty due to the Calciopoli Scandal, the team clearly struggled, but it was still good enough to perform better than it did. I mean, this was the first team: Dida-Cafu,Nesta,Maldini,Jankulovski-Gattuso, Pirlo,Ambrosini-Kaka, Seedorf- Inzaghi The defence was good enough and Nesta was still amazing, the midfield wasn't in decline yet.(Pirlo -27, Ambrosini - 29, Gattuso -28, Kaka - 24, Seedorf -30).They certainly should have done better than finish 36 points behind Inter, and behind Roma and Lazio. That was just disgrace. I mean this is the team that was good enough to beat Bayern, United and Liverpool and win the CL.My point is, Ancelotti is not a very good League manager. He's an excellent cup manager, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo 21,751 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 To be fair, his time at Milan needs to be put in perspective. When he took over in 2001, Milan were anything but a winning team. He had to rebuild that team and the Serie A was still the best league in the world at the time, with Juventus as the dominant team in the Serie A and one of the strongest sides in Europe. And then after Ancelotti won the league in 2004, there was the scandal with Juventus 'buying' those two following Serie A seasons. So there were two 'blank' years domestically in his time at Milan. Inter were the only top team not suffer because of the Calciopoli. They spent big, bought some of the best players in the league and just dominated the league for 4 years. And in those years, Ancelotti had a squad that was seriously declining.You look back at that Milan team and think about the big names they had, but they weren't all performing or in their prime at the same time. After winning the league in 2006, Chelsea have only won the league once in a 7 year period. You look back at the big names in the team and huge amount of money splashed on players and based on that, it's shocking how the league was only won once. But we know what went down in those 7 years. Perspective.We stopped spending a lot between 2007 and 2010, we spent on 8 players in that time and 4 off them were epic flops, no wonder we stagnated so bad that it took 4 season's to recover, if it weren't for the Munich miracle it would have took longer infact Jose returning speed up the process aswell and even he needed a season to sort out the ridiculous unbalanced squad we had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 43,479 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Seems like not only Ancelotti is in a sticky situation, Benitez is too at Napoli. Just lost to Chievo awhile ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechromancer 262 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Ancelotti to Napoli and Benitez to Madrid.Pls, God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Term-X 7,891 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Ancelotti to Napoli and Benitez to Madrid.Pls, God.I know you're only joking but Ancelotti has always had his eye on the Roma job."I'd love to manage Roma"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1219447/Chelsea-boss-Carlo-Ancelotti-admits-Id-love-manage-Roma.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 43,479 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Ancelotti to Napoli and Benitez to Madrid.Pls, God.Benitez has been linked with the Newcastle job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHOULO19 24,332 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Benitez has been linked with the Newcastle job. Newcastle? What about Pardew's 50-year deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bababoom 4,478 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Benitez is a decent manager tbh, the Newcastle fans will be over the moon with Rafa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethos1 802 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Isn't Rafa at napoli? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHOULO19 24,332 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Isn't Rafa at napoli?Not for long by the looks of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethos1 802 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Not for long by the looks of it... Why would he go from Napoli to Newcastle? Doesn't make much sense to me (haven't seen Napoli this year so I don't know how they are doing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechromancer 262 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Well, i respect Newcastle, of course, but that's a big step back.Rafa is a outstanding manger. He deserves a club with a lot of potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bababoom 4,478 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Well, i respect Newcastle, of course, but that's a big step back.Rafa is a outstanding manger. He deserves a club with a lot of potential.He may want to go back to England. Tbh Newcastle have a great fanbase and a wonderful stadium, the downside is that Mike Ashely hardly puts any money into the club...I dislike Rafa but he is a decent manager, definitely not top tier though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myself 793 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Newcastle? What about Pardew's 50-year deal?He's going to get sacked. Blamed the fans for the last two losses. The atmosphere was poisonous, Pardew couldn't stand without getting abuse. Apparently Mike Ashley and Pardew had a meeting after their 4-0 loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase 43,479 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Well, i respect Newcastle, of course, but that's a big step back.Rafa is a outstanding manger. He deserves a club with a lot of potential.Benitez an outstanding manager? That is so overstating it. He's just someone who is still living off the Champions League 2005 win and the success he had at Valencia. Otherwise, he really hasn't done much apart from some cup wins here and there. And sometimes when you watch his teams, it feels hard to even decipher what they are trying to do (and yes, that includes his time here as well). Only on rare occasions we get that when somehow, somewhere, he has a strategy up his sleeves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Term-X 7,891 Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 He's found himself in a nice position 'career-wise', he has the ultimate excuse if Perez sacks him, people will have sympathy due to the squad being dismantled. It's a win-win situation for Carlo, his reputation will not be effected.. even if he REALLY fucks up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myself 793 Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 He's found himself in a nice position 'career-wise', he has the ultimate excuse if Perez sacks him, people will have sympathy due to the squad being dismantled. It's a win-win situation for Carlo, his reputation will not be effected.. even if he REALLY fucks up.It's not an excuse though. Florentino genuinely ruined the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Term-X 7,891 Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 It's not an excuse though. Florentino genuinely ruined the team.Carlo's record as a manager is sugarcoated by some, as mentioned by many in here.. his time at Milan raises many questions. Even with this squad, he should be competing for the title. Yet.. he's a product of circumstance and a sacking won't effect his reputation, hence the 'win-win' situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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