Ancelotti urges Milan to give Mihajlovic time

Carlo Ancelotti still believes in Sinisa Mihajlovic even
though Milan crashed to their fourth Serie A defeat of
the season against Napoli.

Carlo Ancelotti has urged AC Milan to show patience with new
head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.

The former Fiorentina and Sampdoria coach is already under
intense pressure at San Siro after the shock 4-0 home defeat to
Napoli made it four losses in seven Serie A games so far this
season.

Ancelotti won the Champions League twice and the Scudetto
once during an eight-year reign as Milan's head coach between
2001 and 2009.

The 56-year-old turned down the chance to replace the sacked
Filippo Inzaghi in the close-season and he feels the club should
keep faith with Mihajlovic after the Serbian was chosen to take
the side forward.

"Mihajlovic is someone with character, with good experience in
Italy," Ancelotti told Corriere della Sera.

"We have to give coaches time.

"What is wrong at Milan? It is an amalgamation. But we can't
lose faith, we have to keep going.

"What's happening at Milan is like what is happening at Juve
after reaching the Champions League final."

As well as Mihajlovic, club CEO Adriano Galliani has come under
scrutiny from the club's supporters for his perceived role in
failing to ease Milan's struggles over recent campaigns.

Ancelotti believes patience should be shown to the veteran
director, who he thinks is still Italy's best.

The ex-Real Madrid head coach continued: "People have short
memories.

"Protesting against Galliani at Milan is like protesting the Virgin
Mary. For me he is still the best director in Italy."

As for rejecting the chance to return to Milan after being sacked
by Real Madrid in May, Ancelotti claimed it was simply a case of
bad timing after a stressful period at Estadio Santiago
Bernabeu.

"When he learned I would not be staying in Madrid, Galliani
game to test the waters," he said.

"He showed me all his affection, but I told him 'no thanks'
straight away. We spent some nice days together. Galliani is
nice and intelligent but after two years at Real I had no energy.

"Real is very draining. We didn't even talk about money. That
said, if it had been another time I would have come back."