Andrea Pirlo

17th June – Jordan Henderson

Jordan Henderson will be hoping that England can recover from their defeat against Italy and qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup and he will be surely wishing for that on his birthday.

In their first game, England did not play too badly and Henderson showed a lot of energy and commitment but maybe could have got closer to Andrea Pirlo in the game. However, there were a lot of positives and the midfielder did play a big part in starting attacks. He has came a long way since making his professional debut as a halftime substitute in a 5-0 loss to Chelsea in 2008.
Henderson Sunderland
He started his first game for Sunderland soon after in a League Cup game against Blackburn Rovers but did not play for the club again that season. However, he did join Coventry City on loan in January 2009 making his debut in a 2-1 defeat to Derby County. After some impressive performances his loan was extended until the end of the season and soon after scored the first goal of his career against Norwich City. Unfortunately he fractured his fifth metatarsal in April and after 10 appearances he returned to Sunderland.
Henderson Coventry
In the 2009-10 season Henderson broke into the first team and was a regular in the side and went on to score his first Premier League goal against Manchester City on the 19th December 2009. He played a lot of the season on the right hand side of the midfield but showed his versatility to cover for injuries and suspensions in the middle of the park. His form earned his a new five year deal at the club and was a very good start to his Premier League career as he finished the season with six assists.

At the start of the next season he was once again in great form and he caught the attention of England manager Fabio Capello who called him up for a friendly against France. But he had to wait until the 5th December to score his first goal of the season in a 1-0 win over West Ham. At the end of the season he won Sunderland’s Young Player of the Year award for the second season in a row. This turned out to be his last at the club and after 79 appearances he left to join Liverpool.

Henderson then made his Liverpool debut against his former club Sunderland in a 1-1 draw and then later in the month scored his first goal for the club against Bolton Wanderers. He had a few ups and downs in his first season but he did start in the final of the League Cup which they won and also played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup final but this time he was on the losing side. Henderson ended the season with two goals in 44 appearances.
Henderson Liverpool
He almost left the club at the start of the next season and it wasn’t until November that he made his first league start but a month later he scored his first goal in Europe, helping the team beat Udinese in the Europa League. He had a much better second half to the season and ended it with five league goals. The 2013-14 season was probably the best of his career as he became a regular in the side and almost won the league title.

The final word can go to Brendan Rodgers. “Jordan is a terrific young talent. People forget his age. He came here with a big price tag and it was always going to take him time. The great thing about him is he works his socks off every single day.”

10th June – Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is one of the greatest managers ever and he did not have a bad playing career either, wherever the Italian goes success follows and it is difficult to find a better manager than him, past or present.

His latest success was the Champions League win with Real Madrid which took his overall tally to five European Cups, with two coming as a player and the last three as a manager. Ancelotti is closing in on his 1000th game as a manager and he has an incredible win percentage of 57.54% but in his last three jobs has averaged over 60% which means he is getting better with age and more trophies will follow.

He started his playing career at Parma in 1974 and stayed with the club for five years before joining Roma and won the Italian Championships in 1983, four Coppa Italia trophies and helped them reach the European Cup final in 1984. But in 1987 he joined one of the best teams ever assembled as he joined AC Milan and was an important part of the team that won consecutive European Cups. He retired in 1992 after playing 442 games, scoring 41 times and began his managerial career in 1995 with Reggiana where he led them to promotion from Serie B in his only season in charge.
Ancelotti Roma
Ancelotti’s next job was at first club Parma where he led them to second place in Serie A which guaranteed them a place in the Champions League. The second season was less successful but they still managed to finish fifth and meant they still qualified for European competition. In 1999 he became manager of Juventus and although his time at the club ended with him only winning the Intertoto Cup his sacking was still seen as very harsh.

On the 6th November 2001 he was appointed manager of AC Milan and although he was initially criticised for his defensive tactics, he turned the club into one of the best in Europe. He is also the man that modified Andrea Pirlo’s game making him one of the best deep lying playmakers the world has ever seen. At the end of the 2003 season he won the Champions League final on penalties against former employers Juventus which must have been sweet revenge for the manager. The following season they won Serie A, however this would be his only Italian league title. But after losing the 2005 Champions League final against Liverpool, he once again got his revenge by beating the same opponents in the 2007 final.

Chelsea appointed Ancelotti on the 1st June 2009 and after an up and down season which saw them knocked out of the League Cup in the quarter finals and the Champions League at the same stage, he did deliver the Premier League title with his team finishing the campaign with 103 goals – the first time a Premier League team had scored over 100 goals in a season. They secured the title in with an 8-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge and a few days later they won the FA Cup by beating Portsmouth 1-0 in the final.
Ancelotti Chelsea
However his second season did not go to plan and at one stage it looked like they would struggle to qualify for the Champions League but they recovered and ended up finishing second in the table. This was not seen as good enough by owner Roman Abramovich and he was sacked less than two hours after the final game of the season.

His next move was to PSG where he took over halfway through the season and guided them to second in the table. But his first full season in charge was much more successful as they were crowned champions of France and they narrowly lost out to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final, only losing on away goals.

This would be his only full season in charge as he asked to leave for Real Madrid and once again trophies followed the Italian. On the 16th April Real defeated Barcelona 2-1 in the Copa Del Rey final after a wonderful goal from Gareth Bale and although he could not win the La Liga title, he provided some great moments in the Champions League. In the semi finals they defeated Bayern Munich 5-0 on aggregate and then won the fifth Champions League of his career by beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final.
Ancelotti Real Madrid
The final word can go to Sir Alex Ferguson. “I certainly have every respect for Carlo Ancelotti, an outstanding man and a great coach. He has won both the European Cup and the Scudetto as a player and a manager and did the league and FA Cup double with Chelsea. It will be an honour to have him at Old Trafford.”