IT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOTTI DIFFERENT

Carlo: Fergie wanted me to replace him but I had already agreed to join Real

CARLO ANCELOTTI is hoping Ever ton’s passionate support can help plot the downfall of the club Sir Alex Ferguson tapped him up to manage.

The It alian knows resurgent Manchester United present a formidable barrier in his quest to deliver the Blues’ first senior trophy since 1995, to end the longest period without honours in the club’s history.

Blues boss Ancelotti made clear the Carabao Cup is glorious opportunity for his club to end their drought.

But he also revealed things could have been very different had he accepted an offer to manage United when Ferguson retired.

He admitted it was an honour to have been approached to succeed the Old Trafford legend – but he had already accepted the job at Real Madrid.

“You want to know from me?!” he said of United’s approach. “I can say I still keep a fantastic relationship with Sir Alex and we met when he decided to stop. But I was close to Real Madrid and so I appreciate the fact that at that time he talked to me. And that’s it, there has been no other opportunity to manage United.”

Things could have been very different for United had serial winner Ancelotti taken charge. Instead, Ferguson identified David Moyes as his successor, which led to an unsettled period of five managers in seven years.

In that time the Italian won seven major honours with Madrid and Bayern Munich, but he insists he has massive re spe ct for United.

“Yes, of course,

Man c h e s t e r United is a fantastic club, a fantastic team. I battled against them a lot of times when Sir

Alex was there, when I was at Chelsea.

“I have a lot of respect for this team, for this club, it is a historical club in the world of football like Milan, like Real Madrid.”

United are on a roll after their shock exit from the Champions League, with their seven-game unbea ten Premier League run making them genuine title contenders.

Ancelotti t hough , is hoping having 2,000 fans allowed back into Goodison Park will inspire

his side and put pressure on opponents he believes present a tough challenge for his side as they attempt to deliver a trophy.

“It is really important, we are not able to have noise for six months in every stadium, so the fact that you can listen to 2,000 supporters to help you is really good,” he said.

“The fact in these two games with fans we won against strong teams is also for this reason, because the players are more focused and more concentrated and more motivated – the supporters

Ancelotti with ex-Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson have helped us a lot. Listen to them, it seems they are more that 2,000 – it is a totally d i f ferent environment without them.”

Ancelotti is unfazed by the fact Everton have not won a major trophy in 25 years, adding: “We have the ambition, it is a great, great motivation for this competition. There is not a lot of pressure from the fact that this club did not win for a long time.

“It is not an obsession, only a motivation. We are close, not so far from the final.” al.

PAST GLORIES Everton’s Evertons FA Cup triumph in 1995