The job of a football manager is often seen as the dream job with no problems where you get to do what you want. That could not be more wrong. In the real world, not on Football Manager 2012 or FIFA, it is one of the hardest jobs to do, even though a huge number of managers up and down the country enjoy the challenge. Especially at professional level, one of the hardest aspects of a managers job is managing abroad, mainly because of the language barrier.

History shows that many have not coped at all with linguistic problems: Capello claimed he only knew 100 words of English, while for a long time Sven Goran Eriksson summed up the game as 'first half good, second half not so good'. However, sometimes, there are exceptions. Carlo Ancelotti is one of them. The Italian has managed in England and now France, and within months in both cases, has managed to speak the language to a very acceptable level.

Ancelotti now feels very comfortable delivering press conferences in French, which is impressive, considering he has only been there several months. Name me one other manager who would be capable of doing that. While his grammar isn't great, the message he wants to get across is clear and from what I've seen of him speaking French, he rarely needs help finding a word. Presumably that's because he is always sing the same words over and over to all about football, but nevertheless, that's some linguistic talent.

If you don't know the language of the country you're managing in, you will have serious problems, as whatever you say, the message will more than likely not come across clearly. That's why Ancelotti's talent is so vital and probably one of the reasons why he is the great. Anger that he is. There you go: language skills win you trophies.