REAL MADRID
"Cristiano doesn't care about money, only being the best" says Ancelotti
The Italian coach spoke to The Financial Times and praised the Real Madrid forward: "would take an ice bath at 3 in the morning, even when Irina was waiting".
Carlo Ancelotti spoke exclusively to the Financial Times this week. Under the headline: 'Lunch with Ancelotti', reporters Janan Ganesh recounted his meeting with the Italian coach, in which he chatted about his personal life as well as his professional life, and the new stage of his career which awaits in Germany...
New experience in Germany: "German is the hardest language. And the verbs... sometimes they go in the second position in a sentence, and then again at the end".
Clubs: "I have not had so many meetings with [Bayern Munich] but I think it is a family; they have former players on the board. The club is 70 per cent owned by members.
"England is different. When I was with Chelsea, we went to play up in Sunderland. The bus could not drive all the way to the entrance. So the security man from the stadium says, ‘It’s OK, get out and walk.’ I say, ‘No, I don’t go!’ There were Sunderland fans all around. After some time, we had to do it. But It was perfect. Some fans took pictures. No trouble. I never received an insult in England, ever".
Cristiano Ronaldo: "[He'd be taking an ice bath in Valdebebat three o'clock in the morning] Even though he had Irina Shayk waiting for him at home! He does not care about money, he just wants to be the first".
On the lookout for new talent: "I cannot tell you on the record because the price will go up; Don’t tell Arsène Wenger!".
Calm character: "My character is quiet. It is because of my family. My father was quiet. He never shouted. He never kicked me. My mother also. That is the fundamental reason. You have possibilities to be angry every single day. But the happiness is not in the credit, it is in the work, in the relationship with the players, with the staff. I don’t worry what they put in newspapers. There are things where you can be elastic [reasonable], and things where you must be strong. If the players say ‘Coach, we have a tough week, can we stay in bed one more hour?’ that is OK. But when I have a meeting before the game, you must be on time. At Chelsea, we had a meeting at 10.30am and [Didier] Drogba was not there. I don’t know if it was traffic or what. He came at 11. He didn’t play...".