DAVIDE ANCELOTTI has given Rangers a revealing insight into his management philosophy in his most recent widespread interview - and he reckons taking charge of a club is like 'shaping a bonsai tree.'
The Italian coach has been widely linked with the Ibrox hotseat in the past 24 hours, with him set to leave his role as assistant manager to his legendary father Carlo at Real Madrid.
Ancelotti junior is set to take his first steps into management at the age of 35 after spells coaching at Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid with his dad.
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And, in the last major interview he gave, he pinpointed what he would do when he takes charge of his first club.
He said: "When you arrive somewhere, the priority is to study the players you have. In fact, it's a craft, a manual trade.
"You have to have ideas, but adjust and adjust again. It's like shaping a bonsai tree.
"If the first question a club asks me is about the system I'm going to use, then it's not the right question. You have to start with the players! That's the most important thing my father taught me.”
"What I've learned is that you have to find a balance every week. We started with a diamond formation last season for example and then we saw that we were conceding a lot of crosses, so we adjusted.
"We've been changing players regularly for three years. That's why coaching is great - you can search, and then find.
"Ancelotti retired at the age of 20 when he was previously with AC Milan and admitted he always preferred to coach more than play.
He recalled: "From the start, the coach's point of view has interested me more than being a player.
"I played for the AC Milan youth team from the age of 14 to 18, then I started training with the pros my father managed. In the summer of 2008, I started a friendly under his command. Then I began a professional career elsewhere, but not at the level I wanted.
"I've always loved tactics, communication. When I was little, I loved watching the interviews my father gave. I was always in his shoes. At Parma and then in Turin, I crossed paths with Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane... It was like a training camp with all the best access points.
"I accelerated coaching training. I didn’t want to have to learn everything at 35.
“I quickly stopped playing football to study physiology, then training methodologies. I believed it was important to have a broad knowledge base, to be able to communicate with everyone, from doctors to fitness coaches.
"I have no regrets. Having played helps me because I know what it's like to have a coach in front of you, but that's it. Playing and coaching are two very different things. I really think I had the best learning experience possible - growing up with the staff, year after year.
"My debut as an assistant manager was in 2017 at Bayern Munich. Paul Clement received an offer and signed for Swansea City as manager. We were in Doha, on a training camp.
"I wasn't ready, but my father told me I was. He dared to give me this responsibility when I was only 26.
"There were players much older than me - Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Manuel Neuer.
"At the beginning, it's not easy. You're the manager's son. You have to earn trust. You have to be honest, do things as well as possible. I tried to focus on that, on what I could control.”
And Ancelotti, in an interview with France Football last summer, gave a summary of his methods at the Bernabeu.
He said: I've always been told that you need to know how to do at least four things to coach - research, advise, control and organise.
"I try to do a bit of all of that. I sometimes organise sessions, I suggest things to my father like substitutions, I look for weaknesses, etc. I love giving feedback to the players on very concrete points.
"Ideally, I would like to have an impact on every match, but football belongs to the players.
"On my own, I always watch two of our opponents' matches. I try to find THE little thing that can help this or that player. Then, you can talk to them about it during the warm-up.
"And if they see that happening during the match, you've won."
