10 Greatest Managers In Football History

As a football fan, you've probably criticized your favorite team's manager at some point. But coaching a team isn't as easy as the men in this video make it look. Here are the 10 greatest managers of all time. Alex Ferguson Think of Manchester United, and you can't help but think of Alex Ferguson. Even now, eight years after his retirement, the Scot was appointed at Old Trafford in 1986 after his incredible achievements at Aberdeen. Ferguson's dons broke up Celtic and Rangers' dominance of Scottish football. Even more remarkably, Aberdeen won the Cup Winners' Cup by beating Bayern Munich in the semis and Real Madrid in the final. Ferguson struggled in his first few years at Manchester United. Some fans even called for him to be sacked. Thankfully, the ball didn't listen. Ferguson went on to deliver an astonishing array of trophies. 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, a Cup Winners' Cup, five FA Cups, and four League Cups. His greatest season was 98-99, when United won a historic treble. Ferguson developed young players, played thrilling football, and showed shrewd judgment in the transfer market. His ability to keep United on top for so long is unparalleled in football history. Pep Guardiola Some Barcelona fans were nervous when the club appointed Pep Guardiola as their manager in 2008. Pep had been a fine player for Barca, but he had very little coaching experience. They shouldn't have worried. Guardiola created one of the greatest teams the world has ever seen, with Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, and Andre Iniesta all starring. Barcelona won three La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues. The football they played was absolutely stunning. Barca barely lost the ball, let alone a game. Guardiola has since shown that he can do it in other countries too. He won three league titles at Bayern Munich, and has already matched that tally at Manchester City. The biggest compliment that can be paid to Guardiola is that he changed the game. Countless managers tried to replicate Barcelona's style, and others desperately tried to find a way to counter it. No one has given us a hiding like that. In my time as a manager, I would say Guardiola's Barcelona are the best team we've faced, Alex Ferguson said after the 2011 Champions League final. Johan Cruyff As well as being one of the greatest players the world has ever seen, Johan Cruyff was also a legendary manager. A deep thinker about the game, the Dutchman was influential in the rise of total football during his playing days. After swapping the pitch for the dugout, Cruyff won the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax to earn a shot at the Barcelona job. He didn't disappoint. His dream team, a blend of homegrown talent and world-class imports, won the European Cup in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga titles. He also won his second Cup Winners' Cup at the Camp Nou. Cruyff was about far more than just trophies, though. A true visionary, he built the modern Barcelona and had a huge influence on how the game is played today. Rhenus Michels As a player in the 60s and 70s, Cruyff was the apprentice, and Rhenus Michels was the master. When Michels took over at Ajax, they were relegation candidates. He turned them into four-time Eredivisie winners and European champions. Michels went on to win La Liga with Barcelona and Euro 88 with the Netherlands. The Dutchman also led his country to the final of the 1974 World Cup. Those are brilliant achievements, but they only tell part of the Rhenus Michels story. He was the creator of total football, a hypnotic style of play in which any player in the team could take the role of any of his teammates. Few sides in football history have won as many hearts as his dazzling Dutch team of 1974. Carlo Ancelotti If Alex Ferguson was the master of sustained success at one club, Carlo Ancelotti is the king of winning in different places. The affable Italian with the expressive eyebrows is an expert man-manager. Time and time again, he's turned a dressing room of big egos into a collective unit. Ancelotti's coached in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany and he's claimed silverware in all of them. He won league titles with AC Milan, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. But his greatest feats have been in the Champions League. Carlo led a talented Milan team to European glory twice by getting the best out of players like Andrei Parlo, Andrei Shevchenko, Kaká and Paolo Maldini. Ancelotti won his third Champions League at Real Madrid in 2014 with the famous BBC front line of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ancelotti's now back at the burnabout, so no one should write off Madrid in the Champions League. Bill Shankly Without Bill Shankly, Liverpool wouldn't be the club they are today. The Reds have had many top managers, but Shankly was the one who laid the foundations for decades of success. When Shankly took over, Liverpool were in the second division. They were a club going nowhere, but Shankly transformed them from top to bottom through sheer force of will. In the 1960s, football training consisted mostly of long runs. Shankly didn't agree with that. His Liverpool team warmed up with stretches, played small-sided games and almost always used the ball. They also wore an all-red kit for the first time in the club's history. Shankly won three league titles with the Reds, plus two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. He brought the fans along for the journey too, forging an unbreakable connection between the supporters and the squad. Shankly once said, my idea was to build Liverpool up and up, until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in. He definitely succeeded. Jose Mourinho Love him or loathe him, Jose Mourinho is a manager you simply can't ignore. He's maybe passed his best these days, but the special one was extraordinary in his prime. His first major achievement might still be his best, winning the Champions League with Porto. It certainly impressed Roman Abramovich, who quickly hired him as Chelsea boss. Mourinho's had three Premier League winners' medals from two spells at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho went on to win a unique treble of Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia with Inter Milan in 2010. After that, he locked horns with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona and won his fair share of battles, including the La Liga title race of 2011-12. Mourinho was a master tactician who could devise a strategy to stop some of the best teams on the planet. He also created a siege mentality at his clubs. Porto, Chelsea and Inter all had us-against-the-world mentalities that helped them win trophies. Arrigo Sacchi Most managers in this video started out as professional footballers. Arrigo Sacchi was different. A former shoe salesman, he once defended his lack of qualifications by saying, I never realised that in order to become a jockey, you have to have been a horse first. Sacchi managed several smaller Italian sides before taking charge of Parma in 1985. Two years later, he was unveiled as AC Milan's manager, an appointment that many people criticised. Sacchi soon silenced the doubters. In a four-year spell, he won a Serie A title and two European Cups. He later took Italy to the final of the 1994 World Cup, where they were a penalty shootout away from victory. Sacchi was a pioneer who revolutionised the game, first in Italy and then overseas. His Milan team marked zonally, defended with a high line, pressed from the front and played with four at the back. Italian traditionalists thought he was crazy, but Sacchi won the argument as well as the silverware. The methods he used at Milan are commonplace today. Brian Clough I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business, but I was in the top one, Brian Clough once said. Cluffy wasn't modest, but he was an absolute genius. Oozing charisma and personality, he was one of the first superstar managers who overshadowed players on the pitch. Cluffy turned Derby County from second-division strugglers into first-division champions. He repeated the trick at Nottingham Forest, and then went further. Forest won the league title in 1978, followed by the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. It was an extraordinary achievement at an unfashionable club. Clough kept things simple tactically, but his teams always played the right way. That explains one of his best-ever quotes. If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd put grass up there. Arsene Wenger Arsene Wenger managed three other clubs during his career, but he'd always be associated with Arsenal. The Frenchman was mocked when he first arrived in North London, but no one was laughing after he won three Premier League titles and a record seven FA Cups. Wenger also led Arsenal to the 2006 Champions League final, where they narrowly lost to Barcelona. Wenger revolutionized English football in the 1990s. He improved footballers' diet and nutrition, signed players from overseas, and encouraged youth development. He also showed that foreign managers could succeed in the Premier League. His greatest achievement was in the 2003-04 season, when Arsenal went all 38 games unbeaten to become the Invincibles. It was unthinkable at the time, and might never be replicated by another Premier League team. Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni belongs to a distinguished group of managers who've won league titles in four different countries. The Italian won six Serie A crowns with Juventus and another one with Inter. He also won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, the Portuguese title with Benfica, and the Austrian championship with Red Bull Salzburg. Trapattoni is most associated with Juventus, where he also won two UEFA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup and the European Cup. He's one of the most legendary Italian coaches ever. Jürgen Klopp By the time Jürgen Klopp has retired, he might deserve a place in the top ten. The German has already done extraordinary work in his career so far. He's the only manager in to disrupt Bayern Munich's Bundesliga dominance. Klopp's Borussia Dortmund side won back-to-back titles and reached the Champions League final. His reputation has grown even more since he joined Liverpool. Klopp won the club's sixth Champions League title in 2019, then ended their 30-year wait for the Premier League title the very next season. Ernst Happel Only five managers have won the European Cup with two different teams, and Happel was the first to do it. He lifted the trophy with Feyenoord in 1970 and Hamburg in 1983. He also reached the final with Club Brugge, but narrowly lost to Liverpool in 1978. Happel inspired Rhenus Michels with his preference for a 4-3-3 system and control of the ball in midfield. He was successful almost everywhere he went, winning eight league titles in different countries. Happel also got close to the biggest prize of all, the World Cup. Despite being without star player Johan Cruyff, he took the Netherlands to the final of the 1978 tournament. Unfortunately for Happel, the hosts' Argentina won 3-1 after extra time. Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera was the controversial king of catenaccio. He didn't invent the highly defensive tactical system, but he was the most successful proponent of it. Herrera was also a big believer in psychology. He was a brilliant man-manager who mixed motivational speeches with a strict disciplinary code. His methods were hugely successful at Inter, where he won three Serie A titles and two European Cups. The eccentric Argentine also won two La Liga titles with Atletico Madrid and two more with Barcelona. Valery Lobanovsky Statistics in football are commonplace now, but that wasn't always the case. Valery Lobanovsky was a pioneer in this area. He was one of the first managers to take a scientific and data-led approach to the game. His dream was to create a team where any player could play in any position. He was also one of the first coaches to make pressing a central part of his game plan. Lobanovsky won eight Soviet League titles with Dynamo Kyiv, plus five Ukrainian titles and two Cup Winners' Cups. He also took the Soviet Union to the final of Euro 88.