When Arrigo Sacchi and Carlo Ancelotti spoke the morning after Real Madrid had knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League semi-finals with two late goals, the older man was still suffering the effects of the nerve-shredding nature of the victory.
"Carlo, I had a really bad time watching that game!" Sacchi said with faux fury. "Arrigo, it's a tactic," Ancelotti dead-panned. "We pretend to be dead and then, suddenly, at the end of the match, we rise again and win!"
The Madrid boss was obviously joking, but there are those that seriously believe that Ancelotti is a man without a plan; all vibes, no tactics. Indeed, his critics see him as some sort of Italian Harry Redknapp, nicking a living for years at some of Europe's elite clubs by simply telling Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. to "just f*cking run about".
Such a view does Ancelotti a great disservice. After all, we're talking about a man who has a strong claim on the title of the greatest manager of all time.