Football team management demands a wide range of skills and an in-depth understanding of the sport. Football managers should be able to deal with players one-on-one to inspire and correct them. They must foresee the physical and psychological state of their players and express their instructions clearly and efficiently. Find the list of the best football managers today below.
10. Manuel Pellegrini
When Real Madrid fired Manuel Pellegrini in 2010 to make room for José Mourinho, he became well-known. That season, he got 96 points in the league. Pellegrini’s biggest successes, nevertheless, were at Malaga and Villarreal. In 2005, he led Villarreal to third place in La Liga and the following year, he led them to the semifinals of the Champions League. Then, in 2008, he guided Villarreal to second place in La Liga, knocking Barcelona out of the top two.
9. Mircea Lucescu
Mircea Lucescu, a multilingual manager who led Shakhtar Donetsk to every domestic championship and the 2009 Europa League, oversaw the Ukrainian team from 2004 until 2016. During his leadership, Shakhtar developed into a potent force in European football, making it to the 2011 Champions League quarterfinals. During his tenure in Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine, Lucescu won 10 domestic cups and 13 league championships. He departed Shakhtar in 2016 to take over as manager of the Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. After managing the Turkish national team, he was named manager of Dynamo Kyiv in 2020.
8. Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti, who most recently led high-flying Napoli, had a difficult route to the top. In 1993, he started managing Empoli, a team in the Italian third division. He led them to the top-flight (Serie A) in just five years. The typically middle-of-the-pack Udinese was then led to fourth place and a Champions League position by Spalletti. Spalletti joined Roma in 2005, where he helped them improve their form and won the Coppa Italia (domestic cup) twice. He was a pioneer of the 4-2-3-1 formation and introduced the “false-9” (later utilised by Pep Guardiola). With Zenit St. Petersburg, he later won two league championships and a domestic cup in Russia.
7. Louis Van Gaal
Louis Van Gaal is well known for his straightforward approach to the game and is a stern enforcer of rules. He is perceived as being pretentious and haughty, and he employs a blend of skill and power that has gained him remarkable success as a manager. He won three league championships, one national cup, the 1995 Champions League, the 1992 UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Cup with Ajax. He collected three more league championships and one domestic cup with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Amazingly, he also guided AZ to victory in the Dutch League in 2009. Before taking over as Manchester United manager, Van Gaal led a much-maligned Dutch team to third place at the 2014 World Cup. Despite his dismal tenure at United, he did manage to win the FA Cup in 2016 to cement his place among the best football managers.
6. Antonio Conte
Former Italian football player Antonio Conte played for Juventus for the majority of his career and 20 times for his nation. He now demands the same level of effort from the players he supervises as he did as a player. Conte uses wingbacks in a 5-3-2 formation and selects players who can play many positions to fit his style. He guided Juventus to the Serie A championship during the 2011–12 campaign without suffering a single defeat. Before overseeing Italy’s Euro 2016 campaign, Conte stayed at Juventus for three seasons, winning the Serie A in each of those seasons. Spain was eliminated from the competition by his squad, although they nearly fell to Germany on penalties.
5. José Mourinho
José Mourinho, a Portuguese coach, is renowned for his organized defenses and the physical prowess of his players. Before gaining priceless coaching experience working with giants like Bobby Robson and Louis Van Gaal, he was a physical education teacher. With Porto, Chelsea, Inter, and Real Madrid, Mourinho won eight league championships and four domestic cups, amassing a sizable prize collection. He also won the 2010 Champions League with Inter, the 2003 UEFA Cup, the 2004 Champions League, the 2017 Europa League with Manchester United, and the 2003 UEFA Cup with Porto.
4. Diego Simeone
The most sought-after young star in football management is perhaps Diego Simeone. He won two league championships in his home Argentina before he rose to fame as Atletico Madrid’s manager. When he first arrived in Spain, he inspired a struggling Atletico team and led them to fifth place in the league. Additionally, he led them to the 2012 Europa League title. Before winning the 2013 Spanish domestic cup, his squad destroyed Chelsea in the European Super Cup during his first full season as manager. The 2014 Spanish league title, which Atletico Madrid won by finishing ahead of both Barcelona and Real Madrid, was Simeone’s finest accomplishment which made him one of the best football managers.
3. Jürgen Klopp
Early in his managerial career, Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp turned around the fortunes of Borussia Dortmund, winning the German Cup in 2012 and the league crowns in 2011 and 2012. The Bayern Munich dynasty came to an end under Klopp’s leadership, and Dortmund was once again a dominant power in European football. Dortmund went on a 28-match undefeated streak in 2012 thanks to Klopp’s rapid style of counterattacking play, and they made the Champions League final in 2013 thanks to it.
Following his appointment as Liverpool’s manager, Klopp led the team to three cup finals, including the 2018 Champions League, however they lost each one. Klopp then started his trophy run by winning the 2019 Champions League final. Later, he won the 2020 Premier League, the World Club Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup, breaking Liverpool’s 30-year drought in league competition. His Liverpool team won both of England’s national cups in 2022.
2. Pep Guardiola
After a successful playing career at Barcelona as a defensive midfielder, Josep Guardiola was promoted as manager of the team’s B squad in 2007. He was promoted to first team manager a year later. The team won the treble in his first season after making bold and radical alterations to their footballing approach. Pep went on to win 14 trophies in four seasons, including three La Liga championships, two domestic championships, three Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, two European super cups, and two World Club Cups.
In 2013, Guardiola was appointed as Bayern Munich’s manager. In both his first and second seasons at the club, he won the domestic double, but throughout his three years there, he was never able to go to the Champions League final. He won seven more titles overall with Bayern. Guardiola took over as manager of high-spending Manchester City in 2016. They won the title with a resounding victory after going a season without a trophy, amassing the most points, victories, and goals of any Premier title squad ever. He became the first manager to capture the domestic triple the following year.
1. Carlo Ancelotti
Working as Arrigo Sacchi’s assistant allowed Carlo Ancelotti to polish his skills. This began a career marked with trophy victories. Ancelotti became the only active manager to have won the Champions League three times when Real Madrid won it in 2014. He won it a fourth time in 2022, this time with Real Madrid. He had previously won it twice, in 2003 and 2007, while playing for Milan.
Ancelotti is one of the best football managers to have won all five of Europe’s major leagues. His historic career includes league victories in Italy, England, France, Germany, and Spain with Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, respectively. Additionally, he has won domestic championships with Milan, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. Ancelotti unexpectedly became the manager of the English club Everton in 2020, where he improved the team’s performance. However, he soon left and went back to Real Madrid, where he won the league and the Champions League in his first season.
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