Ancelotti: “I had the player who was training once a week. However played all games and won the Champions League”
“Because being younger or older is neither a virtue nor a disadvantage, it is only a temporary characteristic not necessarily related to performance or ability. I look with admiration and envy at Modric, Messi, Pepe…”, those words were one of the arrows that Sergio Ramos threw at Luis de la Fuente in his farewell message to the Spanish national team.
The farewell of the former Real Madrid defender and captain shook the media yesterday … and Carlo Ancelotti, in the pre-Derby press conference, tried to analyze the “Sergio Ramos case.”
The Italian coach left an interesting note about the age and merit that should prevail in the world of football. He said, “The issue of aging is like the issue of youth. If a footballer complies, you don’t have to look at his passport.”
He added, “If a player is 16 years old and commits … well, he will have to play.” You have to evaluate what happens on the field every day.”
He continued: “Note if a 17- or 38-year-old player can comply. This is our job and our age, for better or worse, age should not be a factor in making a decision.”
Ancelotti’s theory and its interpretation in two cases
Ancelotti did not hesitate to refer to the cases of Buffon and Maldini to try to explain his idea in the press conference: “Sometimes they tell me that I do not use the youth academy. But they forgot that I fielded a 17-year-old goalkeeper, Buffon. I wanted to evaluate his work. He was very good at 17, better than other seniors.”
And he added, “Well, the same thing would be serious if you were 40 and could still win the Champions League, like Maldini when he was 39, who only trained once a week. But he played because he was better than the others. And if you are better than the others, you should play.”
Editor’s note: Ancelotti means when Milan won the Champions League in 2007 at the expense of Liverpool in the final, and Paolo Maldini was the captain of the team at the age of 39.
Source: Marca
