Top 10: Guardiola, Ancelotti and 8 others best coaches in football history

The coach position is very special and delicate in the world of Football. As the true conductor of a team, the role of the coach is increasingly vast. In addition to deciding on the tactical organization and the role of the players, he must also ensure the group’s cohesion.

Some coaches have revolutionized football and the way it is played. This ranking, inspired by France Football, does not necessarily rank coaches for their track record but rather for the impact they have had on football in general.

Without further ado, discover the Top 10 best coaches in football history.

10. Bill Shankly

Liverpool FC legend Bill Shankly is one of the best football managers in history. As a player, he notably played for Preston North End, but his career was interrupted by the Second World War. He still played in 2 FA Cup finals. But it was as a manager that he revealed the full extent of his talent.

Bill Shankly would go on to coach several clubs, including Grimsby Town and Huddersfield Town. However, it was at Liverpool that he would experience his greatest success. Shankly arrived at the club in 1959 when it was in the 2nd division, and would help it regain its former greatness. With his right-hand man Bob Paisley, who would later become his successor, he reorganized the club and imposed stricter training on his players.

Liverpool first won the Second Division in 1962. After a good season where the club finished 8th, Liverpool and Shankly won the English championship in 1964. The first title for the club since 1947. In all Bill Shankly will have allowed Liverpool to win 3 championships, 2 FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

9. Ernst Happel

Ernst Happel is an iconic coach, who managed to win the biggest titles with several European clubs. A legend as a player for Rapid Vienna and the Austrian national team, Happel is a very effective defender. He won the Austrian championship 6 times and snatched 3rd place at the 1954 World Cup with the national team.

As a coach, Ernst Happel led several clubs to great success. With Feyenoord Rotterdam, he won 2 championships, as well as the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1970. He then joined Club Brugge. There, Happel won the Belgian championship 3 times and reached a UEFA Cup final, as well as a Champions League final, but lost twice against Liverpool.

In 1978, Ernst Happel became the coach of the Dutch national team. He led them to the World Cup final, but failed again against Argentina. The Austrian would return to success by joining Hamburg in Germany. He won 2 championships with the club and a Champions League in 1983. He thus became the first coach to win the Champions League with 2 different clubs. Ernst Happel therefore fully deserves his place among the best coaches in history.

8. Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera is one of the most iconic coaches of the 60s and 70s. Having worked for several French clubs between 1931 and 1945, his playing career was rather modest. He still won the Coupe de France with the Parisian club Red Star. His record as a coach is much more impressive, making him one of the best coaches of all time.

Herrera began his coaching career in France, with 3 seasons at Stade Français, before moving to Spain. He coached several clubs there, including Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona. Helenio Herrera won 2 Liga titles with Atlético, then 2 more at Barcelona, ​​where he also added a Spanish Cup to his list of achievements.

His moment of glory came when he joined Inter Milan, which is also one of the best European clubs of all time . With the Italian club, Herrera would win the greatest titles. Italian champion 3 times, he won the Champions League twice and the Intercontinental Cup twice in 1964 and 1965.

7. Valery Lobanovsky

Valery Lobanovski is a Dynamo kyiv legend, and one of the best coaches of all time. Trained at the club, he later became a key element of Dynamo, first as a player. Lobanovski also won the first USSR championship in the club’s history in 1961. After 2 seasons in Odessa and one in Donetsk, he retired from the sport at the age of 29, and became a coach a year later.

Lobanovski will first coach the modest club of Dnipropetrovsk, which he will help to rise to the first division and stay there. But he will very quickly be recalled by his club of always, to take back the controls of Dynamo. He wins in total with the Kiev club 8 USSR championships and 5 USSR Cups. Even at the international level, he managed to win 2 times the Cup Winners’ Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1975 against Bayern.

Valeri Lobanovski will also coach the USSR national team on several occasions. He will notably obtain a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympic Games, and will be a finalist at Euro 1988, which he will lose to Rinus Michels’ Holland. In 1997, Lobanovski returned to Dynamo kyiv, and won the Ukrainian championship 5 times in 5 seasons. Dynamo will even reach the semi-finals of the C1 in 1999 after eliminating Real Madrid and Arsenal.

6. Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is probably the only person to be one of the best players in history and one of the best coaches in history at the same time. His mark on the history of football is immense. The first player to win the Ballon d’Or 3 times, he won many titles with Ajax Amsterdam and Barcelona. The 3 Champions Leagues won with Ajax are probably his greatest achievement. Cruyff is also part of our ranking of the best attacking midfielders in history .

As a coach, Cruyff will start, as he did as a player, at Ajax Amsterdam. He won a championship, 2 national cups, and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987 with the club. Following in the footsteps of his playing career, he joined FC Barcelona in 1989. As in Amsterdam, he will establish his style of play, which he will impose even in the training centers.

With FC Barcelona, ​​he won 4 championships in a row, a Copa del Rey, a Cup Winners’ Cup, but above all a Champions League in 1992. Thanks to his Total Football, which conquered the whole world, he became the 3rd person to win the C1 as a player, then as a coach.

5. Carlo Ancelotti

A former great player in several European clubs, Carlo Ancelotti has also become one of the best coaches in history. A brilliant midfielder, he helped AS Roma and especially AC Milan win several major titles. He notably won Serie A twice and the Champions League twice with Milan. Ancelotti also has 26 caps with Italy and participated in the 1990 World Cup.

But his coaching record is even more impressive. Carlo Ancelotti has coached several of the biggest clubs in the world: Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. During his coaching career, he has won the 5 biggest European championships. Serie A with Milan, the Premier League with Chelsea, Ligue 1 with PSG, La Liga with Madrid, and the Bundesliga with Munich.

Ancelotti has also won the Champions League 5 times as a coach, including 2 times with AC Milan and 3 times with Real Madrid. He won his 3rd Champions League with Real Madrid in 2014, which had been waiting for its 10th title for 12 years. After stints at Napoli and Everton, Carlo Ancelotti is now coach of Real Madrid again.

4. Arrigo Sacchi

Arrigo Sacchi is one of the most legendary coaches of the 80s and 90s. He revolutionized Italian football, which was very defensive at the time, with his offensive style of play with high pressing. A modest player, Sacchi will nevertheless be one of the best coaches in history. Not necessarily for his track record, but especially for his new approach to football and his playing philosophy.

Sacchi began his coaching career at Rimini, in the Italian 3rd division. He then joined Parma in the second division, before being spotted by AC Milan. While he was still almost unknown, his vision of the game seduced the Milanese management and he was recruited. It was in this club that he would build one of the most beautiful teams in history. With names such as Gullit, Rijkaard, van Basten and Baresi, he would dominate Europe at the end of the 80s.

AC Milan were crowned champions of Italy in 1988. But it was above all the 2 Champions Leagues won in 1989 and 1990 that would bring glory to this team and Sacchi. In 1991, Arrigo Sacchi became the coach of the Italian national team. He led his country to the World Cup final in 1994, but lost to Brazil.

3. Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola is one of the most famous and respected coaches today. Renowned for his possession-based football, he is, along with Ancelotti, the only coach still active in the ranking. An iconic player for Barcelona, ​​Guardiola won, among other things, 6 Liga titles and a Champions League with the Blaugrana. He was also called up 47 times to the Spanish national team.

But Guardiola is even better known as a coach, especially for his legendary style, nicknamed “tiki-taka”. In his first season on the Barcelona bench, he achieved the feat of winning all 6 possible trophies that year. He also became the youngest coach to win a Champions League. In total, he won La Liga 3 times, the Copa del Rey 2 times and the Champions League 2 times in 4 seasons at Barca.

After a stint at Bayern, where he won 3 Bundesliga and 2 national cups, he joined Manchester City in England. In his first full season, he became champion by reaching the 100-point mark, a record. The following year he achieved yet another record, winning the championship and the 2 national cups, a first in England. In total, he has won the Premier League 6 times since his arrival, and the Champions League in 2023. With such a track record, we can say that Pep Guardiola is already one of the best coaches in history.

2. Sir Alex Ferguson

The legendary coach of Aberdeen FC, but especially of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the best coaches in history. Ferguson’s playing career took him to several Scottish clubs, including Rangers FC. A rather good striker, he never won a major title during his playing career. Sir Alex Ferguson is especially remembered for his exceptional coaching career.

He coached several Scottish clubs before joining Aberdeen FC. With his new club he would experience enormous success, winning the Scottish Championship 3 times. It was the first time in 15 years that the championship had not been won by Celtic or Rangers.

Ferguson also won the Scottish Cup 4 times and especially the Cup Winners’ Cup after knocking out Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the final.Sir Alex Ferguson will especially become the most iconic coach of Manchester United.

He will stay at the club from 1986 to 2013, an absolute record. During this period he will win the English championship 13 times, 5 FA Cups and 4 League Cups.

In addition, Manchester United won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991 and the Champions League in 1999 and 2008. His longevity and success with one of the biggest clubs in Europe make him one of the best coaches of all time.

1. Rinus Michels

Considered the “father” of modern football, Rinus Michels is surely the best coach in history. Advocating a collective and versatile game, he also emphasizes more intensive physical preparation than the norm of the time. An authoritarian coach, Michels will also lay the foundations of the brilliant training centers of Ajax and Barcelona. These 2 clubs will also keep his vision of “Total Football”.

Initially a loyal player for Ajax Amsterdam, he remained at the club for the 13 seasons of his career. During this period, he won 2 national championships, including the first professional in 1957. Rinus Michels would play a total of 264 matches and score 122 goals for his lifelong club. He ended his playing career at the age of 30 due to a back injury.

After 2 stints as a coach in amateur clubs in the city of Amsterdam, he returned to Ajax. In his first full season, he won the championship, after having completely reorganized his team. In total he would win the championship 3 times, as well as the Dutch Cup 3 times as well. Michels would especially succeed in winning the Champions League in 1971 with Ajax.

Rinus Michels then joined FC Barcelona, ​​where he did not have such great success. He still won the Spanish championship in 1974, and laid the foundations for what would become the great Barca of the following decades. Michels also coached the Dutch national team twice, where he notably met Cruyff again. Finalists in the 1974 World Cup, the Netherlands lost to Germany despite being the favourites. The consecration came in 1988 with the victory at the Euro, the first international title for the country.