Why Carlo Ancelotti Deserves 1 More Year at Real Madrid

It's pretty damning, but the best reason Carlo Ancelotti deserves one more year at Real Madrid is that there are few better options to replace him.

One name stands out, and it's the Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. He's already handed in his resignation and will be looking for a new side in the summer.

As Graham Hunter told talkSPORT, Los Blancos do admire the German manager. He said:

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Jurgen Klopp is a coach who has given Real Madrid just horrifically hard nights. They admire and like him. He’s a big character, who can handle the pressure. Is he a shoo-in for the Bernabeu? No. Is it a reasonable shout that, should Ancelotti move on, they will look at Klopp? That’s a reasonable concept.

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But Klopp will have plenty of suitors and, given his managerial history, spending seven years at Mainz 05 and then seven years at Borussia Dortmund, it's hard to see him signing for Real Madrid.

Klopp likes to build a team, to create a project, whereas Madrid always want instant results.

The longest a manager has survived under president Florentino Perez is three seasons, and that was Jose Mourinho.

Klopp has always been the underdog, the David to Bayern Munich's Goliath, and to take over at Real Madrid would change that spectacularly.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

It would be a different type of pressure than he is used to and it would also be a risk on Madrid's behalf.

It's easier to see the German ending up at Manchester City, a team which wants to be the best in England but has no problems in admitting that right now, it isn't.

They're also looking to build a long-term project, with the development of their own training facilities, almost an "Etihad empire," and targeting younger players from this summer, per Sport.

Madrid-based daily AS scraped together a list of other candidates for the job, but none seem overly appealing.

Joachim Low, Michel, and Rafa Benitez. It's hard to see any of them taking the reins at the Santiago Bernabeu.

In fact, most likely, the next manager of Real Madrid is already at the club. It's Zinedine Zidane.

Francois Mori/Associated Press

Perez would love Zidane to steer Madrid to success in La Liga and the Champions League, emulating the way Pep Guardiola did at Barcelona after playing for them.

But is Zidane ready? Probably not.

He only started his career as a coach this season, with Real Madrid Castilla. He doesn't yet have his UEFA Pro License. He hasn't managed to handle the Martin Odegaard situation too well, so imagine how dealing with the prima-donnas in the actual squad might turn out.

One more year learning how to handle players, gaining tips from Ancelotti and completing his coaching badges would serve him well.

All of which means Ancelotti may be better off staying in the job for a final season.

And it's not as if the Italian is a bad manager. He is the man that steered Real Madrid to la decima, the 10th Champions League title.

Gabriel Pecot/Associated Press

Ancelotti also picked up the Copa del Rey last season, beating rivals Barcelona in the final.

This year he is two points behind Barcelona in the league, on their tail, and still in the Champions League.

Obviously there are things that have to improve. The fact they haven't beaten rivals Atletico Madrid in seven meetings this season is an embarrassment to Ancelotti, Perez and the club itself.

That can be resolved on Wednesday night, when the two teams meet in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Bernabeu.

Equally, a defeat in that game could seal Ancelotti's fate and see him sacked.

It may be more sensible to keep Carlo for one more year and then install Zidane but sensible's never been part of the modus operandi at Real Madrid.