Rudan on Ancelotti advice, how he plans to turn Phoenix around

Wellington Phoenix coach Mark Rudan spoke to The World Game's Nick Stoll and discussed how he plans to turn the club around, including the advice he received from three-time UEFA Champions League-winning coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Rudan took over the reins on a two-year deal this past May and will be tasked with resurrecting the A-League’s lone Kiwi club out from the depths of the table.

Fresh from a ninth-placed finish under Darije Kalezic, and later Chris Greenacre, Rudan said his decision to join the Phoenix was rather straight-forward.

“The time was right,” Rudan told The World Game.

”I felt, personally, that I’d gained and had learned as much as I could.

“You look at the club and where it’s been; it’s no different to when I took over Sydney United.

“The club had only just avoided relegation to the NPL 2 by one point and I was able to come in and enter the culture, get good people, good coaches, players and change things around and, within a year, we were champions.

“I understand what success looks like. One thing I will tell you and can be assured of is that there’s going to be improvements and I can say that quite confidently.”

Entering his first season as a full-time coach at the professional level, Rudan revealed he sought advice and inspiration from Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti, Arsenal’s Unai Emery and Pablo Machin of Sevilla.

“I just wanted to find out a bit more about their techniques and the way they go about managing individuals – not just players, but also their staff – and how they go about their own philosophies,” Rudan said.

“Obviously Carlo (Ancelotti) was one that has changed (over time) and he was very clear in talking about - the first thing is to own the players.

“When you assess your club, you assess your players and if you haven’t got the money to buy players… you’ve got to try and adapt to what you’ve got and do the best that you can with what you’ve got.”

1:14 – Why Rudan chose Wellington Phoenix

3:22 – Advice and inspiration from European managers, including Carlo Ancelotti

8:02 – Did anything from the European managers come as a surprise?

9:39 – Rudan’s unique pre-season training technique 

14:22 – Is there any young player set to surprise this season?

16:12 – Life in Wellington