(foto: Instagram)
Toni Kroos compared Carlo Ancelotti and Hansi Flick, calling them total opposites, and questioned how Flick’s strict style would survive in Real Madrid’s relaxed dressing room.
Toni Kroos has offered a candid comparison between two former coaches — Carlo Ancelotti and Hansi Flick — describing them as polar opposites in terms of management style.
The now-retired German midfielder worked under Ancelotti at Real Madrid and under Flick with the German national team. As Flick begins his journey at Barcelona, Kroos reflected on their contrasting approaches — and why Flick’s methods would never work in Madrid.
“With Hansi, players were benched for being late to meetings. That happened often at Barcelona. At Real Madrid? We’d laugh! Sometimes you didn’t know who would be later — the coach or the players,” Kroos told the media with a grin.
The 35-year-old from Greifswald emphasized that Real Madrid’s culture is far more laid-back than what Flick is used to, suggesting that the German tactician would have found it difficult to cope with the looser discipline at the Bernabéu.
Now that Ancelotti has departed for Brazil, the attention turns to Xabi Alonso, the club’s new head coach. The Spaniard has already taken his first training session and is preparing the squad for the Club World Cup, where expectations are sky-high.
Alonso, who once wore the Madrid jersey with distinction, is returning to the club after a sensational run with Bayer Leverkusen, where he won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. Interestingly, Alonso and Kroos narrowly missed each other at Madrid — Alonso left for Bayern just as Kroos arrived in 2014.
It remains to be seen whether Alonso will strike a balance between Ancelotti’s relaxed style and Flick’s discipline, but the early signs suggest a modern, tactical approach rooted in his midfield mastery.