‘Carlo Ancelotti had a big emphasis on how to score goals. He gave me a DVD of Pippo Inzaghi to illustrate what he wanted – in the next game I scored in the Champions League’: Former Chelsea striker highlights skill Italian boss possesses
Carlo Ancelotti has won it all as a manager, lifting countless league titles, domestic trophies and, of course, five Champions League trophies.
Despite all of his success, though, the Italian isn’t necessarily renowned for his coaching skill. Ancelotti manages to get the absolute maximum out of world class players, working closely with his charges to ensure trophies keep being lifted come the end of the season.
Former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge rebukes those claims of Ancelotti’s supposed tactical inability. Having signed for the Blues a month after Ancelotti arrived at Stamford Bridge, Sturridge went on to play 41 games for the Italian over the course of the next two seasons, scoring nine goals and lifting the Premier League and FA Cup.
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It’s more about what the former England forward learnt under Ancelotti over those two seasons that sticks in his mind, however, as he highlights the simplicity with which he would detail instructions.
“He’s a fantastic coach who helped me to improve,” Sturridge tells FourFourTwo. “He had a big emphasis on how to score goals. Running in behind the defence was one of the things he mentioned, because you can’t always come to the ball or receive it to feet to dribble.
“To illustrate that, he gave me a DVD of Pippo Inzaghi, explaining the timing of runs and being relentless about running in behind. Soon after, we had a Champions League match away at Zilina where I was playing on the right wing and I made exactly that type of run, rounding the goalkeeper and scoring. After the game, Ancelotti came to me and said, ‘See, that’s how you do it, that was the perfect run.’
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Sturridge and Ancelotti when he signed for the club (Image credit: Getty Images)
“He emphasised that I did it right. It was the perfect style of management for me: he gives a really clear instruction, I go and figure out how to do it, then he underlines that I did it right. Then it’s registered in your brain so you don’t have to keep going over it. That’s what I like about Ancelotti.”
Following Ancelotti’s departure at the end of the 2010/11 season, Sturridge had his best goalscoring season for Chelsea, managing 13 goals in 43 games. It wasn’t until he moved to Liverpool where he became truly prolific, though, netting 24 times in just 33 games.
Clearly, Ancelotti’s off-piste coaching method helped the Englishman – courtesy off Pippo Inzaghi.
Sturridge benefitted off of Ancelotti’s coaching methods (Image credit: Getty Images)
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