A coach is like a father. It's a cliché, a slogan, but it's not always like that. Carlo Ancelotti has very different players among his forwards, and for each of them he has chosen a different approach.
In the privacy of the Morristown training camp, things are managed as best as possible. This is Brazil, everything is magnified, you have to communicate and comment. People talk, demand, judge. And the line chosen by Ancelotti with his staff is crystal clear.
Vinicius Unblocked - For months, the Brazil coach has been telling us that this would be Vinicius' World Cup, and so it has been. The striker booed by Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu has been involved in all six of Brazil's goals at this World Cup: four of them his own, plus an assist and a deflected shot from Matheus Cunha.
"Carlo asks me to make certain moves and it's working. He definitely understands football," Vini told the media a few days ago. And last night, commenting on his first headed goal in two years, he said: "Carlo told me he would give me a gift if I scored with my head."
Ancelotti "pampers" Vin, knowing that he is his only big star (Neymar is a separate topic), that everything depends on him. He showed blind faith in him when the Real Madrid player had poor figures for the national team, 8 goals in 49 matches. Ancelotti had unblocked Vin when he arrived in Madrid, and did the same for Brazil.
"Vini is very good," the Italian coach said last night.
Center forward - Coach Ancelotti started the World Cup with Igor Thiago because he wanted to try the classic center forward. It didn't work, so he decided on Matheus Cunha, the United center forward: 3 goals in 2 games.
Youngsters - Carlo Ancelotti has two players born in 2006. The highly-rated Endrick and the unknown Rayan, who plays for Bournemouth. Everyone wants the former, but the latter is playing instead. He was selected as a replacement for the injured Raphinha and last night became Brazil's first Under-20s starter at a World Cup since 1970.
Irony against tension - With Endrick, who Ancelotti already had at Real Madrid but rarely used, the treatment is different: "Endrick is an extraordinary talent and has a great quality: patience. His family also has this quality. He will be a key player in the next World Cup and will have a place in this one too." In short, Ancelotti has calmed a very heated atmosphere on the subject. In Brazil they think Endrick is a phenomenon. Fortunately for Carlo, his relationship with the Madrid boy has become a meme, irony has prevailed over the tension and a funny gallery of surreal sketches has been created on social media, with the theme "what does Endrick have to do to play?", with the coach doing everything to avoid using him.