The balance of power in football management has shifted in a forceful fashion. The best coaches in the world have shattered old records and recreated public perception of what is possible in football. Once again the world has been forced to recognize the fact that the first thing that is needed in order to win laurels in football is a top tactical brain sitting on your bench.

We have had plenty of football action to watch within the past 12 months. Analysts have been forced to pay attention to the question of what works best: an all-attacking system, or one that is more balanced with equal attention to both attack and defense.

Winning a competition with a defensive formation shows composure, balance, and tactical superiority. These are traits that only top managers can produce.

Top 10 Best Football Coaches in the World

 Rank No.   Coach Name   Present Club
 1. Carlo Ancelotti  Real Madrid
 2.  Jurgen Klopp  Liverpool
 3. Josep Guardiola  Manchester City
 4. José Mourinho  AS Roma
 5. Diego Simeone  Atletico Madrid
 6. Antonio Conte  Tottenham
 7.  Thomas Tuchel  Chelsea
 8.  Zinedine Zidane  –
 9. Unai Emery  Villareal
 10. Mircea Lucescu Dynamo Kiev

Read a more detailed analysis below.

Top Best Coaches in the World

1. Carlo Ancelotti

Nationality: Italy

Carlo Ancelotti is at the center of the power shift described in the introduction; he has reclaimed his position as the most capable manager in the world with a La Liga and Champions League double.

Retrospectively, Ancelotti has always been a very respected coach, but having so recently been down the pecking order as manager of Everton FC, and now achieving great things with the biggest club in the world, he has once again become the center of the world’s attention.

Carlo Ancelotti has previously won the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007. Then again he won it in 2014 with Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti has since taken him all around the world he has Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti has won all the top 5 leagues in Europe.

He has again won the Champions League with Real Madrid, but it was the fashion in which he did it that speaks volumes of his game.

Carlo Ancelotti played defensively for the most part of the tournament; he was thoroughly outgunned by Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool, but managed to produce a victory with his modest side, with modestly talented players.

2. Jürgen Klopp

Nationality: Germany

Jurgen Klopp is arguably the best football manager in the world when you take into account his current form; almost winning the English Premier League and Champions League in the same season, and yet clinching two trophies so as to have a decent trophy parade.

However, Jürgen Klopp does have a bit of history to be proud of; it was at Borussia Dortmund that he made his name; he won league titles with the club in 2011 and 2012, and the German Cup in 2012. With such performances, Bayern Munich lost its iron grip on the Bundesliga, and the German League ceased to be a one-horse race.

After taking over at Liverpool, Klopp rebuilt the team; and turned it into a powerful counter-attacking machine. Since then he taken the club to the Champions League final on 3 occasions; winning one, and he has also won the English Premier League as well as the UEFA Super Cup, World Club Cup.

3. Pep Guardiola

Nationality: Spanish

Josep Guardiola started out as Barcelona’s B team manager in 2007. On becoming the first team coach in 2008, he went on to make bold changes that brought great results. He won the league title 3 times, as well as the Champions League 2 times, the Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup 2 times.

From there he went to Bayern Munich in 2013. He won the domestic double in his first season and repeated the feat again in 2016. Nevertheless, his time at Bayern was considered largely uneventful.

Guardiola then made the move to financial giants Manchester City; and almost immediately, he gained an upper hand. He has won the Premier League Trophy 4 times and has also won every other domestic accolade several times.

With Manchester City, he has made it to the final of the Champions League, and he has also transformed the club to a well-oiled machine that completely dominates possession, and that wins most of its games with emphatic goal margins.

4. José Mourinho

Nationality: Portugal

José Mourinho is once again in the limelight; he has won the UEFA Conference League with Roma; thereby breaking two records at the same time. Now he has won every trophy winnable in his career and has also taken every club he has coached to a final. He has won a trophy with every club he has coached; save Tottenham Hotspurs who sacked him before he was able to achieve the feat.

After serving as an assistant to Loius Van Gaal, he started out as the coach of Benfica in his native Portugal. However, it was after winning the Champions League in 2004 with Porto that he rose to the limelight.

Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers in the history of the Champions League; having won it with Porto, Inter Milan, and also with Real Madrid. However, it was his Premier League victories with Chelsea FC that proved his abilities, and earned him the title of the ‘Special One.’

5. Diego Simeone

Nationality: Argentine

Diego Simeone has stamped his authority on the world’s game as one of the toughest managers in football globally. He is something like an army general; he is quite brutal at times, and sometimes approaches football games like war engagements.

Nevertheless, he has transformed Atletico Madrid into the third force in Spanish football; and has also made the club a constant contender in the European game.

He already won two league titles in his native Argentina before arrival in Spain. Since then he has won the La Liga title 2 times; in 2013-14, and 2020-21. He has also won the UEFA Europa League in 2011-12, and 2017-18. He has also bagged UEFA Super Cup 2 times, as well as reached the final of the Champions League in 2013-14, and 2015-16.

Wherever top football managers are mentioned Diego Simeone will have to be called; otherwise, that would be a very inconclusive list. He is one of those who play ‘negative football’ but who does it so well that he must be appreciated for his work.

6. Antonio Conte

Nationality: Italian

Antonio Conte is a specialist. That means he already has a pattern of play which he uses, and so even before he moves to a team you already know what to expect from him, and how the team is going to play. However, he is versatile in that he neatly interchanges from coaching clubs to coaching national sides without any problems whatsoever.

Antonio Conte is now at Tottenham Hotspurs; and he has once again made the club a serious contender for every available laurel. He has succeeded by getting the best out of the existing players, as well as bringing in key additions to the team.

Tottenham is already a very difficult side to play against; the team is full of players that see themselves as winners and that always aim to for glory.

Antonio Conte has several titles under his belt; he won the Italian League 3 times with Juventus, and he won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2016-17. With Inter Milan he won the Italian League again in 2020-2021.

7. Thomas Tuchel

Nationality: German

Thomas Tuchel is the coach of English side Chelsea, and he has just won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He is a very technically sound coach, and he has proven himself over time as the man to call on when you have ambition.

Nevertheless, it has not been an easy time in Chelsea; he has had to hold the team together under a lot of pressure during the time of the club’s sale.

Before taking over at Chelsea, he was at Borussia Dortmund where he won the DFB-Pokal: 2016–17; runner-up: 2015–16. From there he went to Paris Saint Germain where he won the Ligue 1 title in 2018–19, and 2019–20. He also won several other domestic accolades and got to the Champions League final 2019-20.

Landing at Chelsea he immediately won the UEFA Champions League: 2020–21. He subsequently won the other international trophies cited above.

8. Zinedine Zidane

Nationality: French

Zinedine Zidane is still one of the top managers in the world at the moment; he may not have had a lot of experience with many clubs in football, but he has certainly proved himself beyond reasonable doubt as one of the most astute football managers in the world at the moment.

Zinedine Zidane won the La Liga title with Real Madrid in 2016–17, 2019–20. He then won the Champions League trophy a record 3 consecutive times; 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18.

Zinedine Zidane has won several personal accolades and has won national accolades. He has won the Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998, National Order of Merit: 2006, and then the Officer of the Legion of Honour: 2008.

9. Unai Emery

Nationality: Spanish

Unai Emery has taken Villareal to the Champions League Semi-final for the first time in their history. He attained this feat by beating European giants like Juventus and Bayern Munich, only losing out to eventual runners up Liverpool.

As a manager, he attained popularity by taking Sevilla to 3 Europa League titles which launched him into the managerial spotlight, and then Paris Saint Germain came calling. He won the Ligue 1 trophy, as well as several other domestic trophies before an ill-fated move to Arsenal.

Unai Emery has again proved himself as a top manager by winning the Europa League with Villareal, and he is once again.

10. Mircea Lucescu

Nationality: Romania

Mircea Lucescu has gained reputation as one of the top managers in the world. He is the manager of Dynamo Kiev, and has also won several accolades proving his mettle, and his ability as a manager.

He is a Romanian national and has coached other clubs such as Corvinul Hunedoara, Rapid București, and Dinamo București where he won several accolades. From there he went on to Turkey where he coached Galatasaray, and Beşiktaş, where he won the Süper Lig with both teams, and then other domestic accolades.

He then moved to Shakhtar Donetsk where he won the Ukrainian league title 8 times, and also won the UEFA Cup, and then several other domestic accolades.

He has received several individual honors, as well as the Order of Merit (Ukraine) III degree (2006), Order of the Star of Romania (2009), Order of Merit (Ukraine) II degree (2009), Order of Merit (Ukraine) I degree (2011), Honorary Citizen of Donetsk.

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Final

The best football coaches in the world are largely adjudged to concentrate in Europe where the game is at its height at the moment. While most of them are currently engaged in Western Europe, an exceptional figure in the person of Mircea Lucescu has proven that there are football talents outside the conventional zone where most people tend to beam their spotlight.