Relationship with owners

Carlo Ancelotti tells a story about the 2003 Champions League final and the talk that he gave to his Milan team ahead of their showdown with Juventus. It was not entirely surprising that Silvio ­Berlusconi had infiltrated the meeting, given the Milan owner's hands-on approach, but it was nonetheless unnerving when he wrote down everything that Ancelotti said. Not for the first time, Ancelotti turned to dry humour. "How did I do?" he asked of Berlusconi. "Wonderful, we are definitely going to win," came the ­prescient reply.

There can be no more demanding or meddling owner in top-level European football than Berlusconi who, having coached Edilnord, a small Milanese ­amateur team, is in no doubt that his knowledge of the game is complete. The Italian prime minister is rarely slow to criticise or grandstand in public, while his word is the law – and not only because of his political position.

Before Ancelotti's arrival, ­Berlusconi had worked his way through seven coaches in five seasons so the fact that the 49-year-old lasted eight years with the Rossoneri speaks as much for his diplomacy and his temperament as for his coaching ability. He has said that he finds he can "easily chat with Roman Abramovich; he doesn't make me feel uncomfortable". Working with the Chelsea owner ought to represent a walk in Hyde Park.

Reputation in transfer deals

It has never been Ancelotti's ­responsibility, having only worked at Italian clubs with two-tier management structures, to put his head on the chopping block over transfers. His sphere of influence is the first team: new signings are down to the ­directors with, in Milan's case, a hefty ­helping hand from Berlusconi. ­Ancelotti might make suggestions on players – and he has already told ­Abramovich that the ­midfielders Franck Ribéry and Xabi Alonso of Bayern Munich and ­Liverpool ­respectively would make excellent ­additions – but it has tended to stop there.

It will be interesting to see whether ­Ancelotti has greater influence over ­signings at Chelsea or whether ­Abramovich, the chief scout, Frank Arnesen, and the influential agent Pini Zahavi will present him with the ­personnel that they want. Ancelotti, though, has clear views on boundaries which must not be overstepped. "I name the team and I decide how we play," he has said.

He has shown his firmness this season by refusing to accommodate the ­strikers Andriy Shevchenko and Ronaldinho, who were Berlusconi-driven purchases. At Stamford Bridge, meanwhile, Michael ­Ballack has agreed a contract extension even though the midfielder is not thought to be Ancelotti's kind of player.

There are those in Italy who do not consider Ancelotti to be a true spotter of talent. He did not know what to do with Thierry Henry at Juventus and allowed him to leave for Arsenal, and he loaned the midfielder Yoann Gourcuff from Milan to Bordeaux, where he has just led them to the French title.

Set-up of teams

As a disciple of Arrigo Sacchi, to whom he was assistant coach with Italy at the 1994 World Cup finals, he initially favoured 4-4-2 but he has preferred a lone spearhead at Milan, despite Berlusconi's demand for him to play with two or more strikers. Indeed the way in which ­Berlusconi foisted a stream of No10s on him went a long way towards dictating his 4-3-2-1 formation, as he found it the most effective way to shoehorn the creative talents at his disposal into the line-up.

He built his Juventus team around Zinedine Zidane and he is open to the challenge of finding a formation to fit the talents that he inherits at Stamford Bridge. "I change my formation not every year but depending on the characteristics of the players," he said.

"For example, at Juventus with Zidane. First you have to know the characteristics of the players and after that you can put a system in place."

Flamboyance or catenaccio?

Ancelotti has commented that ­Berlusconi would "fall in love with players, first [Marco] Van Basten, then Rui Costa, then Kaka, then Ronaldinho", and, given Milan's financial clout, Ancelotti did not want for thrilling talent. Yet he could not accept Berlusconi's demands for a team of all-out ­attacking gálacticos because, ­fundamentally, his pragmatism held sway.

More conservative than Sacchi, he ­prioritises discipline and Abramovich will know that few Italian coaches leave the back door unbolted. That said, when Ancelotti's teams are on song and his stars glitter, the results can be a delight. Kaka inspired Milan past Manchester United in the 2007 Champions League semi-final while the team were untouchable in the first half in the 2005 final against ­Liverpool. Ancelotti's regret was that they ­managed to play that way for only the first half.

Personality

He is quiet and dignified with a nice line in self-deprecation. Fiercely proud of his background as the son of a farmer in the Parmesan countryside, he was greeted upon his arrival at Juventus by sceptical fans declaring that "Pigs cannot manage". "I find this impossible to accept for the pig," said Ancelotti, who favourite dish is culatello, the prized cold cut. He is separated from his wife, Luisa, with whom he has a son, Davide, and a daughter, Kayta. Kayta spent time earlier in the season as an intern at Chelsea, where she worked on her university media thesis.

Language barrier

Ancelotti's determination to master ­English took root before Chelsea's courtship of him; as a holidaymaker in the United States he was keen to integrate more fully. He says that he has studied the language for two years and that he will intensify his efforts before he joins up with the players at the beginning of next month. He has the basics and there should be no ­problems in the ­multicultural ­Chelsea dressing room, although he might require an interpreter as a back-up in his early press conferences.

Man-management skills

As a leading ex-player with a cabinet full of silverware, including two European Cup winners' medals, Ancelotti trades on being sensitive to the rhythms of the dressing room. Capable of put-downs and even the hairdryer, he is better known for ­providing arm-around-the-shoulder treatment and being considered a popular manager for whom players want to play. "He has a great relationship in the dressing room and ­everyone who works at Milan wanted him to stay," said the midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, who cried when he heard confirmation of Ancelotti's departure.