Carlo Ancelotti has won every trophy possible with Real Madrid during his second stint in the Santiago Bernabeu hot seat and deserves a lot of credit. But at the same time, it feels like this cycle might come to an end after this season. There were heavy rumours that he was set to become the head coach of the Brazil national team. On the other hand, Los Blancos have been linked with a number of managers recently as well.
Ancelotti has come under heavy criticism lately. But it is important to realise that he has not been dealt the best hand at Real Madrid.
In his first stint at Real Madrid, Ancelotti had arguably the best squad in all of Europe. Now, he has only one option at centre-forward in Joselu and has had to change his system just to get the best out of the players he does have available.
Injuries have not been kind either, as players like Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao are possibly out for the entire season. Vinicius Junior has been out injured since last month. Arda Guler has not even made a single appearance for the club and already picked up his second injury since joining in the summer. Any manager would struggle if put in Ancelotti’s position. Perhaps a lot more than he has.
Ancelotti wants Spaniard to be Real Madrid manager
In recent weeks, it has seemed like Xabi Alonso has become the favourite to replace Ancelotti as Real Madrid manager from next season. Interestingly, the Italian coached him during their time together at Santiago Bernabeu. And he seems very open to the idea of the Spaniard managing the club one day.
As reported by ESPN, Ancelotti said:
"“I had Xabi Alonso as a player.“He has a high-level knowledge of football. He’s doing very well with Bayer Leverkusen. He has that reading [of the game], that capacity.“I think one day — for Raul [Gonzalez], for [Alvaro] Arbeloa, for Xabi Alonso — their biggest wish is to coach Real Madrid and I want that for them because I know them all, I love them all. Let’s hope that one day they can be Real Madrid coaches.”"
Alonso might very well be the most exciting young manager in football right now. He has Bayer Leverkusen playing some fantastic football and competing in the Bundesliga. They sit second in the table, on the same number of points as Bayern Munich and only behind on goal difference.
Add all that to the fact that he played for Real Madrid as well, and it is not hard to see why someone like Alonso would be one of the club’s top picks to be their next manager. That being said, things change quickly in football. It is important that Bayer Leverkusen have a strong season and not just a good start.