Carlo Ancelotti was forced to leave his coaching position at the Munich Bayern club when they lost 0:3 to the stars of Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday. One defeat certainly does not cost a coach their job, at least that's the usual norm. So what went wrong for the Italian in Germany? Everyone knows that the Bayern team never loses during the Oktoberfest. The annual Munich beer festival ended next week, and the Bayern team did not experience a defeat during this festival in the Bundesliga championship.
However, seven points in three matches were not enough for C. Ancelotti to keep his job in Bavaria. The Italian became the first Bayern coach to be dismissed during the beer festival. Second in the German championship, minus five points after seven rounds, seems like a decent start for any club. However, Bayern is not just any club. In the 2010/11 season, Borussia Dortmund led by three points after six rounds, and then Jurgen Klopp's pupils lifted the Bundesliga trophies over their heads. It is clear that Bayern's leadership does not want to see that happening again.
However, a bad start to the season and a shameful defeat in the Champions League do not explain everything. Bayern is not accustomed to making such decisions and firing their coaches after such a short period. This means that the reason for C. Ancelotti's failure was somewhere else. "Quiet Leadership: Heart, Mind, and Winning Games". That is the title of C. Ancelotti's biography. The essence of the book is simple - how to extract everything that is best from those who are under you. Interestingly, only Pep Guardiola had a better ratio of matches/points in the Bayern club. However, the former coach of AC Milan, London's Chelsea, and Real Madrid could not convince the fans, team leaders, and probably even the players that he could continue the impressive Bayern record.
Tactical problems. Although the strategist added the Bundesliga title, the annual requirement for Bayern coaches who want to work longer than a year - good results in Europe, was lacking in C. Ancelotti's tactics. The coach who won the Champions League three times had to add another trophy to Bayern's trophy case. Last season, Bayern reached the quarter-finals and then failed against future champions Real Madrid. The result was not the worst, and before that Arsenal was beaten with a total score of 10:2. However, a lot can be said about the previous Arsenal team, as they played in the Europa League that season. Also, we should not forget the defeat to the Rostov team 2:3 earlier.
After Bayern lost in Russia last November and after the defeat against Mainz at the end of December, C. Ancelotti abandoned the 4-3-3 system and started using 4-2-3-1, which worked excellently in Pep Guardiola's team. The Bayern team then began to resemble the old threatening Bavarian club. However, the reason was to abandon their tactics and use what was prepared.
Later, Bayern rehabilitated at the Opel Arena, winning 3:1, and Thomas Muller contributed to the victory. The German felt and looked much better playing under Robert Lewandowski, although the Italian previously placed him in a side position, where he had very few chances to demonstrate his talent. However, C. Ancelotti never learned to use T. Muller. He was often pushed to the sidelines and often found his place on the bench. It looked even worse when the results were not in C. Ancelotti's favor, but T. Muller still sat on the bench and watched his team play.
Lost confidence? T. Muller was not the only one. While Mats Hummels was the first choice, he had to play in defense with Jerome Boateng, Niklas Sule, and Javi Martinez. Not because they made many mistakes, Ancelotti just never seemed confident about his lineup. Unusually, the strategist, known for his leadership skills, trusted his team too much. "He trusts us and lets us make decisions on the field," said Manuel Neuer at the beginning of Ancelotti's work. Probably everything should not be left to the players, especially when they started to do things badly. Incomprehensible things like against Hoffenheim when even a boy offering a ball or Sven Ulreich trying to save Maximiliano Arnold's penalty with one hand, reveal a lot.
Ancelotti could have easily and perhaps rightly argued that Neuer would not have made such mistakes, and Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso's retirement opened up huge gaps that need to be filled over time. One could also add the loss of Ancelotti's assistant, Paulo Clement, last season, and success and luck were not so generous to the former Bayern strategist. However, Ancelotti's duty was to solve those problems and find new leaders in the dressing room after P. Lahm and X. Alonso said "Auf Wiedersehen". Ancelotti may not have received enough support from above. However, Ancelotti had time to fight his battles, and now it is time to lay down all swords and look for a new horizon where all the specialist talents will be delivered.
