There is a moment you never forget as a footballer. For me, it was the 2022 Champions League semi final at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sixty thousand voic...
There is a moment you never forget as a footballer. For me, it was the 2022 Champions League semi final at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sixty thousand voices screaming into the Madrid night, Manchester City leading by a solitary goal, and the clock ticking towards disaster. Carlo Ancelotti called me over from the bench. His instruction was simple. Get on the pitch. Play with aggression. Decide the match.I stepped onto the grass in the 68th minute. In the 90th, I equalised. We were still behind on aggregate. The referee blew his whistle for the restart, and within sixty seconds I had scored again. Extra time followed, then the final in Paris, and another European Cup for the club. I bring this up not to relive personal glory, but to illustrate something the public rarely sees. Coaches do not just set formations. They shape the psychology of a contest. They whisper the right words when the noise is loudest.Now Ancelotti faces a different kind of test, one that will define his legacy beyond club football. Brazil have appointed him as their head coach, and on Monday they face Japan. For anyone outside the dressing room it is impossible to guess exactly what the Mister will do. That is the point. He keeps his plans close to his chest, buried beneath that calm exterior and the occasional dry joke. But make no mistake, he will have a structure. He always does.The Brazil job is not just about managing talent. It is about channeling chaos into clinical finishing. The Seleção have no shortage of flair, but they have often lacked the tactical flexibility required to break down a disciplined low block. Ancelotti understands this better than most. He knows that transitional play requires discipline, not just improvisation. He will demand that his forwards press with purpose and that his midfielders hold their shape when the ball is lost.This is where the father figure aspect becomes so vital. Ancelotti does not scream. He does not humiliate. He builds trust through patience and a genuine understanding of the human ego. That is why players run through walls for him. That is why a 30 year old midfielder will chase a lost cause in the 90th minute just to prove his manager right. Against Japan, expect a side that is organised, patient, and ruthless in the final third. Expect the Mister to have found a way.Brazil have bottled it before on the biggest stage, undone by pressure and a lack of positional discipline. But with Ancelotti in the dugout, there is a sense of calm. A sense that someone has seen every scenario and prepared for it. Monday will be just another step on the road. But for those who have watched him work up close, the outcome is never in doubt. He always has a plan.
