10 greatest football managers of all-time

Crafting excellence

It’s common to discuss the greatest players of all-time. Less common is the discussion about the greatest managers. Even then, it centres on trophies.

In keeping with the ethos of this publication of exploring the superlative, here is my list of the greatest managers of all time.

Plus, it’s ranked. Ranking is a controversial topic. However, it’s also what gives the list its worth — we’re forced to distill essential qualities and make choices. To honestly assess greatness, we need to consider quantitative and qualitative accomplishments. The criteria I’m using are:

• Trophies — club, continental, national, World Cup, weighted in ascending order.
• Influence — ability to innovate and further the game tactically, system-wise or philosophically. and their impact.

I’ve used a weighted-ranking model that assigns weighted points for Trophies score, and 100 points each for innovation and impact, summed for the Influence score.

10. Mario Zagallo

Our list starts with the only person to win the World Cup four times, twice as player and once as manager, and once as assistant manager.

Zagallo’s trophy count of 8 may be meagre, but the significance of his World Cup wins puts him among the best. Brazil had a perfect record in the qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup. Zagallo took over as coach from Saldanha literally just before the tournament in Mexico. He transformed a winning team into a legendary one, demonstrating avantgarde tactical adaptability leadership and motivation skills.

I’ve written more about the splendid Mexico 1970 World Cup here.

9. Jose Mourinho

The “Special One” comes in next. Champions League triumphs with unheralded Porto (2004) and Inter Milan sides (2010), the latter beating the tiki-taka powered Barcelona in the semi-final, give him the status of managerial royalty.

Mourinho has always valued tactics over philosophy. His USP, not surprisingly, is his tactical prowess. An astute analyst, Mourinho fine-tunes and tailors his tactics to the opponent, and often combining it with a good serving of mind-games! The result is 26 trophies (so far) and a repertoire of getting results in crucial matches and upsetting stronger rivals.

8. Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson’s incredible haul of 48 trophies, and 13 Premier League titles, will never be matched. The European Cup Winners Cup triumph with Aberdeen also silences critics who may accuse him of winning with a Manchester United side, whose academy graduates and commercial innovations in the early 90s gave them an incredible foundation of talent and finances to build upon.

A managerial career spanning nearly 4 decades is a feat in itself — and he won trophies right till the end. Tactically flexible, Ferguson kept up with innovations in the wider European game and learn from them. To evolve, and remain relevant across a managerial career of nearly 4 decades, and win trophies right till the end, is a phenomenal feat. A strong man-manager and competitor, SAF is the benchmark for managers today.

PS: SAF is regarded by many as the best manager of all-time. Seeing him outside the Top 5 might shock, or upset, some. Trophies are important, but innovation and influence are the true distinguishing factors. The criteria emphasize this. Some managers play the game successfully. Others change the game. As we build up to the Top 5, this rationale will transpire more clearly.

7. Carlo Ancelotti

Ancelotti has won 26 trophies in his career, including four UCL titles (so far); the first and only manager (so far) to have achieved the latter feat. Ancelotti’s style has been characterised by flexibility and harmony.

Ancelotti’s USP is his affability — everyone loves him. He’s perhaps the only elite manager who’s so strong on the human dimension. Ancelotti has a versatile tactical approach and can blend various personalities and playing styles into a unified team. He adapts his formations and tactics to optimize the performance of the players he has. His “4–4–2 Diamond” and “4–3–2–1 Christmas Tree” formations at AC Milan are especially notable.

Critics might point out that he’s a “chequebook” manager — his best results have come with big teams, but that cannot detract from his ability to empower players and harmoniously put everything together to get results.

6. Giovanni Trapattoni

The brilliant playing and managerial career of Giovanni Trapattoni can often go under the radar. He was part of AC Milan’s European Cup winning teams of the 60s. He’s managed in 9 clubs in 4 leagues, and 3 countries, including Italy (2000–2004), winning 22 trophies. As was almost customary for Italian teams and managers of his time, Il Trap was influenced by catenaccio. His teams were tactically astute and very well-organized.

Trapattoni’s lasting accomplishment is evolving catenaccio into the more fluid zona-mista system that blended concepts of zonal-defence and positional interchangeability to give better potency. This system would influence the success of Juventus and Italy in the early 80s and ultimately also Sacchi’s Milan.

5. Helenio Herrera

Catenaccio had developed over the years starting from Karl Rappan’s verrou to Nereo Rocco’s version which won AC Milan its first two European Cups in the 1960s. Herrera improvised by using attacking full-backs to give his catenaccio bolted sides more counter-attacking bite. Burgnich (RB) and Facchetti (LB) became part of his Grande Inter team that won 3 Serie A titles and 2 European Cups in the mid-60s, including a “double”. Herrera was a strict disciplinarian with some approaches a bit OTT by today standards.

Rocco and Herrera’s interpretations of catenaccio won 4 European Cups in the 1960s and inspired Italian football for another 30 years, making it one of the most significant, and successful, tactical advancements in the game.

4. Vittorio Pozzo

Pozzo is the only manager to have won two World Cups, and that too back-to-back (Italy — 1934 and 1938). While this accomplishment is sufficient in propel him to the front of the all-time great managers’ queue, Pozzo also innovated with the metodo. Modified from 2–3–5, two forwards were retreated and a central defensive midfielder role, an early pre-cursor for the deep-lying playmaker role, was introduced, giving it a W-W shape.

3. Arrigo Sacchi

The Prophet of Fusignano won six continental and two domestic trophies. Despite the relatively meagre trophy haul, Sacchi’s revolutionary tactics, which combined fluid 4–4–2 formations, high-lines and pressing, and challenged entrenched catenaccio-era concepts such as man-marking and libero, are now legendary.

I’ve written more about that supreme AC Milan side here.

2. Pep Guardiola

Infused with Cruyffian principles, Guardiola’s philosophies have advanced the modern game more than any other manager. Pep is an innovator. Klopp’s comments on Guardiola summarize his legacy, and also justify influence as the distinguishing criterion for greatness.

“…In my lifetime, [Pep is] the outstanding manager. The way he influenced football. Many trophies won but he behaves like he’s never won anything… the desire is outstanding. I see excellence. Pep is definitely that.”

Critics may argue that Pep is prone to overthinking, but experimentation is essential for innovation. While some efforts will undoubtedly fail, the successful ones — such as Pep creating the “false 9 role” for Messi — will become legendary.

I’ve written in detail about Guardiola here.

1. Rinus Michels

Rinus Michels pioneered the ideas and ideals of Total Football with Cruyff, who in turn, via his coaching role at Barcelona, mentored Guardiola to further it to its latest iteration.

Michels revolutionized football with his innovative ideas. He introduced the concept of space, which is the basis of all modern-day football. He earned 13 trophies in his career, including the only major international trophy for the Netherlands (so far). Michels’ contribution to football is incalculably vast, and profoundly influential.

I’ve written about Michels’ legacy here.

PS: The reader might ask why Cruyff is not mentioned? I see Cruyff as the bridge between Michels and Guardiola, handing over the baton from Total Football to the tiki-taka era, via the Dream Team (1992). Between these two, he’s kind of “covered” automatically.

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