16 september 2010

Chelsea - Looking at Two Managers!

också publicerad på Chelsea Vital

Chelsea being the team that has had two managers that have won the Champions League twice, it is now about time to start reviewing our league-winning managers.

Chelsea being the team that has had two managers that have won the Champions League twice, it is now about time to start reviewing our league-winning managers, José Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti. (Chelsea`s three most successful managers have been continental Europeans, so something must be done right by us outside the island of Britain!)

There are many great managers in the game of football, and there have been even more great ones. One that I will hold as maybe the greatest of them all is Ernst Happel, but I will not go down memory lane. Let us stick to managers working in clubs right now. (Which excludes my favourite and once Chelsea care-taker manager Guus Hiddink).

Alex Ferguson is of course the first name on that team sheet, maybe the greatest club manager ever but not a personality to match. But, and I might be hated for this, I do think he has not only peaked but is sliding in my opinion. Maybe he should have retired, but then if there is one manager that simply will prove me wrong out of spite it will be him. He is one that can never be counted out.

Arsene Wenger has also been a great manager, but today he seems to me to be much more interested in proving his theories than winning trophies. A big Domenech-warning on Wenger, but nobody can deny his greatness and influence. I still think he might become a great club director.

Of the club managers today I rank three to be in a class by themselves right now. It is the wily, cranky Dutchman Louis van Gaal at Bayern Münich. It is the more loveable Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea and it is of course the only manager-star José Mourinho, the only manager as big as his players. I do not hold Rafa Benitez very highly as you might know if you have followed me here through the years (sadly he is now in charge of a club I like). I do not think Pep Guardiola is a great manager either despite winning a treble his first year. After all he came to a self-playing pianola and it must be considered harder to fail than succeed with that team. So the jury is still out on Pep Guardiola. Vincent del Bosque is a great manager, but no longer at a club. (And still fired from Real Madrid, just so you know José). etc…

Who is the best manager in the world? I think many will agree with me when I say it is José Mourinho. But then I am a huge fan and have always been. I was on the fence when Roman hired Carlo Ancelotti, I did not like the way Milan played. I have a totally different appreciation of him after the work he has done at Chelsea in only one season. So I have for some time now thought about comparing these two managers.

After all, they are very different people. They do now appreciate each other and has formed a friendship based on mutual respect that is good to see, as they had some communication troubles when both in Italy.

I have tried to compare the two in areas I think are the responsibility of a manager.

1 - Game Coach

I think in today`s game, game coaching is the most important tool in a manager`s arsenal.
This goes strongly to José Mourinho, I think he is the best game coach ever, even better than Guus Hiddink. Carlo is not bad at all, but not that good.

2 - Tactician

The second round also goes to José. As we saw at Stamford Bridge and especially when he simply made fun of Barcelona in the Champions League. Carlo is also very good, but not that good.

3 - Preparation

This is what has made José the manager he is. All great managers prepare well, none as well as José Mourinho. Round to José.

4 - Developing Talent

This round goes to Carlo after the work he has done with the kids and especially building on the key that Guus found in Malouda. This year I think Mikel has already taken a huge step forward, that I credit Carlo too. The kids are on their way led by Sturridge.

5 - Finding Talent

A tough one to judge. After all, it was José that brought us Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and basically Mikel. He also brought Malouda to the club. (Not to mention Riccy Carvalho). But he is also the guy that brought us Ben Tal Heim, Boulahrouz, Sidwell, Pizarro, Di Santo and some others.

Carlo had much less opportunity to buy players, but so far he looks very strong when judging him from players he brought to the club (I do not count Sturridge as that deal was done before Carlo`s). His only failure, if he was even involved, is Ross Turnbull. Maybe I am premature, but I believe very much in Yoshi Benayoun and Ramires. Very much so. I think they will make huge contributions this and coming years. Their respective starts have been very promising, Benni probably our best player in Zilina, Ramires filling in effortlessly as Upton Park.

I make this a tie this far, though probably José still deserves it.

6 - Nurturing Talent

José was not as bad at this as some claim, and we must all remember that he had very strong demands on immediate success when he came to the club. Patience was nowhere to be found with him and he knew it. I still give it to Carlo for the way he is working the kids into the team, patiently and supportingly. José did this too, but honestly he did not have the talent Carlo has. Scott Sinclair, Franco Di Santo and the unlucky Sam Hutchinson does not really match up with Sturridge, Kakuta, McEachran, Bruma, and others.

7 - Media

Hands down to José. He handled even the malicious British media like a lion tamer. He was never not interesting! Carlo is a totally different person. He does not handle the media bad, in some ways actually better, but honestly - José was a riot following in the media. Still is. His Harry Potter comment is so far the best of all this season. And his dog comment when the pouch was found out to be illegal is a classic. He could even rile up Ferguson so he lost his suspenders.

8 - Media Fallout

The media loved and hated José (some more the latter) which caused a fallout that was not always very nice to receive. With Carlo there is never any controversy which makes for a much quieter life for Chelsea in the media. Some even think we are on the brink of becoming likeable, which is hard to believe considering how strongly media (both in my country and Britain) are standing behind red teams all the time. I give it to Carlo.

9 - Merits

José was not a player, not that I belong to the people that think you have to be a great player to be a great manager - not at all. It is actually a silly notion, promoted by talentless former player`s wannabe managers. Wenger sure was not, neither was Ferguson to be honest. Ancelotti of course was which to me only proves that one can be both a good player and a good manager that is not exclusive either.

José has taken three teams in a very short time in three different leagues to multiple championships, he has taken two "lesser" teams to Champions league triumphs. He has won a treble.

Carlo has two Champions league titles, but only one league title with a club before Chelsea! I rank league titles higher. He has an English double, José have a league+league cup double, not really the same, but the treble in Italy despite being a less formidable league makes up for that.

I give it slightly to José, but think Carlo will catch up again this year. Despite believing José will win La Liga with Real, but he will not win the Champions League this year and maybe not even the Copa Del Rey. I think Carlo has at least two titles coming this season. And if he takes the league and the CL, he will surpass José.

A tie so far, or….?

10 - Personality

OK, unfair competition as Carlo is a low-key lovely bloke and José is more megastar publicity phenonomen.

I still give it to Carlo as I like low-key personalities a lot. The media will vote the opposite. But I would love to take a pint (or a glass of red) with Carlo over a meeting José at the posh night club.

11 - Player Interaction

I think José has the best player interaction ever displayed in football. He had his way of taking on the light and blame on himself that made the players worship him. Not to even mention his way with them at the training grounds. Every player but maybe Balotelli (surprise?!) has always come out almost worshipping him. Ask Drogba, Lampard and even Terry what they thought of José.

Carlo is probably as popular. Just in a different more humble way.

I make it a draw with a slight JM touch.

12 - Dealing with Owners

Hands down to Carlo. He has kept owners like our demanding Roman Abramovich and the mercurial Silvio Berlusconi happy. José never had that rapport with Roman, he had with Moratti but I already have my doubts about José and Flo Perez that will not like to be upstaged by Mourinho.

13 - Ruthlessness

A manager has to be ruthless in some matters, especially dealing with players that do not really see their true spot in the overall picture.

José never made any bones about knocking back big heads as Balotelli. He even got along with Ibrahimovic, not an easy task. Carlo is much milder, but there sure is steel there as he shown these days when declaring that Zhirkov will not leave. I like that. I liked how Carlo handled and played Joe Cole, not that Joe Cole liked it but I think Carlo was right there, no doubt.

Let us make it a draw.

14 - Spectator Fun

Carlo Ancelotti`s football is more fun to watch, at Chelsea. I sure did not think so with Milan, but then as this last year has proven. No manager can do more than work with the team he has. And in Chelsea he has better players than he did at Milan, still he took those to two CL-titles. It bodes well for our future together.

José was all about control. I liked that too, I really did, but it is more fun to watch Chelsea let go when they have the opportunity and 103 goals…. Even if that means we have to accept some defensive bloopers.

Again, to Carlo, strongly.

I do not judge every category equal, that is why I do still think José might be the better manager. But I am probably a bit more happy with Carlo still, as I do enjoy not being the brunt of media and other fan`s hostility, and there simply can not be anyone out there that does not like Carlo Ancelotti.

Hopefully he will also stay longer and bring us many more of those ugly buckets we love so unreasonably much. This is the greatest time ever to be a Chelsea fan, I have 40+ years to compare it with. And I will not be without the hard times ever, as they sure help me keep in perspective where Chelsea are today. The 4th most loved club in Europe and probably the world. Who would have believed that in the 80`s when we were synonymous with much less loveable reputations. Believe me kids and new Chelseaites, it is actually more fun to be successful.

Enjoy the moment. Relish it. As the Reds up north of the M25 are showing, it is not far away to be far away.