His team are also going strong in La Liga, still in with a shout of fifth place as the season draws to a close. You can't really fault Ten Hag at Ajax, can you? Won the league in , top when it got voided in , won it again in There was a Champions League semi-final thrown in there too, just for good measure.
It's been a slow burner for Galtier at Lille but in a season where none of the pre-season favourites seem capable of winning anything, it's Lille who are the beneficiaries in France. They have mounted a shock challenge to PSG's unyielding dominance and sit a point ahead of the defending champions heading into the final run of games. He also looks like a Bond villain, which is a big plus for any manager. And while that's not saying too much considering how they've fared in the years since he retired, it's got to count for something.
He may not be remembered as a roaring success at Old Trafford when he eventually steps aside, but he has done a good job of implementing some stability at a club who desperately needed it. Plus, he might well win something this season now the Europa League final beckons.
Managing Barcelona this season has been no easy task given the soap opera behind the scenes, but Koeman seems to have done a far better job of it than many expected him to. He's steadied the ship somewhat, appeased Lionel Messi, got something resembling a tune out of Antoine Griezmann, and given a platform to various talented youngsters like Pedri, Ilaix Moriba and Oscar Mingueza. And all that comes after he rebuilt the Netherlands into an actual, capable football team from the mess they were in Three points separating the top four clubs in La Liga.
You'd have been laughed out of the building for naming Lopetegui as one of the world's top managers a year ago, but his work with Sevilla has been exemplary. They had no right to be in a La Liga title challenge given their comparative budget to the big three.
And yet they managed it for a fair chunk of the season - only losing ground in match round Atalanta have set the world alight in their logic-defying charge up the Serie A table. Even if they never get around to actually winning it, it's been an old-fashioned football fairy-tale, and at the core of it is Gasperini and his flagrantly optimistic tactics. After their unlikely title challenge last season, they sit second, and look set for a return to the Champions League.
His record of attainment may not exactly scream 'legendary', but Bielsa is one of the most influential managers around. Over the course of a storied year career, the Argentine has developed a truly unique style of football that has influenced some of the best coaches around. Recently, he's led Leeds back to the Premier League, and kept them there quite comfortably. When you get your coaching education under Jurgen Klopp, there's only one way your teams are going to play.
And Rose hasn't exactly broke the mould in that regard. His breakneck style of football has taken RB Salzburg and Borussia Monchengladbach by storm, taking both teams to previously unheralded heights.
He's set to take over Borussia Dortmund in the summer, and we're all anxious to see how that goes. Claims that he's done a better job at Leicester than Claudio Ranieri thanks Jamie Carragher are wide of the mark, but Rodgers has done a formidable job since taking the reins at Leicester.
He's followed up three trophy-laden years at Celtic by turning the Foxes into a sustainable top four contender. Considering they were staring relegation in the face not so long ago, that's been some effort. Julian Nagelsmann has been confirmed as the new head coach of Bayern. You don't get the Bayern Munich job for nothing, do you? Nagelsmann wasn't even 30 when he took the Hoffenheim post but his age hasn't stopped him from rocketing right to the top of German football. Now 33, he will leave RB Leipzig to take over their Bundesliga title rivals.
That's something they definitely could not have said when he took over just a couple of years ago. Pochettino was appreciating Neymar tonight. Tottenham must yearn for the simpler times when Pochettino was their manager and the worst case scenario was merely qualifying for the Champions League.
The Jose Mourinho project did not go to plan but Pochettino has landed on his feet. Having just left the Champions League at the semi-final stage, however, his status could take a tanking if PSG fail to win Ligue 1. Hopefully Juric will get a little more stability at Torino this season to showcase what he's capable of.
His sides are excellent at limiting space between the lines, defending deep and taking chances that present themselves — they could surprise many under him. The new Rangers manager might well be following the Steven Gerrard path, of successful playing career, to Ibrox, to a big Premier League job — but Gio van Bronckhorst is a different kind of boss. The Dutchman has already got silverware in the bag too, having beaten Ajax to a title in the Eredivisie.
Still young, he's one to watch in years to come. His side have been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League and though they've found the going tough at times, it's no slight on the coach, who has reverted to a and helped develop the likes of Ivan Toney and Rico Henry into solid Premier League players.
He's still got a long way to go but he's already a star. Just getting Scotland to a World Cup makes you special. The fact that Steve Clarke has managed to get the kind of performances he has out of the Scots is something else — impressive, too, given that the nation's two best players are both left-backs. But Clarke has found creative solutions using overloads and even turned Scott McTominay into a defender.
The pandemic slapped Union Berlin in the face more than most. Many thought the former GDR outfit would be nothing without their fervent support - but they still managed to beat relegation. Last season, that same bunch finished fifth in the Bundesliga. Urs Fischer has taken the underdogs into Europe with an intelligent style of play that has utilised pressing the central areas of the pitch rather than the opposition defence, to win midfield battles and transition with speed.
Fischer has become one of the most respected managers in Germany over the past two season - and rightfully so for what he is achieving for what is essentially one of the smallest fish in the top tiers of German football. Like Drake before him, former Portsmouth assistant manager Christophe Galtier started from the bottom. He turned Lille from relegation battlers into surprise title winners this year — and the Canadian rapper never lost the likes of centre-back Gabriel or Victor Osimhen along the way.
Lille were fantastic too, resembling a when they pushed up with the likes of Jonathan Bamba, Renato Sanches, year-old Burak Yilmaz and Jonathan Ikone all scaling scarcely believable heights, while Jose Fonte, 37, sat at the back: captaining and prolonging his twilight. Since moving to Nice, things have been a littler harder. The influx of exciting attackers haven't quite gelled as he'd have liked — but hopefully he'll get the time to iron out these creases.
He's proven this year that he's capable of orchestrating the majestic. Yes, Luciano Spalletti has managed literally every club in Italy, now. He's currently with Napoli, challenging for the top title and putting the willies up Leicester City in Europe — while the likes of Victor Osimhen and Elif Elmas develop under him.
A fixture of Italian football by now, Serie A is a better place for this meticulous, old-school boss. What Tite hasn't seen in football is not worth seeing. The Brazil manager turned 60 this year, ushered in a generation of Selecao stars and reached a Copa America final — his team will be among the favourites for the World Cup next year and he's still a shrewd international manager capable of finding harmony in Brazil's samba stars.
Marcelo Gallardo is the undoubted rising star of South American coaching. The River Plate boss uses a with width from full-backs but is capable of switching completely to different formations whenever he wants to surprise his opponents.
When River faced Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores final in , Gallardo switched to a back five with wingbacks to completely fluster their biggest foes. Streich was never really in consideration before Hansi Flick was appointed, but he is hugely popular across Germany.
But his ability to attack teams with such ferocity, while not exposing his defence to an inevitable and obvious counter-attack, is not your average English-manager-at-an-ambitious-midtable-outfit vibe. Guardiola in Sketchers. He has all the hallmarks of a top coach, even at his young age. Big Max's decision to return to Turin is not exactly paying dividends just yet. Allegri's Juventus have been decidedly up and down — but then this isn't really his Juventus. This is the still the man who won title after title, coveted by Europe's aristocracy — let's see how he does in the long-term.
Arsenal were horrifically imbalanced, out of confidence with players either on big wages or soon-to-be out of contract. His side are slowly taking shape, however. Though naivety is still their biggest weakness — and his — the Basque boss has fashioned a sturdier defence, improved the build-up and made Arsenal fitter, stronger and more compact.
Maurizio Sarri almost became a parody of himself in the final days at Juventus. Loved for what he achieved at Napoli and Empoli, he was maligned in Turin and at Chelsea — and yet he delivered trophies. Here's hoping that the verticality-loving, chain-smoking ex-banker finds the perfect balance in the Eternal City with Lazio. The fact that Zinedine Zidane even returned to Real Madrid deserves credit.
He left a hat-trick hero to go on sabbatical and chose to return to a life with Lucas Vazquez, like Matt Damon actively choosing to take on Jason Bourne sequels. Inverting Casemiro to both defend as a no. He is a figurehead, the ultimate Galactico and the modern-day holder of the mantra that balance is best.
He repainted Karim Benzema, from sidecar to Harley Davidson. As a player, he was exquisite to watch; as a manager, he does the necessary basics and little else. Under him, Inter are putting together an impressive title defence, with the Nerazzurri top at Christmas. Euro runners-up, World Cup winners, and Nations League winners.
Euro may have been a disappointment for Les Bleus, but France are still a huge force under Deschamps. The Frenchman has had an underrated time in the job, finding balance where there has been none and managing big egos. Will he ever return to the club game? We hope so.
Dropping Sergio Ramos for Euro , with the defender just four caps short of the world record for international appearances, shows the size of the cojones on Luis Enrique. He outwits the best. He can coach his sides in three- and four-at-the-back shapes, bending his attack between one or two prongs.
He can cope without big stars. He can refashion full-backs on either side. The blazer and polo shirt. The raised eyebrow. The piercing grey eyes. The swept fringe. The laissez-faire approach to shape and style, so long as your players are happy. There are some things that the Premier League is poorer without and one of those things is the tortellini-loving, softly-spoken Carlo Ancelotti — however meh they were by the end.
Now we've got Don Carlo back at Real Madrid, you can see the benefit it's having on the likes of Vinicius Jr, on the atmosphere at the Bernabeu and on the club's chances in the title race. Some say he's past it — and yet he still got offered the biggest club job in football while managing Everton.
It'll be a sad day when he retires. What Pioli has managed to achieve — in his unbeaten run that gave him the full-time job, followed by Champions League qualification — is the best anyone has done at I Rossoneri since the club were winning titles. Milan made the right decision to keep with a good thing. First he was fired on the eve of the World Cup in Russia, for agreeing to join Real Madrid ahead of managing Spain at the tournament, before poor form at Los Blancos cost him his second job in a matter of months.
Sevilla has provided exactly the redemption arc he needed. Is top 20 too high for a manager who's spent much of the last decade as a sporting director and not in the dugout? Ralf Rangnick's legendary reputation precedes him. The godfather of gegenpressing has already found a shape that suits Manchester United much more than the one they had and with his development of young players, the Red Devils look to be in good hands right now.
Every season that Marcelo Bielsa stays in English football is an absolute gift. He took Leeds to ninth last season — and despite their woes this season, you can't attribute many of them at his door.
They have been nothing short of sublime to watch under the Argentinian, refusing to compromise his ideals, playing without abandon with many of the squad reinventing themselves individually. As a player, Steven Gerrard saw everything. By getting more creativity out of his full-backs and learning how to cut through low blocks in order to get results, Gerrard has been on a similar journey to the top that Jurgen Klopp has back at his beloved Liverpool.
The future looks very bright indeed. West Ham finished just two points off the Champions League places last season and have taken their game to even greater heights so far this term. A top-two finish and a cup of some sort will be considered a successful first term in the BVB dugout. They attack in clusters, with numerical superiority and shift play horizontally like a pinball buffer. They press high, they drop into a and Atalanta have punched above their weight for two years on the trot now, as teams across Italy struggle to work them out.
Gasperini is a mad scientist, a concocter of a Frankensteinian beast of modern football. Gasperini could well be an era-defining figure of years to come.
When Unai Emery left England, it was hard to ever see a way back to the top table for him. Yet his Villarreal side have arguably been his crowning achievement — a team so quintessentially him that it was a joy to watch them lift a Europa League title in Emery's Yellows have been everything we expected from Arsenal: drilled in two blocks of four, with two superb outlets up top and trickery from the wings. They've been the ultimate underdogs in a year in Spanish football that saw Atleti win the league.
Welcome back, Senor Emery. It seems surprising, almost, that Erik ten Hag is still at Ajax. The former Bayern reserve manager remains, though. He's threatening this season to take Ajax as far as he did with the two linchpins of De Ligt and De Jong and his football is still as scintillating, his principles untouched. That his managerial values were sinking into his players, of course, but also that he could handle the heat of a European cauldron - an accusation leveled against him while at Tottenham.
And yet at PSG, we may never see a consistent picture of the Poch we loved from that night — and from his era-defining tenure at Tottenham.
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