Are Arsenal Right To Snub Ancelotti Due To His Recent Managerial Failures? We Take A Look At What Happened

Are Arsenal Right To Snub Ancelotti Due To His Recent Managerial Failures? We Take A Look At What Happened

ESPN have confirmed that Carlo Ancelotti is not in the running to be Arsenal’s next manager. Despite being the favourite at most bookmakers, it is believed that the Gunners board are concerned by his recent managerial experiences at both Bayern Munich and Napoli.

The Italian was sacked after just 15 months in charge of Bayern, despite winning the Bundesliga title in his first season. At Napoli, the 60-year-old lasted 18 months after guiding the Serie A side to second during his first campaign.


So have Ancelotti’s powers as one of Europe’s elite managers dwindled over the past few years? It does appear that the Italian is having some serious issues when it comes to his second seasons at clubs.

At Bayern, when he won the title during his first campaign, his side won 36 out of a possible 50 games, with an extremely impressive win ratio of 72%. They averaged 2.64 goals per game while conceding just 40 in all competitions.

Although Ancelotti’s second campaign didn’t see a sharp drop off (his win ratio was 70%), there was another factor that caused him to lose his job. Following his sacking in September 2017, Bayern chairman Uli Hoeness confirmed that five players had turned against him, which made the situation “impossible” to get out of.

Moving on to his time at Napoli, the drop off in performances between his two seasons in charge was a lot more stark, and once again, unrest in the dressing room appears to have also caused major problems.

Finishing second during the 2018/19 campaign, Ancelotti achieved a win percentage of 57.7%, having averaged 1.76 goals per game, whilst conceding 50 goals in 52 competitive games.

This season, his win ratio dropped to just 40%, with just eight wins in 20 matches. They scored, on average, 1.7 goals per game but had already conceded 21.  This time the issue appears to be a falling out with the owner over the inability to discipline his players.

President Aurelio De Laurentiis wanted the playing staff to go on a week-long training camp following a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg last month, but both Ancelotti and the players refused to go. It led to his eventual sacking earlier this week.

So, while both situations were different, both suggest that the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager is having issues in terms of building long-term projects. It is, therefore, understandable, after sacking Unai Emery during his second season, that Arsenal are hesitant about making the same mistake twice.

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