Real Madrid on 27th May announced that Zidane has decided to part ways with the club for the second time. Real Madrid failed to win any piece of silverware last season due to over 60 injuries. Zidane in an open letter said that the reason for his resignation was the lack of trust he felt from the board.
Real Madrid's first choice to replace the Frenchman was Massimiliano Allegri. But Allegri instead preferred a return to Juventus to replace Andrea Pirlo. Real Madrid quickly turned to La Decima winning manager Carlo Ancelotti. According to reports, Real Madrid will pay Ancelotti half the money he earned at Everton. Ancelotti was certainly more than happy to accept the offer to manage Real Madrid again.
Here are the 3 main things extremely likely to happen at Real Madrid under Ancelotti:
1) Attacking football:
Zinedine Zidane in his second spell at Real Madrid relied on his defence to win matches. Madrid became the team that would grind out 1-0 results in games. That system did bring success in 2019/20 but didn't work the following season. Ancelotti throughout his career has always played attacking football. While under Zidane Benzema was the only consistent goal scoring outlet, Ancelotti will churn out more goals from other Attackers and Midfielders. In Ancelotti's first spell at Real Madrid Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals for fun. In Ancelotti's 2 seasons in charge of Real Madrid, the Los Blancos would regularly win matches by more than 3 goals.
2) The Resurgence of Bale and Isco:
Both Gareth Bale and Isco dipped in form under Zidane and were out of favour for a long time. Bale eventually went on loan to Tottenham and proved that he can still play at the highest level. Ancelotti has already said that he believes in Bale and will be hoping that he can enjoy some more success in the Spanish capital. Bale in Ancelotti's first spell at Real Madrid was the best version of the Welshman. If the Italian manager can get him even close to that level again then it'll be a major success. Isco hasn't had a good performance in the Royal white shirt for quite a while. His fitness and attitude problems have been highlighted a lot by the media. Ancelotti has always preferred to have no.10 who can carry the ball like Kaka, James Rodriguez and Zidane. Isco perfectly fits that category. With highly-rated fitness coach Antonio Pintus returning to the staff, Isco's fitness levels could get better and Madrid fans will be hoping that they can see Isco at his best once again.
3) Introduction of Odegaard and Ceballos:
Martin Odegaard and Dani Ceballos came to Real Madrid as highly rated youngsters but they never managed to break through the first team. The pair just finished their loan spells at Arsenal and are set to return to the Bernabeu. Odegaard, much like Isco, perfectly fits into Ancelotti's No.10 bracket. Ancelotti has previously coached Odegaard for a brief time in 2015. In fact, Ancelotti once called for fans to be patient while Odegaard settles in a new country. Ceballos hasn't had a particularly successful spell in North London but has shown from time to time that with better guidance he could become a top player.
If Ancelotti plays his chips right then the above things will surely help Real Madrid become stalwarts of Europe again. Having said that, issues like Hazard's consistency, an ageing squad and naivety of youngsters is going to be a tough task for the veteran Manager.
