Making it in Madrid

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has won major trophies in Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France.

He told us young players today have much more responsibility and pressure than any of their predecessors.

 “I think that the player compared to me,” he explained. “The player now, if I have to compare myself with the players that are 20-years-old that come to Real Madrid, I think that they have much more responsibility.”

His philosophy, in nurturing Europe’s best youth players, is simple.

Communicate. Empathise. Adjust your training style to suit them.

 “Try to talk to them, because at the end of the day, they are kids. Try to not push a lot of pressure on them, because they already have a lot of pressure.

“Fortunately, in Real Madrid, the luck of this club, we have veteran players without ego. And so this is important for the young to grow up in a good way.”

Ancelotti continued: “I think that you have to be able to adapt to the changes.

“To the changes of the generation, to the changes of the society. My generation is different from the generation of the players now, and I have to adapt. 

“I don’t want that they adapt to me, because I want to respect the people, you have to adapt, to know, to work on the different characteristics, different culture also, different language.”