Ancelotti as James Bond with Abramovich for Chelsea job

If it’s true that Ancelotti is up for the Chelsea job then revelations in his just released autobiography reported in today’s press could not have made worse timing. There are some positive anecdotes but also some quite damning ones, but on the whole, his comments won’t make many Chelsea fans warm to him despite there being traces of humour throughout.

No personality 

Ancelotti claims that during his meetings with Abramovich during the past year our owner claimed that Chelsea’s football did not display any concrete personality.

With regard to one meeting at a Geneva hotel Ancelotti writes:

“Abramovich wanted to know everything about me, my way of working, my philosophy.  He was and still is looking for a team with a precise identity: ‘Like Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan, certainly not like my Chelsea.’ “

“I find I can easily chat with Abramovich. He doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable, not even when he says with a low voice: ‘We’ve just lost the Champions League final, and the league, I can’t certainly be satisfied. Chelsea don’t have a personality. I have the ambition of winning every competition in which my team takes part, but this is a team that at the moment I don’t recognise.’ ”

Not quite sure what to say about these comments really.  If by “personality” Abramovich means “flair” then I could see where he is coming from – although his “flair” experiment with Scolari whilst working extremely well initially eventually got found out. 

You could argue that Scolari was too one dimensional in that aspect I suppose – certainly we got found out after a while.  However, it remains clear that the very strong power-play personality we had under Mourinho that one Italian journalist described as “like an Armada” and also received admiration from Fabio Capello, is not to Abramovich´s liking.

“You need Ribery and Alonso”

“‘President, your team is very physical, you have to put more quality in the middle of the pitch.’ I gave him two names, Franck Ribéry and Xabi Alonso, players that would have made him very happy."

“He thought of a third name, that of Andriy Shevchenko, who was close to his heart it was easy to see. ‘I can’t understand why he’s not playing, because since we brought him to England he’s not the real Sheva, he’s in difficulties.’ ‘President, I can’t know the reason myself.’

"We talk and talk and talk some more."

Well Ribery is a name that has been on the wish list of some Chelsea fans. 

There is no doubting the quality of Xabi Alonso who Liverpool wanted to offload last season in favour of Gareth Barry although the Basque player is not one of the most liked players by many sections of the Stamford Bridge faithful.  Presumably Alonso would have replaced Ballack?

Abramovich´s insistence re Shevchenko seems baffling although a season has past since then – and Milan’s use of the Ukrainian should have answered his questions.

I felt I was already Chelsea manager

After meetings with Abramovich Ancelotti settled down to watch videos of us:

“I confess that at certain points in 2008-09 I watched my DVDs of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba,”

“I was already the coach of the boys on paper.”It seems that the Italian was (and perhaps is) at least considering the job.

His Specialness

Since Mourinho´s arrival in Italy, he has been a cat amongst the pigeons.  That is his style.  Mourinho considers football as war and is quite happy to create an “Us and them” culture and build a siege mentality within his squad.

At one point Ancelotti calls Mourinho “his Mourinhoness” and makes it quite clear that he despises our ex-Special one:

“I thought, there are worse things in life than me and Abramovich together. The worst for him had already been and gone. He had already worked with His Specialness, Mourinho.”

During one club meeting with his vice-president, Adriano Galliani, Mourinho appeared on television:

“We looked up at the television and there was his Mourinhoness, comparing himself to Jesus. I thought, ‘Forgive him his sins, he knows not what he is talking about.’ ”

So he doesn’t like Mourinho?  Fair enough, but I can’t help feeling given the possibility that Ancelotti may well be our next manager, his revelations on his feelings won’t help the relationship with many Chelsea fans. Then again, he is at least being honest.

 

Knowledge and hunger

"I go to meet him one floor up. He's waiting in a conference room and has the same people he had in Geneva around the table. I immediately make one thing clear. 'I have a contract with Milan. An eventual agreement with Chelsea can only happen if Milan is also in agreement.'

"Again we only talked football. How would I make Chelsea play in case they got me as a manager?  

“While he was talking, my curiosity perked up. He wasn’t the monster that papers painted him to be. The first thing I noticed was his timidity. The second his great knowledge of football. The third his hunger, his bulimia: ‘Dear Ancelotti, I want to win everything. Everything.’ He made a great impression on me. An hour flew by during which we never talked about money.”

"He thinks so much about the results and the beautiful game. Another 40 minutes fly by. 'Thanks Ancelotti, we'll meet again.' No financial offer."

So Abramovich wants us to be successful – and admired.  I don’t really care too much about the second point although I would appreciate a fair shake in the media and from the football authorities.

We can take heart that Abramovich´s intentions are excellent.  Who could ask for a better owner?  Besides shelling out enormous amounts of his own money he really seems to have Chelsea in his heart.

Ancelotti´s comments on Abramovich´s knowledge back-up those made by Mourinho when the Portuguese said how impressed he was after meeting our owner for the first time on his yacht.

Shaken not stirred

There then follows the more (we suppose) humorous side of Ancelotti´s account on meetings with Abramovich. 

There was a second meeting at the George V hotel in Paris where Ancelotti compares himself to James Bond on a secret mission.  Ancelotti describes how he wears dark glasses and checks the streets “like a secret agent” so as to be avoid any paparazzi:

“The manager of Milan is on a secret mission.  I, like 007, on my own. Sat behind a driver with the face of a killer. More than a taxi, this is like a time machine, from Milanello [the Serie A club's training ground] to Stamford Bridge, from yesterday to tomorrow, from one devil (the rossonero) to another . . .”

"Everything was organised by Charlie Stillitano, a friend from the US who works in football. He knows Peter Kenyon, the executive hand of Abramovich at Chelsea, who has expressed the wish to meet me.

"I was on holiday relaxing after the bitterness of failing to qualify for the Champions League with Milan. "Abramovich came after me, it's a good sign but how many bodyguards! "They are the ones who accompanied me to the Big Chief and to Kenyon. Their team was completed by a lawyer and an interpreter.

"An hour flew by during which we never talked about money."

Spaletti also on shopping list

Whilst in Paris, Ancelotti goes on to describe how he bumps into Luciano Spaletti and suspects that the Roma coach is there to also be interviewed by Abramovich:

“I laugh,” says Ancelotti.

“ ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘No, what are you doing?’ I laugh. I laugh again. I feel like I am in a supermarket. Everyone here to talk to this chairman, and maybe we’re his shopping list.”

Whilst not having the best of times at Roma, Spaletti is a coach who likes to play open attacking football.  I’m not surprised at all Abramovich may have wanted to interview Spaletti (Does he speak English?).

Galliani tipped off

Milan suit Galliani got wind of the Chelsea talks with Ancelotti and responded immediately.  Ancelotti responded by stating that if Milan didn’t want him to leave he wouldn’t leave.

“If Milan ask me to stay, I’ll stay.”

Chelsea reaction?

It now remains to be seen just how the club react to Ancelotti´s comments. 

What do you think?