Who’d be a football manager?
There isn’t another job in the world that has ten of thousands of people calling for you to be ‘sacked in the morning’ after a few weeks of underperformance.
But that’s the reality for managers at the highest level.
A few losses in a row and there will always be some fans wanting the manager dismissed.
But don’t feel too sorry for them.
They pick up a ridiculous amount of money every week while they’re often handed millions in compensation when they’re sacked.
There’s been plenty of manager talk in the Premier League recently. Nuno Espirito Santo, Dean Smith and Daniel Farke have all lost their jobs after poor starts to the season.
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is holding onto his...for now.
But enough of managers getting sacked. We want to take a look at those who are actually good at their profession.
But who is the best in the world right now?
Well, we’ve risked our reputation by attempting to place some of the very best gaffers into categories using Tiermaker. It certainly wasn’t an easy task and we’re positive many of you will disagree with our opinion.
However, hopefully, it’ll create a healthy debate amongst us all.
So, without further ado, let’s check it out:
Sacked In The Morning
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
After Manchester United lost convincingly to Manchester City on Saturday, Solskjaer is under more pressure than ever before at Old Trafford. Many United fans have had enough and want the board to act. While the Norwegian has been placed in the ‘Sacked In The Morning’ category, it seems he’s safe for now…
Nothing Special
Rafa Benitez
Marcelo Bielsa
Marco Rose
Stefano Pioli
Niko Kovac
Massimiliano Allegri
Manuel Pellegrini
Laurent Blanc
Luciano Spalletti
Simone Inzaghi
This is all relatively speaking.
When we say ‘Nothing Special’ it’s important to remember that we’re ranking some of the best managers in world football. The 10 managers mentioned all are brilliant in their own right but perhaps not quite capable of managing the very best teams in the world right now.
Past It
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho has gone full Mourinho in Italy this season. After a failed spell at Tottenham, the Portuguese manager needs to succeed at Roma. But it’s not going to plan as they currently sit 13 points off the top while they also lost 6-1 to Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.
Decent
Brendan Rodgers
Mikel Arteta
Diego Simeone
Unai Emery
Julian Nagelsmann
Julen Lopetegui
Maurizio Sarri
Jesse Marsch
Eight really good managers but maybe just below the ‘Elite’ bosses.
Rodgers has done a great job at Leicester and has even been linked with the Man Utd job this weekend.
Arteta is really getting Arsenal playing the way he wants right now and, while he hasn’t achieved too much in the game managerially, we reckon he was huge potential.
Simeone may not be universally loved but you can’t deny the sensational job he’s done at Atletico Madrid.
Emery has really improved his reputation after getting sacked from Arsenal as he led Villarreal to Europa League glory last season.
Nagelsmann is still only 34 and impressed in charge of both Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig before landing the Bayern Munich job.
Lopetegui has recovered from his interesting 2018 when he left the Spain national side on the eve of the World Cup and joined Real Madrid - where he lasted just 14 matches. He’s now in charge of Sevilla.
Sarri won the Europa League at Chelsea before going on to claim the Serie A title with Juventus. He’s now at Lazio.
Marsch is very much an employee of Red Bull having been at New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and now RB Leipzig.
Elite
Mauricio Pochettino
Carlo Ancelotti
Gian Piero Gasperini
Antonio Conte
Erik ten Hag
The managers of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Atalanta, Tottenham and Ajax all make the ‘Elite’ category.
Pochettino may not have won too many trophies in his career but we’re in no doubt that he’s a fantastic manager that will achieve great things.
From a manager that has won very little to a manager that has won it all - Ancelotti. Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton…Ancelotti’s CV speaks for itself.
You may be surprised to see Gasperini’s name in this tier but the 63-year-old has worked wonders at Atalanta despite not winning anything. The club have one of the lowest budgets in the club but he’s established them as Champions League regulars.
Conte has probably stepped into the toughest job of his career at Spurs but given his previous success, we reckon he’s more than good enough to make it good in north London. What a coup for the club.
Ajax boss Ten Hag is linked to pretty much every big job that becomes available and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Man Utd are eyeing him up.
World Class
Thomas Tuchel
Pep Guardiola
The Chelsea and Manchester City managers met in last season’s Champions League final with Tuchel getting the better of Guardiola.
For everything he’s done in his career, Guardiola is superior to Tuchel but, right now, they’re both in the tier behind another Premier League boss…
The Very Best
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp really has turned Liverpool fans from ‘doubters to believers.’
He’s transformed a very average side into Premier League and Champions League winners, while doing so on a relatively small budget. The football he’s got Liverpool playing is staggeringly good at times and he will go down in the club’s history.
Final rankings
So, Klopp is ’The Very Best’ manager in world football while the boss in charge of Liverpool’s rivals is ‘Sacked In The Morning.’
If United do pull the trigger on Ole, Ed Woodward and co. only need to look at our rankings to see the plethora of talented players in world football right now.
But after what we’ve seen in the Premier League in recent weeks, don’t be surprised if a few of the names mentioned are under pressure if they suffer a few bad results.
Who’d be a manager, eh?
