- Best Football Coaches – intro
- Qualities of a Good Coach
- Ranking the best football coaches of the 21st century
Intro
The importance of coaches in football cannot be overemphasized. Coaches contribute immensely to the beauty and allure of the round leather game.
The world has witnessed several masterstrokes from coaches over the years through their tactics and approach to the beautiful sport of football.
Ranking the best football coaches is often subjective and controversial because people have divergent views of the factors that make up a good coach.
Nonetheless, all good coaches have something in common, they are all winners and must have led their team to glory in more than once.
Qualities of the Best Football Coaches
There are a number of factors that qualify one as good as a good coach. they include; the number of trophies won, longevity, tactics etc.
All coaches are employed to do one job, and win trophies. So, winning a major tournament is the most important factor considered when ranking the best football coaches.
In addition to winning trophies, coaches are judged on their tactics and approach to games. Fans pay gate passes to watch their teams play and expect spectacles and entertainment.
Football is an entertaining sport and spectators expect to get value for their money. This means coaches are expected to be entertaining in their approach to games and try to win in style.
Another important quality of a good coach is longevity. Coaches who hold onto their jobs for a long time must be doing something right to keep the job.
Our team of seasoned sports journalists have taken these parameters into consideration while compiling this ranking of the 10 best coaches since the year 2000.
10 Best Football Coaches in the last two decades
Please note that this ranking only covers the last two decades. It is difficult to compile a list of the 10 best coaches in history, so we focused on recent times.
10. Antonio Conte
The Italian makes a claim as one of the best football coaches in recent times for his achievement. The fierce manager is recognized for the role he played in the rejuvenation of Juventus.
After Juventus gained promotion to Serie A, following the club’s tumultuous past years, Juve found is challenging to compete with AC Milan and Inter Milan for the league title.
Antonio Conte who was a former player of Juve was employed by the then club president, Moratta to lead the rebuilding process of the club.
The tactician made a few signings and went on to win the Italian league title for three consecutive seasons.
He also won the English Premiership with Chelsea. He returned to Italy on the books of Inter Milan in the 2020-21 season and won the Serie A title again.
He is currently employed at Napoli and sitting at the top of the log in his first season as manager.
Conte is posed to achieve a higher ranking in future but must first win a European tournament to improve his ranking. He has not been so lucky in Europe.
9. Diego Simeone
Diego Simeone is ranked the 9th best manager in the last two decades for what he has achieved with Atletico Madrid. The Argentine is currently the longest-serving manager of a club in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
The tactical maestro was once on the books of the Spanish side as a player. He won the La Liga title in 1995-96 as a player and returned in 2011 to oversee a new project at Atletico as a coach.
14 years later, the Argentine remains the coach at the Metropolitano Stadium. He has led the team to an impressive two (2) La Liga titles and two (2) Europa League titles.
Simeone has been unlucky in Europe’s top championship, the UEFA Champions League on two occasions, losing to Spanish rival Real Madrid on both occasions.
He is currently one of the best coaches in the world.
8. Jupp Heynckes
Heynckes is famous for his achievement with Bayern Munich. The German tactician paraded one of the most formidable teams in the history of the UEFA Champions League in the 2012-13 season.
His team was exciting to behold and prolific in front of goal. Henckeys defeated Borussia Dortmund to win the UCL in 2012-13 after finishing as runner’s up to Mourinho’s Inter Milan the previous year.
He won several league titles with Bayern Munich during his spell as the manager of the club on four different occasions.
7. Vincente De Bosque
De Bosque ranks as the 7th best coach in the last two decades for his achievement with the Spanish national team. The coach led Spain to its first senior World Cup triumph in 2010.
His team features some of the finest midfielders in the history of the sport. The likes of Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, David Silver and Sergio Busquet all played important roles in Vincente De Bosque’s team in South Africa.
Two years later, the Spanish tactician led his charges to European glory where they dismantled Italy in the final. The is arguably the best international coach in recent times and deserves a rank as one of the best coaches in the world.
6. Zinedine Zidane
Zidane is regarded as one of the finest players to ever kick a ball. The Frenchman played the sport with so much elegance and aplomb during his days as a footballer. He won several individual and team titles in his playing days.
The French icon raised eyebrows when he announced his decision to go into coaching. Many feared he might not be as lucky in his managerial career as he was as a player.
But the Frenchman shut all doubters to carve an impressive coaching career for himself. He led Real Madrid to 3 Champions League titles, holding the record as the only coach in history to win the competition in three consecutive seasons.
He also won the La Liga title as well as the Club World Cup with Madrid. Zidane has an impressive coaching resume but some critics have got some reservations about his coaching ability.
They argue the Frenchman has only managed the Real Madrid and is too scared to take on challenging jobs with other European clubs.
Manchester United once expressed interest in Zidane but he turned down the chance to manage the Old Trafford outfit.
Nonetheless, the Frenchman has a very impressive record as one of the only three managers, with Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola with three (3) champions or more Uefa Champions League winners.
5. Jurgen Klopp
Klopp is famous for taking the most difficult coaching job and transforming his team into title winners. He first made a name for himself when he was the coach of Borussia Dortmund.
He led the team to back-to-back Bundes Liga triumphs and narrowly missed out on winning the Champions League with the German club when they lost to Bayern Munich in 2012-13.
His next project was in England with Liverpool where led the club to their first Premier League win after 20 years.
He also finished as the league runner-up to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in two different seasons, only losing the league with just a few points margin on the last day.
The tactical genius won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019 after losing to Madrid the previous year. He has revolutionized the sport and is regarded as one of the best by pundits and fans alike.
4. Jose Mourinho
Known as the special one. Mourinho ranks as the 4th best coach in recent times. His impressive resume speaks for itself. The Portuguese first caught the world’s attention when he led an unfancied Porto team to European glory.
He was soon employed by Chelsea to Challenge the Dominant Manchester United and Arsenal for the English league title.
Mourinho is one of the few managers to win league titles in Europe’s top three leagues. He won three (3) Premier Leagues, two (2) Serie A and one (1) La Liga titles.
He also won two Champions Leagues with Porto and Inter Milan. The special one is undoubtedly one of the best football coaches in recent times.
3. Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson dominated the English Premier League for many years. He is currently the most decorated coach in the history of the sport. The former Manchester United won a lot of titles during his time as coach.
He has an elusive resume that includes 11 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League titles.
2. Pep Guardiola.
Famous for assembling one of the most exciting teams to ever play the game. His title-winning Barcelona team of 2011 is regarded by many as the best team in history.
He won numerous titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Pep is one of the most decorated coaches in history and is right on his way to claiming the top spot in a few years.
1. Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti currently ranks as the best football coach in the world because of his unparalleled run in the Uefa Champions League. The Italian coach currently has 5 Champions League Medals to his name and is still in the running to win more.
He has also won numerous league titles in Europe’s major leagues such as Serie A, La Liga, Premiership, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1.
He is in domestic cups and club world cups. Ancelotti is arguably the finest in the business in the last two decades.
Conclusion.
This list was compiled by our team of experienced editors. What do you think about the list?
