Charlies Nicholas has claimed that he doesn’t want to see Carlo Ancelotti appointed as Arsenal manager because the Italian is “too nice”.
The 60-year-old parted company with Napoli earlier in the week, and has been heavily linked with a move to North London, as per the Daily Mail.
But Nicholas is sceptical about him taking over at the Gunners.
Speaking on Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, December 14th, 13.30), he said: “Not for me.
“I think he’s a fabulous coach, but he’s too nice, he’s too nice.
“Arsenal need someone to shake this up.”
Is Nicholas right about Ancelotti?
You can sort of see the pundit’s point here.
At the end of the day, Ancelotti is a special coach. The Italian has three Champions Leagues to his name, and has managed some of the biggest clubs in the world, from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich.
But the key there, as Nicholas is alluding to, is that he has managed big clubs.
Now, obviously Arsenal are massive, but they are acting and performing like also-rans at the moment, and that’s simply not good enough.
Whether or not Ancelotti would be able to come in and shake things up enough to force a change in that attitude remains to be seen, and that is where Nicholas is clearly stumbling.
The 60-year-old is one of the best in the world though, and surely, even with Nicholas’ understandable doubts, he is worth a punt.
