Bundesliga

Ancelotti ready to revolutionise Bayern

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Having already tasted success in Italy, England, Spain and France, Germany remains the only nation yet to feel the forceful effects of a Carlo Ancelotti team – until now.

One of the most decorated football managers in football, the 57-year-old has rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the world and has coached the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to name a few.

Now the leading man at Bayern Munich, he has the formidable challenge of improving a team which has won the Bundesliga title three years in a row. Yet at a club with the ambition and history of Bayern, there is always room for improvement.

Mats Hummels and Renato Sanches have already arrived this summer as the post-Guardiola era commences and undoubtedly the goal will be to achieve European success, after falling at the semi-final stage three times in a row under the Spaniard. With three Champions League titles to his name, Ancelotti’s European pedigree makes for a perfect match on what they hope to achieve this upcoming season.

During his first official press conference as Bayern manager, Ancelotti was full of praise for his predecessor and the squad and structure he has inherited.

“I’m very happy and proud to be here and I want to thank Bayern for this,” he said at a press conference.

“I feel very good because I’m at one of the best clubs in the world, but I am looking forward to the start of a new season.

“I think my friend Guardiola did excellent work in recent years. We have a fantastic team and I’m delighted, and we will try to be strong in all competitions and to win.

“A new season starts today and I hope for this club and for all Bayern fans that this will be a great season.”

It’s incredible to think Roman Abramovich once laid the daunting ultimatum on Ancelotti that if he did not win the 2011 Champions League quarter-final that he should not “bother coming back to work”.

Thus, Chelsea failed to progress and the Italian lost his job, but despite the cold-blooded nature of his sacking, the aftermath of Ancelotti’s departure still leaves an aura of regret in its wake.

Typically stylish in his methods, the ex-21 cap Italy international has vowed to continue with his attacking brand of football in the Bundesliga.

“I know very well that the style of Bayern Munich is to play attacking football and we want to play attacking football,” he added.

“I love to play attacking football. We have a fantastic squad and I’m really happy about this. We’ve signed some fantastic players this summer.

“I’m not here to make a revolution because the job that Guardiola did here was fantastic and I would like to follow his style.

“I don’t think our style is going to change a lot compared to last year. The system will be more or less the same.”

The pressure on Ancelotti to deliver trophies will be immense, but it’s a factor which, he says, has lived with him throughout his managerial career and will not be phased by the added expectation to deliver.

“A lot of people ask about the pressure – I am used to it.

“I had the luck in my career of coaching top teams – AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid – all top teams who want to win, but honestly I don’t feel the pressure because I’m used to it and I really love my job.

“We try to do our best. I know that Bayern have a fantastic history in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League. We try to do our best. We want to be competitive in all competitions.

“The only thing that we cannot control is the result – if I could control that too I would be a magician, but I’m only a manager.”

With the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Philipp Lahm to select from, the wealth of talent on display at the Allianz Arena, combined with the pedigree of Ancelotti, should see another routine Bundesliga title brought to to Munich. Currently leading the way with 26 German top-flight titles, their closest rival to matching that haul is FC Nurnberg who have 9 league titles to their name – the last of which came back in 1968, one year before Bayern’s second.

Ancelotti turned 57 last month and admits he is hoping for a spell of longevity in Germany.

“I don’t know if this is my last job – it depends how long I am here in Munich,” he said. “If I last as long as Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United, then this could be my last job.

“Of course, everybody wants to win the Champions League, but only one team wins it.

“I come after a fantastic manager – I consider Guardiola a fantastic manager, a really, really serious, professional manager. He has shown a good image of football everywhere he was and I will try to follow, showing good, attacking football to ensure our fans are happy.”

Article by Dean Carr of SBAT, you can check out his football tips here.

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