Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Managing a football team requires a variety of talents coupled with a solid knowledge of the game. As a football manager, you're expected to work with players individually to keep them motivated and disciplined, while also being able to communicate clearly while anticipating your players' psychological and physical condition.
Then, you'll need the tactical ability to organise your team and make wise substitutions, as well as help your players develop off the field, while also thinking about any new players you might want to eventually add to the team - loads are going on. In fact, Editor-in-Chief at BonusMonitor.ca, Roy Carswell, had this to say:
"I consider myself quite the sports enthusiast, and I try to stay up to date with everything and anything football. The thing is, we always hear about some of the best footballers in the history of sport, and sure they're worthy of mention because credit should be given where it's due. However, we should be hearing far more about the great coaches who are no doubt a good support system and ultimately the solid foundations forming these fantastic athletes."
This article will cover some of the best football managers of all time, it's time to honour the best tinker men, master motivators and tacticians in the history of the game - here are some of our favourites in no particular order.
Apart from literally building Liverpool from the ground up, Shankly also formed a dynasty that's every part as lasting as the city's other great team from around the same era - and we're talking about the Beatles of course. This Scotsman transformed a dying, decrepit and listing Second Division squad into the institution we know today, kicking off to bring the people closer to the team and the club itself. And that's exactly how it went down - during his reign, Shankly won two FA Cups, three First Division titles as well as the UEFA Cup just in case you were wondering. The phrase at the base of his statue at Anfield reads "He made the people happy", and whoever knew him would confirm that that's all he ever wanted.
Winning the European Championship as well as the European Cup during this career, Michels greatest legacy is attached to a team that incidentally never won anything at all. We all know how the Netherlands were beaten by their West German hosts during the World Cup Final of 1974, however, that match will forever go down in history for delivering some of the most magical football moments under the influence of such a strong coach. Realistically, without Michels, there would be no Guardiola, Van Gaal, or even Cruyff.
Formerly known for spending most of his football career playing for Italian team Juventus, Conte is recognized for deploying wingbacks in a 5-3-2 configuration and selecting players who were versatile enough to fit into his world. Conte is best known for leading Juventus to win the Serie A league without ever losing a single game for most of three seasons, as well as managing Italy's Euro squad in 2016. He then progressed to Chelsea, winning the Premier League along with the FA Cup, before moving to Inter Milan and winning the league once again. Today, Conte is the manager of FC Napoli.
When Ferguson got sacked from St Mirren in 1978, an industrial tribunal ruled out that he had no experience, talent or manager qualities whatsoever, however, as his brilliant track record shows, they couldn't have been more wrong. Brushing off his exit and keeping his eye on the prize, Ferguson went off to win the Winner's Cup along with three league titles for Aberdeen before joining Manchester United in 1986. This move led to two Champions League wins, four FA Cups along with 13 Premier League titles. Despite his rocky start, today many consider Sir Alex Ferguson as one of the greatest football managers of all time.
Known for his ultra-defensive sweeper tactics which set the tone for Italian football for decades to come, Herrera is mostly remembered for the Grande Inter empire he built between 1960 and 1968, winning two European Cups as well as three Serie A titles. This Argentinian coach tapped into the potential of combining psychology and diet, and went off to win multiple consecutive La Liga wins for both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Criticized for his ruthless and quasi-tyrannical approach, Herrera's tactics were eventually copied by multiple clubs, proving that hard work, training, diet and perfectionism are the only way forward.
If you look at Busby's career, you're probably going to want to split it into two eras - and that's before and after the date of the Munich Air disaster which occurred on the 6th of February 1958. Taking the reins in 1945, Busby performed a team overhaul lifting the FA Cup in 1948 and the league title in '52. Everyone thought United were at the end of their cycle by then but that's when Busby decided to shake things up by introducing several young players who were eventually known as the ‘Busby Babes'. These youth players went off to win two First Division leagues, with an average player age of 22 and would have probably gone much farther had eight team members not been killed on that ill-fated night in Germany.
For Italian football fans, Sacchi is one of the most celebrated figures in football history. Not only did he snatch trophies and influence the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, but at the core of it all this was a shoe salesman with a deep obsession for the game. Taking on AC Milan in 1987, Sacchi relied heavily on ideas that took Ajax to the next level in the 70s, demanding his team to press from the front, holding a strong defence line, and making use of zonal marking to deploy a flat back four during the game - a decision that irked Italian puritans at the time. Bagging a Scudetto along with several back-to-back European cups, Sacchi proved that his tactics would change the style of Italian football forever, which is his biggest legacy to date.
There's no denying that this Dutchman has left an indelible mark on international football. Upon returning to Camp Nou in 1988, Barcelona had already won 36 trophies over 89 years, however during his time los Cules were able to raise 54 cups in 32 years, including five Champions League titles. Each of these successes is traced back to Cruyff who is best known for promoting technique over physical attributes - a style which remains extremely relevant to this day.
Feeling the pressure after a single match during the 2008-09 La Liga season against Numancia, Barca's new coach, Guardiola, knew that he needed to step things up. By the end of his campaign, Barcelona celebrated a treble and displayed some of the finest football moments ever played. In less than four years, his coach was able to bag nine major trophies before moving on to Bayern Munich, and eventually to Manchester City where he managed to win several Premier League titles, raising the team by 198 points across the span of two seasons.
Love him or hate him, Mourinho's impact on football has been inevitable ever since he entered the scene as Porto's manager in 2003. His track record includes a pair of Champions League wins for Inter and Porto which were both a masterclass in management and coaching, as well as giving Chelsea the absolute overhaul it needed during the 2004-05 season. Known for being ambitious, petulant, charismatic and extremely demanding, Jose Mourinho will not be an absolute force to be reckoned with.
My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
The 91 biggest football stadiums in Europe. From Manchester to Munich, Villa Park to Valencia - each one with a capacity over 40,000
Tony Incenzo has been to over 2,000 football grounds - is he the world's barmiest football fan? Read about his love for Non-League football and groundhopping obsession, including watching a match in prison!
All good things have to come to an end, and the same unfortunately has to be said for football stadiums too. This article looks at the grounds which are soon to host their last match, the stadiums whose days are numbered and where fans will be watching their football from next.
