Harry Diamond
Ashley Cole has described Carlo Ancelotti as his favourite manager at Chelsea and opened up on the ‘genius’ of the now Everton boss.
Cole spent eight hugely successful years at Stamford Bridge and worked under a succession of leading managers, winning the Premier League, four FA Cups and Champions League amongst his major honours with the west London side.
The former England international played under the likes of Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Rafael Benitez during his time as a Chelsea player, but has revealed how Ancelotti – currently in charge of Premier League rivals Everton – was his favourite coach due to his excellent man-management skills.
“My favourite manager that I’ve played under, I would say is Carlo Ancelotti,” Cole told 90min.com. I played under some great ones, they were all different and I loved them for different reasons, but I just felt that with Carlo Ancelotti, I had a really, really good bond with him.
“Of course I admired him, he was a legend as a player and then of course what he achieved as a manager. Then he came to Chelsea and he was just that man-manager that everyone seemed to love, whether you were playing or not.
“He was capable of putting that arm around you when needed – not just about football stuff, if you’re struggling off the field, he was very understanding which as players you want. You see that human side in people, it’s not all about football, so for me he was my favourite, and tactically at times he was a genius.
“He had that understanding whether to go into in-depth tactics or to trust the players to go out and deliver what he says in the team meeting.”
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