Carlo Ancelotti has slammed Gareth Bale for going behind his back to complain to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez
Former Real Madrid coach Carlo
Ancelotti has hit out at Gareth Bale over the Welshman's decision to
instruct his agent to talk to club president Florentino Perez over his
unhappiness rather than approach him directly.
Bale
was a key figure for Madrid in Ancelotti's first season in
charge, scoring crucial goals in both the Champions League and Copa del
Rey finals.
Ancelotti's relationship with the
former Tottenham star deteriorated in 2014-15, though, as Bale demanded
to play in a more central position, much to his coach's dismay.
"One
morning in March I received a phone call from the Madrid general
director saying that the president wanted to speak with me at the end of
training that day. This was very unusual. When I visited the president,
he told me that Bale's agent had been to his office to speak about the
'Bale situation'," Ancelotti writes in his book 'Quiet Leadership:
Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches'.
"In January,
Bale's agent had been saying things and perhaps felt his position was
strong because he had already spoken with the president. Now he was
telling the president that Bale was unhappy in his position. He wanted
to play more centrally.
"The president asked me
what we were going to do and I told him 'Nothing'. It was impossible to
change his position at that stage of the season because I would have had
to change the whole system and move many more players around. I also
told the president that I was surprised the player could not speak
directly with me. That would be normal. I would have expected the player
to come to see me.
"Bale had fantastic
world-class qualities and all that I was trying to do was help him
understand his core strengths so he could fulfil his potential and by
the way, that I was more qualified than his agent or the president to
help him with that.
"I told the president that I
would speak with Bale myself the next day, which I did after training. I
told him 'I know that your agent spoke to the president. Why didn't you
come to speak with me about what you want?'. He said 'Yes, OK, no
problem.'
"I explained to him what I had said to
the president, how it was impossible for me to change the system as it
wasn't just one position, it was the whole team. I was clear with him. I
told him that we could try some things in the summer, next year's
pre-season, to change his position, but not now."
Ancelotti eventually lost his job at the end of the 2014-15 campaign as Madrid ended the season trophyless.
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