Toni Kroos Names Former Real Madrid Manager as His Best Coach

Eighteen months have passed since Toni Kroos announced that he would be retiring from professional football at the age of 34 - yet it feels like it has been much longer than that.

When the German midfielder said, "after the Euros, I will be retiring..." a lot of people expected the words 'from international football' to immediately follow. However, the word international was omitted from his announcement. Indeed, Kroos was instead retiring from football full stop, not just his native Germany, much to the shock of the wider footballing world.

Real Madrid had just won the La Liga title, and their number eight had played a big part in that. They had also reached their second Champions League final in three seasons. All with Kroos as a key player.

But, in a way, it was not a shock. He had previously said that he wanted to go out at the top of his game, rather than after he had declined. He did not want to be a burden nor be remembered for being finished at the top level.

Furthermore, with five (and soon six) Champions League titles, a World Cup, and numerous domestic trophies, there was very little left for Kroos to achieve. All that was missing was a European Championship with Germany, which they ultimately bowed out of to eventual winners Spain in the quarter-finals.

Toni Kroos Played Under Several Top Head Coaches

During his career, the deep-lying playmaker played under some incredible coaches. He featured under Louis Van Gaal, Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane. However, there is one manager in particular that Kroos has a soft spot for, recently saying: "Carlo Ancelotti is the best as far as I'm concerned."

Kroos spoke when picking his ultimate XI with website idman & Biz, selecting Ancelotti as the coach, alongside players such asSergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldo Nazario. A huge compliment for Ancelotti, given the aforementioned coaches that he worked under. The two were together at Real Madrid from 2014-15, and then again from 2021-24, with four total seasons together.

In those four campaigns, Los Blancos won three Champions League titles and two La Liga titles, as well as the Copa del Rey. It was a very successful period both individually and collectively. What makes this statement from Kroos all the more interesting is that he was known as a player who controlled the tempo of games, knowing when to speed things up and when to slow the game down when necessary. Seen by many as a tactically switched-on player.

Meanwhile, rightly or wrongly, Ancelotti is seen as a coach who prefers chaos and allows his players the freedom to do their own thing, and win games by themselves with their individual quality and superiority.

So some may think that Kroos would prefer a manager such as Guardiola, though some accuse the Spanish manager of being too controlled and rigid. Perhaps the German agrees, as he also said this about Ancelotti: "Working with Carlo Ancelotti was a truly wonderful experience. He always gave us the freedom and didn't tell us what we should or shouldn't do, because he trusted our quality and instinct."

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