Best Football Managers Of All Time – Ranking The Top 10 GOATS in Football Coaching

Managing football teams can be stressful and challenging, and the teams’ success relies on the competence of their manager. Also, the manager’s job is to ensure that he provides essential guidance and much-needed motivation to boost the enthusiasm of football players. He must also negotiate with his players regarding their contracts, discipline them, and develop winning strategies. 

In this article, I’ll dive into the list of the top 10 football managers of all time. I’ll rank them based on a couple of factors, like how many trophies they won, how they influenced the game of soccer, and so on.

Keep reading so you can see who these brilliant football minds are. 

#10 – Helenio Herrera

Trophies Won: 16

Date of birth/death: April 10th, 1910 – November 9th, 1997

The No. 10 on the list starts with the legendary Argentinian-French football manager Helenio Herrera. He was one of the pioneers who began using motivational quotes and pep talks to help his teams reach their full potential. Besides using mindset to succeed, he also used super tactics to win matches. 

His teams played in a highly defensive 5-3-2 formation, which inspired many Italian football teams in the upcoming years. In the defense, there was a sweeper, along with four defenders. 

Helenio’s most memorable managerial era was with Inter Milan, where he won from 1960 to 1968, three Serie A titles, and two European Cups in 1964 and 1965. 

Herrera managed another Italian club, Roma, and helped them win one Italian Cup.

He also won four domestic titles with Spanish soccer teams—two with Atletico Madrid and two with Barcelona.

#9 – Ernst Happel

Trophies Won: 13

Date of birth/death: November 29th, 1925 – November 14th, 1992

Ernst Happel deserves to be among the best football managers in history because of his impressive accolades and revolutionary vision. He was one of the first coaches to introduce three midfielders on the football field. Happel also inspired the “Total Football” concept that the great Rinus Michels developed. 

The fundamentals of Ernst’s coaching style were the 4-3-3 formation, collaboration, and fluidity in the midfield. 

Regarding his achievements, he won one European Cup with Feyenoord in 1970 and another in 1983 with Hamburg. This Austrian won numerous domestic titles: three with club Brugge KV, 2 with Hamburg, 2 with Swarovski Tirol, and 1 with Feyenoord. Ernst also led the Austrian National Football team in 1992.

#8 – Giovanni Trapattoni

Trophies Won: 27

Date of birth: March 17th, 1939 

The most successful Italian football manager is undoubtedly Giovanni Trapattoni. He was known for having great motivational speeches and tactical insights. Nereo Rocco influenced him and was the author as well as a practitioner of Gioco all’Italiana, which could be regarded as defensive-oriented Catenaccio. Giovanni’s managing style focused on impenetrable defense and waiting to use counter-attacks with few touches to score goals.

Regarding his accomplishments, he was most successful during his Juventus era (1976-1986, 1991-1994). Trapattoni helped the club to win one European Cup, 6 Serie A titles, 2 Italian Cups, 2x UEFA Cups, and one Intercontinental Cup. He also won national titles with Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Red Bull Salzburg, and Benfica. 

Giovanni led Ireland’s and Vatican City’s national football teams. 

#7 – Arrigo Sacchi

Trophies Won: 9

Date of birth: April 1st, 1946

Another Italian football manager on the list is the legendary Arrigo Sacchi. Italian football was known for being defensive, and Sacchi was the one who stood out from the rest. He was one of few managers in Italy to use an attacking-oriented 4-4-2 formation. 

This strategy relied on fluidity in attack, pressuring opponents from the front, having a high defensive line, and using the zonal marking system. An interesting fact about Sacchi is that he was just a shoe salesman, passionate about the game of football.

He created one of the best Italian teams, the AC Milan, from 1987 to 1991, who won everything they could: 2x European Champion Clubs’ Cup, 2x Serie A titles, 2x UEFA Super Cup, 1x Italian, 2X Intercontinental Cup winners. Besides winning titles with Milan, Sacchi was also 1x Italian Youth champion with the Cesena Primavera. 

#6 – Jose Mourinho

Trophies Won: 27

Date of birth: January 26th, 1963

Jose Mourinho has accomplished what many soccer managers couldn’t even think of. He won 27 trophies with some of the world’s most elite football clubs in his illustrious career. 

Regarding his management style, he focuses on having a solid defense with the ability to transition quickly through the midfield, especially down the flanks. He uses different formations with various teams. For instance, with Porto, he employed a 4-4-2 formation, while with Chelsea, he used a 4-3-3 formation. It’s safe to say that his tactical prowess is unmatched. 

Jose has won numerous trophies, but he is most proud of winning 2 Champions League trophies, one with Porto and the other with Inter Milan. Also, he won the Europa League with Manchester United.

Mourinho won many league titles with different football teams: 2 Serie A titles with Inter Milan, 3 Premier League titles with Chelsea, 1 La Liga title with Real Madrid, and 2 Primeira titles with Porto. 

#5 – Pep Guardiola

Trophies Won: 34

Date of birth: Jan 17th, 1971

The Catalan Pep Guardiola is among the finest football managers of the 21st century. His “tiki-taka” management style drew inspiration from the great Johan Cruyff and “Total Football.” Pep’s emphasis was always on making short passes, keeping the ball for extended periods, and chasing the ball to win it back when they lost possession. 

He played a significant role in developing soccer superstars like Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, and Kevin De Bruyne. 

Guardiola started his coaching career with Barcelona in the 2008/09 season, and the rest is history. With Barca, he won 2 Champions League titles and was a 3x La Liga titles. Then, he went to Bayern Munich, where he helped the team get 3 Bundesliga trophies. 

His managerial ongoing stint with City is nothing short of legendary since he won one Champions League title, 5 Premier League titles, and 2 FA Cup trophies. 

#4 – Carlo Ancelotti

Trophies Won: 25

Date of birth: June 10th, 1959

Italy has produced many high-quality football managers, and Carlo Ancelotti is one of them. 

Ancelotti was inspired by Arrigo Sacchi’s tactical preference, which meant using the 4-4-2 formation with a four-man backline and heavy pressing. Later in his career, he abandoned this strategy since his creative strikers couldn’t reach their full potential and implemented the 3-4-1-2 and the 4-4-1-1 formation. 

Besides being a tactical mastermind, his most impressive managerial strength was that he could manage high-profile players, and help them fulfill their potential. 

Carlo won numerous trophies, like two Champions League titles with AC Milan and two with Real Madrid. He was also successful in league competitions, winning 1 Premier League with Chelsea, 1 La Liga with Real, 1 Ligue 1 with Paris Saint Germain, 1 Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, and 1 Serie A with AC Milan. 

Ancelotti’s success as a manager is undeniable, and he’ll go down as one of the best in history. 

#3 – Johan Cruyff

Trophies Won: 14

Date of birth/death: April 25th, 1947 – March 14th, 2016

Johan Cruyff wasn’t just an elite football player. He was also a world-class football manager. He gets much credit for revolutionizing football by adopting the “Total Football” concept in his coaching style. He then made a similar “tiki-taka” concept that relied on a 4-3-3 formation, teamwork, quick passes, pressing of the ball, and maintaining possession. 

When Cruyff came to Barca in 1988, he completely turned around this club. Before his arrival, Barcelona won just 36 trophies in 89 years. After Cruyff’s arrival, they lifted the silverware by almost double that amount. 

Cruyff’s career as a football manager was quite lucrative. With Barca, he won 1 European Champion Clubs’ Cup, 4 La Liga titles, 1 Spanish Cup, 3 Spanish Super Cups, and one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. With Ajax, he lifted one UEFA Cup Winners Cup and 2 Dutch Cups. 

Cruyff’s football philosophy inspires many managers today, some of them being Pep Guardiola. 

#2 – Rinus Michels

Trophies Won: 12

Date of birth: Feb 9th, 1928 – March 3rd, 2005

The second spot on the list of the best soccer managers in history goes to the well-known Dutch manager Rinus Michels. 

He was one of the pioneers who thought of the famous “Total Football” concept while managing the Cruyff-led Ajax team. The premise of “Total Football” was regularly switching positions on the pitch and also creating space for making chances to score goals. 

Rinus’s stint with Ajax was spellbinding. He led the team to one European Champion Clubs’ Cup, 4 Eredivisie titles, and three Dutch Cups. 

His time with Barcelona was also memorable since he won one Spanish Cup and one La Liga title. 

Rinus led the Netherlands national football team to a European Champion trophy in 1988.

#1 – Sir Alex Ferguson

Trophies Won: 47

Date of birth: December 31st, 1941

Manchester United royalty and the no.1 spot on the list of the best football managers deservingly goes to the man himself, Sir Alex Ferguson. 

The teams that Alex has managed played in an attacking style, and aggressively imposed their football on opponents. Alex was tactically versatile as he used various formations throughout his managerial career: 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1, and 4-5-1. 

Sir Alex also nurtured a philosophy to develop young and talented players. The best example would be Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned out to be one of the greatest players of all time. 

Ferguson led the Red Devils from 1986 to 2013 and won 40 trophies. Sir Alex won 2 Champions League trophies in 1999 and 2008, and 13 Premier League titles. Besides three significant trophies, he won 5 FA Cups and 4 English League Cups with Manchester United. His 1998/99 treble-winning team is widely regarded as one of the best football teams of all time.

In the 80s, Sir Alex won the Scottish Premiership three times and the Scottish Cup 4 times with Aberdeen. 

Sir Alex Ferguson was a one-of-a-kind manager and the best in the world in his profession.

Featured image taken from YouTube.