Real Madrid are blessed to have Carlo Ancelotti. The legendary manager who is well-loved and respected across Europe is still at the very top of the game, despite ageing at 65 years old. However, where does he rank among the greatest managers of all-time and is he better than Sir Alex Ferguson?
Well, the truth is that the answer to this is subjective. It is pretty unanimously agreed that those two managers are the two greatest of all time, but ranking them can come down to a level of personal preference. However, it doesn't mean that objectivity is impossible.
We will take off our Real Madrid-tinted glasses for this one and we encourage fans of all clubs to do the same. In this post, we will take an objective look at three key factors - Total trophies won (as a manager), Average win rate (as a manager) and fan popularity.
Let's take a look...
Is Carlo Ancelotti better than Sir Alex Ferguson?
Total Trophies Won
Firstly, we will objectively look into an undisputed record and that is the total number of trophies won. However, we will apply some ground rules to make the rankings fairer.
Firstly, ALL team honours will be counted during this ranking system. This means that even some trophies which some may dub as "less prestigious" will be counted. For example, the FA Charity/Community Shield which both managers won in their career is counted, despite the prestige of this trophy not being as high. Also, individual managerial honours will not be counted.
Secondly, the trophies won will only include those honours which were won during both manager's coaching career, not their playing days.
Thirdly, trophies will be counted from each club the two managers coached. For Sir Alex Ferguson, this includes St Mirren, Aberdeen and Manchester United. For Carlo Ancelotti, this includes Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Manager | Trophies Won |
|---|---|
Sir Alex Ferguson | 49 |
Carlo Ancelotti | 30 |
As outlined above, Sir Alex Ferguson won significantly more trophies in his coaching career than Carlo Ancelotti has so far in his career. Of course, this table is subject to change, depending on any future honours Ancelotti wins. As things stand, though, Sir Alex is the clear winner in this regard.
Average Win Rate
Next up, we will take a look at average win rate. For continuity reasons, statistics will be calculated using the same platform, SofaScore. To calculate a win rate, a percentage will be drawn by dividing how many wins each manager picked up (at every club) by how many total games they coached (at every club). Then, this figure will be multiplied by 100 to give a percentage.
Manager | Win Rate (%) |
|---|---|
Carlo Ancelotti | 59.37 |
Sir Alex Ferguson | 58.1 |
As outlined above, Carlo Ancelotti is the winner in terms of win rate. This means that he has been more dominant on average at his different clubs.
Fan Popularity
I understand. Objectivity is not for everyone. While facts and statistics paint a picture in many areas of life, football might not be one of them. Particularly not with an opinion-based argument such as "who is a better manager?"
So, we will now turn to fan popularity and how well-remembered both managers are at their clubs. For fairness, each manager's popularity will be based on the clubs where they were the most successful (most honours won).
For Sir Alex Ferguson, this club is unsurprisingly Manchester United. Chances are, every Man United fans is at least familiar with Sir Alex Ferguson, even if they never watched his team. After all, he is their most successful manager in history and oversaw players such as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edwin van der Sar.
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most well-respected manager in the history of Manchester United. The fans there adore him and he even has a statue of him erected outside of Old Trafford.
For Carlo Ancelotti, his most successful era comes at Real Madrid (across two individual stints as manager). Without a doubt, he is well-respected at Real Madrid. Los Blancos fans consider him the greatest manager of all time and pay respect to his career, even before joining Real Madrid.
However, the love for Ancelotti is not quite the same as the love Sir Alex Ferguson. This is understandable, considering Ancelotti has managed across Europe, whereas Sir Alex, after leaving Scottish football, only ever managed Manchester United. He even retired there.
Perhaps if Carlo Ancelotti achieves even more success and retires at Real Madrid, the popularity will catch up. However, as things stand, Sir Alex Ferguson is more popular among his fanbase.
Final Thoughts
Look, the comparison is definitely closer than people make it out to be. I do believe that Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager of all time, purely for the legacy he left behind. However, there is no denying that a team would much rather face a Ferguson-coached team in a final than an Ancelotti-coached team.
As outlined previously, subjects such as this are completely subjective. Another writer could easily choose different methods to operationalise the conundrum and pull out different results.
In many ways, the best thing to do is appreciate both managers. Sir Alex for the incredible legacy he left behind and Don Carlo for the legacy he is in the process of building.