Ancelotti and Mancini's Scouting Mission Falls Flat
Carlo Ancelotti crossed borders for this. So did Roberto Mancini.
Two Italian coaches, both former Premier League champions, slipped back into England on Saturday night for Tottenham v Newcastle, eyes fixed on a scouting mission that never really materialised.
A wasted trip
On paper, it looked ideal. Ancelotti, now in charge of Brazil, and Mancini, leading Italy, had a cluster of potential internationals to assess in north London.
In reality, most of them never made it onto the pitch.
Mancini at least had one clear target: Sandro Tonali. The midfielder started for Newcastle and gave the Italy coach something tangible to work with. Destiny Udogie, another of his interests, appeared only as a substitute for Spurs.
That was about as good as it got.
The Brazilian contingent Ancelotti had hoped to monitor simply vanished from the team sheets. Richarlison, Savio, Sousa, Joelinton – all missing for one reason or another.
Brazil’s absentees
The absences cut straight through Ancelotti’s plans.
Savio, the 85 million pound signing from Manchester City who had marked his first Tottenham outing with a goal against Charlton, was ruled out injured. Joelinton, a regular Newcastle pillar and a key piece for Brazil, was sidelined by injury as well.
Richarlison’s situation felt different. Fit enough but left out amid continuing uncertainty over his future in London, he offered Ancelotti no fresh evidence, no live audition. Sousa, too, stayed on the margins, still behind Ben Robertson and Udogie in the left-back hierarchy at Spurs and again overlooked.
For a coach trying to shape a new Brazil cycle, it was a night of closed doors.
Ancelotti’s long weekend
All of it came at the end of a draining 24 hours for Ancelotti.
On Friday, he had been in France, watching his son Davide’s Lille side produce what looked like a statement win over Paris Saint-Germain. Lille led by two goals heading into stoppage time. It was almost perfect.
Then the collapse.
Vitinha struck in the 91st minute. Marquinhos levelled in the 95th. A 2-0 lead turned into a 2-2 draw, and a famous victory slipped from Davide’s grasp in the space of four brutal minutes.
From there, Ancelotti flew to London, hoping the Tottenham–Newcastle clash would at least provide clarity on his Brazilian options. Instead, he found a bench, an injury list and a lot of what-ifs.
Elanga decides it
On the pitch, the game itself belonged to Anthony Elanga.
With the score level and the contest finely balanced, the Sweden international settled it in the 60th minute, striking the decisive goal to give Newcastle the lead and, ultimately, the points.
For Newcastle, it was a sharp, clinical moment that tilted the evening their way.
For Ancelotti and Mancini, it was a different kind of reminder. Even the most carefully planned scouting trip can unravel – through injuries, tactical choices, and the small, ruthless twists that shape a season long before a coach can call a player into camp.
