“I have no desire to talk about football, but we have zero power” – Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti began his pre-match conference on Monday with a heartfelt statement regarding the tragedy of the DANA storm in the Valencian Community and Andalusia. He made it clear that his mind was not completely focused on football.
His opening statement went like this.
“Good morning. It has been a week with a tragedy and we are sad. This is the emotion. We are very close to Valencia and all the affected cities. We are close to them and I hope that it can be resolved soon. I want to understand that talking about football is Complicated. We are also part of this country. I will try to make a press conference as simple as possible. Also, for me, tomorrow's game is a special game. I'll try to talk as little as possible. Thank you.”
He made it clear that football was very much a secondary matter for them at present.
“Yes, because you don't have your mind on your job. It was something terrible. We have to prepare, because we are professionals. We will try to play and win, obviously. That's what it takes.”
Almost unanimously, the footballers and managers were against the decision to play the remaining games in the League beyond the Valencia and Villarreal games that were cancelled.
“Everyone in football was quite clear in this regard. Nobody wanted to play, and there was no sense in playing. But we are not the ones who call the shots. We are professionals, and this is our job. They are the ones above who make these decisions.”
A point of view that he repeated on several occasions.
“There are many ways to help. Football had to stop this weekend and then football had to help.”
“Football is a party. When someone doesn't want to go to the party, I don't think we should have the party. When your family is good and everyone is good. When people are not good there is no need to party “Football has to stop. For me, it's the most important thing. But we can't make decisions.”
On Sunday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe IV visited some of the worst affected areas, they were met with anger and abuse from locals who were doing their best to clear the city. Ancelotti has refused on several occasions to participate in the political scoring that has taken place in Spain. He questioned the lack of warning people received about it.
“People are frustrated, it's normal. But I'm not here to evaluate what politics has done this week. I don't have the resources to do that. It's hard to think about something like that in 2024. We're in 2024 with all the 'information we have. You can catch the exact time when it starts to rain… And you can't fix this kind of tragedy.”
“Everyone in football was quite clear in this regard. No one wanted to play, and there was no sense in playing. But we are not the ones who call the shots.”
Carlo Ancelotti on the #DANA tragedy #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/CUmUuIlEyV
— Football España (@footballespana_) November 4, 2024
Despite the platform that managers and footballers have, Ancelotti said that they did not have the power to impact the decisions of those above them.
“The power we have is equal to 0. We cannot make any kind of decision. All the coaches wanted to stop the game. Some played, others did not. The decision-making power of the coach, in these cases, is equal to 0.
“I'm not the right person to answer that. There's a phrase, 'the show must go on,' but that's not the case.”
