Carlo Ancelotti has made thoughts clear on bceoming Man Utd manager | Football | Sport
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the leading candidate to become Manchester United interim boss, shared a memorable moment when Carlo Ancelotti, whilst managing Everton, stepped into his technical zone and confessed he wouldn’t fancy the United role due to the immense pressure involved.
The Norwegian spent just under three years at Old Trafford the helm before his departure. Solskjaer became the first former United player to take the reins permanently after Sir Alex Ferguson’s exit, experiencing a mixture of highs and lows during his tenure. Despite United’s decline in the post-Ferguson years, enormous expectations continue to weigh heavily on the club.
Ancelotti has commanded some of Europe’s most prestigious sides, most notably Real Madrid, as well as managing Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea, before taking charge of the Brazil national team.
Yet Solskjaer recalls the Italian admitting during an Everton vs United encounter that he wouldn’t be interested in the Old Trafford hot seat.
Solskjaer revealed to the BBC: “I remember one game – Everton. Stood there in my technical area. Carlo Ancelotti comes across, so he’s more or less in my technical area. Fourth official says, ‘Carlo, you need to go back into your technical area, unless you want Ole’s job.'”
“And he said ‘no, no, no, too much pressure. That job is too much pressure’. You know pressure is a privilege, he’s always said that as well, and I felt privileged to be the manager of Man Utd, but of course, you’re the face of everyone, everything surrounding Man Utd.
“But that pressure is a privilege because I was allowed to do that and I was allowed to deal with it in my way and that was having great staff around us, environment in and around the club was very positive, but in the end you need results. Unfortunately had a very bad six-week spell and that’s too long at a club like Man Utd.”
Solskjaer had shown progress during his time at United, yet failed to secure silverware, suffering defeats in multiple semi-finals and the Europa League final. A dismal period, which featured a crushing 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool, ultimately sealed his fate.
The Norwegian believes that, considering the circumstances he faced, he couldn’t have picked a more difficult era to manage the club where he once played.
“It’s not about getting the credit,” he said. “It was the worst time to be manager of Man Utd. You have Jurgen Klopp with his Liverpool team and you have Pep Guardiola with his Man City team. The best managers in the world at the time, probably the best two teams in the world at the time. But we got second and third. So with the staff we had something going, but we couldn’t take the next step.”
