Ancelotti didn't trust me — Iwobi narrates fall out with former Real Madrid coach

Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi recently narrated his struggles with Everton under Carlo Ancelotti, detailing how he struggled to gain the Italian tactician’s trust.

The 29-year-old is one of the standout midfielders in the Premier League in recent years, eventually excelling at Everton and now at Fulham. However, he had to endure a harrowing patch in Merseyside before his situation turned around.

Speaking on the High Performance pod, the former Arsenal star said that he and Ancelotti had differing views on his quality and profile, which eventually led to a fallout.

“With Carlo Ancelotti, I learned the hard way. It was a moment of madness from me. I like to be on the ball, take a touch, or play a one-two pass, but he just didn't see me as that player,” he said.

“The opportunities I got to play were at right wing-back, right back, right midfield, and he told me whenever I got the ball, I should always give it to James Rodrigues, Allan and other people, but I thought I could do something as well.

“Then, one time, on social media, I posted on my story that I wished I could play my preferred position, and he got asked in his press conference.

“He came to me and asked me where I usually played, and I told him, and we tried that position in the next game against Burnley.

“We were down two goals at halftime, and ten minutes into the second half, I got subbed off, and I didn't play again for the next four games. With all due respect to Everton, their game was slide tackling and running hard, which wasn't in my nature.”

During their two seasons together at Everton (December 2019 to June 2021), Alex Iwobi struggled to earn Carlo Ancelotti’s consistent trust. Although Iwobi made 45 total appearances under the Italian manager, his playing time was highly erratic, according to TransferMarkt.

In the 2020/21 season, he was frequently benched despite being fit, making 13 of his 30 Premier League appearances as a substitute and remaining an unused sub in several matches.

The primary friction stemmed from Ancelotti’s tactical deployment. Instead of using Iwobi in his favoured position (attacking midfield), Ancelotti frequently played him out wide on the right or as an emergency wing-back to cover defensive injuries to players like Séamus Coleman and Lucas Digne.

This positional dispute peaked in March 2021. After being substituted early against Chelsea, Iwobi posted on Instagram, expressing hope he would get to play his preferred position on international duty. 

Ancelotti swiftly fired back in a press conference, publicly challenging the Nigerian: "I read the post. I want to speak to him... I am your manager; tell me where you want to play." 

As Iwobi narrated, he started at attacking midfield in the following game against Burnley, but contrary to his narration, he played the full 90 minutes and was only left out of the squad for the subsequent game against Crystal Palace. However, his game time waned, and he was unused for five of the next ten matches.

He continued to play primarily as a wide midfielder in the following season under Frank Lampard before the English manager changed his position permanently to central midfield during the 2022/23 campaign, which kick-started his resurgence.