Best managers in European Football

[Swagger]

Been trying in my mind to list the 5 best managers in European football, but cannot seem to be able to narrow it down to 5. The criterion in my opinion should be domestic as well as European success:

 

Rafa Benitez

Jose Mourinho

Arsene Wenger

Alex Ferguson

Guus Hiddink

Fabio Capello

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Marcello Lippi

Frank Rijkaard ? knocking on the door.

 

Note that four of that list currently work in the Premiership. Also note that of the nine, Wenger is the only man never to win the CL.

[Stevie H]

no giovanni trappatoni?

[IgPig]

I'd scratch Wenger off that list. Done very well at Arsenal, but had Rafa been their manager they'd have won the CL or at very least UEFA cup by now.

[Figaro]

Rafa Benitez

Jose Mourinho

Guus Hiddink

Phil Scolari

Frank Rijkaard

[Coyler]

Before he made a hames of the England job (cue Cobs: How, exactly? Qualify, qualify, beaten by eventual winners, it's okay to puke...) it's mad to think that Eriksson would have been a shoo-in towards the top of any such list.

[Guest Jack Bauer]

I'd scratch Wenger off that list. Done very well at Arsenal, but had Rafa been their manager they'd have won the CL or at very least UEFA cup by now.

 

Wenger should be on there for all the talents he has unearthed

[Stevie H]

probably pretty good criteria to begin with would be having won the european cup and having won league titles in more than one country. that would probably narrow it down quite quickly. trappatoni, capello, ferguson. . .not sure who else could claim to have done that.

[Des]

probably pretty good criteria to begin with would be having won the european cup and having won league titles in more than one country. that would probably narrow it down quite quickly. trappatoni, capello, ferguson. . .not sure who else could claim to have done that.

 

Mourinho.

[Dan]

Ancelotti?

[Swagger]

Rafa Benitez

Jose Mourinho

Guus Hiddink

Phil Scolari

Frank Rijkaard

 

Just checked Big Phil's club record and yes, he is deserving of a place in that list.

 

No Wenger though?

[Benitez]

Capello

Benitez

Hitzfeld

Hiddink

Maurenho

 

 

Wenger can get a look in if he ever wins in Europe, being as the topic is 'best managers in European football'

Edited June 27, 2006 by Benitez

[IgPig]

Wenger should be on there for all the talents he has unearthed

 

Not sure that qualifies him for greatness, unless Dario Gradi gets added as well. S'all about the trophies, and I think a minimum requirement is to have won a European one.

 

Also think his talent spotting ability tends to be overstated a little. He's astute in the transfer market, moreso than Ferguson, but he's had his fair share of duffers.

[nvdm]

Otto Rehhagel

 

3 Bundesliga titles (1988 and 1993 with Werder, 1998 with Kaiserslautern)

5 second places in Bundesliga (1983, 1985, 1986 and 1995 with Werder, 1996 with Bayern) 3 German Cups (1980 with Fortuna, 1991 and 1994 with Werder)

2 German Supercups (1993 and 1994 with Werder)

1 Cup Winners' Cup (1992 with Werder) 1 UEFA Cup (1996 with Bayern)

1 European Championship (2004 with Greece)

Edited June 27, 2006 by Shaka

[Guest Red Mist]

No way Mourinho, even I can win the league title with all that money.

[Serko]

The scouts should get some of the credit for signings anyway.

[madaboutlfc]

Rafa moroniho capello ancelloti del bosque

[SkippyjonJones]

Wenger is the only manager to have lost in the Cup winners cup final, uefa cup final and the CL final.

 

now thats an achievment!!

[Stevie H]

Wenger is the only manager to have lost in the Cup winners cup final, uefa cup final and the CL final.

 

now thats an achievment!!

 

wenger, the henman of football managers.

[Cunny]

Paul Le Guen?

[_00_deathscar]

wenger, the henman of football managers.

 

He said finals, not quarter finals.

[Leo No.8]

Capello, Benitez, Mourinho, Rehhagel & Rikjaard for me.

 

Capello has won that many titles with Milan, Roma, Madrid and Juve - I just don't see how anyone can fail to include him in the list. His record is probably the best of any manager in the game at present. Fantastic all-round coach, extremely astute in the transfer market.

 

Benitez winning two La Liga titles against the awesome financial power of Madrid and Barca is deserving of a place alone, but when you add his UEFA Cup at Valencia and incredible Champions League victory with us, he is along with Mourinho the finest young coach in the game. A meticulous tactician and perfectionist.

 

Mourinho - yes we all hate him, but you have to look past that and see the fact that he won the Champions League and UEFA Cup with Porto, then has won the title at a canter over here twice. Yes he has had immense resources here, but his successes at Porto were with far less financial clout than the majority of the teams in the competition. He is a real motivator of men, pragmatic but knows how to build an immensely functional team.

 

Rikjaard has put together the best team in Europe at the moment, and has moulded a squad capable of keeping Madrid at arm's length for a good few years now. For all the money they throw at the problems, it'll take a fine manager that kind of time to put together a team which can play together well enough to knock Barca off the top.

 

Rehhagel - a fantastic club career in Germany (as illustrated above), followed by managing a team full of average players to quite possibly the biggest shock in the history of major tournaments by winning the Euros with Greece. Scolari won the World Cup with Brazil which is fine, but for me Rehhagel's achievement is far greater and merits inclusion ahead of 'Big Phil'.

[Benitez]

Paul Le Guen?

 

 

noway, nowhere near.

[Ahmed Dimwitson]

Been trying in my mind to list the 5 best managers in European football, but cannot seem to be able to narrow it down to 5. The criterion in my opinion should be domestic as well as European success:

 

Rafa Benitez

Jose Mourinho

Arsene Wenger

Alex Ferguson

Guus Hiddink

Fabio Capello

Ottmar Hitzfeld

Marcello Lippi

Frank Rijkaard ? knocking on the door.

 

Note that four of that list currently work in the Premiership. Also note that of the nine, Wenger is the only man never to win the CL.

 

hasn't Rijkard won as much as Benitez in a shorter time frame? why would he only be knocking on the door ?

[Benitez]

hasn't Rijkard won as much as Benitez in a shorter time frame? why would he only be knocking on the door ?

 

 

no he hasn't, but even if he had - it's cos Barca's success is more down to his assistant than him

[Guest Jens]

Christoph Daum ... the guy guarantees a top 2-3 finish