dor02
19 Nov 2007, 08:12 AM
There aren't too many threads about coaches/managers, yet alone ones about them getting praise. Instead of posting who were the best, here's a thread about coaches who you like so you can show some bias. If your knowledge is limited to just the last 10 years, please do the research.
Here's my Top 10:
1. Vittorio Pozzo - one of the most succesful managers ever. He played a huge part in making Italy a power in World Football. He's the only manager to have won two World Cups. He was a great motivator and psychologist, not just a great tactician. Pozzo would even get players from rival teams to stay in the same hotel room so even if two players hated each other, he'd put them together. He didn't muck around.
2. Marcello Lippi - he has done great stuff for Juve and Italy. He won everything with Juve, helped Italy to win their first World cup in 24 years and his teams don't usually play stereotypical calcio
3. Enzo Bearzot - he helped to break what was at the time, the biggest World Cup winning drought when Italy won the 1982 World Cup. At a time when most Italian teams played catenaccio, he forced the NT to attack. At Argentina 78, the Azzurri were one of the best teams in the early rounds and in Spain 82, the team just went up several gears after the first round. You have to admire a man who broke a trend for the better of his team
4. Bobby Robson - I'm not a big fan of the English and the way they play but Robson's England is the best English side post-Ramsey. When the image of English Football was poor around 1990, he played guys like Platt, Gazza and Waddle in the English NT and the English had an impressive campaign
5. Valeri Lobanovsky - the greatest manager from the former USSR. He turned Dynamo Kiev into a power in Europe and he brought in such Ukrainian stars such as Blokhin, Belanov and Shevchenko. His style was very unique when I first saw it. It was fast but there were short and long passes, mostly on the ground and very hard. His teams scored plenty goals from long range. It was a mix of Dutch and English Football with a touch of the Soviet scientific approach.
6. Vujadin Boskov - coached Sampdoria to many successes in the 80s and 90s. Sure, Vialli and Mancini were the stars during his time but he did well to compliment the other nine players with i gemelli del gol
7. Anghel Iordanescu - without him, most Romanian sides have done crap! After Emerich Jenei's 1990 team rached the second round, Iordanescu took Romania to the USA 94 quarter-finals. Hagi was in career-best form and when Raducioiu was out of the match against Argentina, he still persisted in Ilie Dumitrescu and he played the game of his life. Romania under Iordanescu played rapid, counter-attacking football and it's doubtful that any other Romanian coach can improve or motivate his players like he does.
8. Guy Thys - there are some people that would rate Raymond Goethals at the best Belgian coach ever but on the basis of his WC record, I prefer Thys. He played an important part in the greatest era of Belgian football, especially when Belgium reached the semi-finals in Mexico 86.
9. Cesar Luis Menotti - I don't agree with his philosophy in which "attacking football is left-wing football" but I do argee with belief that players should be free to express themselves. Argentina around 1978 was known for producing cynical teams for the previous 15-20 years. There's always some controversy about Argentina's win against Peru but Menotti's men played well throughout the tornament and they played with more flair than what most people had seen from an Argentine side in a long time.
10. Helmut Schoen - the manager of West German from 1963-78, he had great track record and in nearly every match, he would always make the right substitutions. Schoen's West Germany played some of the best football his nation has ever produced and managed to play the greatest German players in the one team. Too bad his Italian counterpart, Valcareggi, couldn't take a page out his book. At the same time, what Schoen did with Seeler and Muller at Mexico 70, was a Pozzo-esque thing.
Here's my Top 10:
1. Vittorio Pozzo - one of the most succesful managers ever. He played a huge part in making Italy a power in World Football. He's the only manager to have won two World Cups. He was a great motivator and psychologist, not just a great tactician. Pozzo would even get players from rival teams to stay in the same hotel room so even if two players hated each other, he'd put them together. He didn't muck around.
2. Marcello Lippi - he has done great stuff for Juve and Italy. He won everything with Juve, helped Italy to win their first World cup in 24 years and his teams don't usually play stereotypical calcio
3. Enzo Bearzot - he helped to break what was at the time, the biggest World Cup winning drought when Italy won the 1982 World Cup. At a time when most Italian teams played catenaccio, he forced the NT to attack. At Argentina 78, the Azzurri were one of the best teams in the early rounds and in Spain 82, the team just went up several gears after the first round. You have to admire a man who broke a trend for the better of his team
4. Bobby Robson - I'm not a big fan of the English and the way they play but Robson's England is the best English side post-Ramsey. When the image of English Football was poor around 1990, he played guys like Platt, Gazza and Waddle in the English NT and the English had an impressive campaign
5. Valeri Lobanovsky - the greatest manager from the former USSR. He turned Dynamo Kiev into a power in Europe and he brought in such Ukrainian stars such as Blokhin, Belanov and Shevchenko. His style was very unique when I first saw it. It was fast but there were short and long passes, mostly on the ground and very hard. His teams scored plenty goals from long range. It was a mix of Dutch and English Football with a touch of the Soviet scientific approach.
6. Vujadin Boskov - coached Sampdoria to many successes in the 80s and 90s. Sure, Vialli and Mancini were the stars during his time but he did well to compliment the other nine players with i gemelli del gol
7. Anghel Iordanescu - without him, most Romanian sides have done crap! After Emerich Jenei's 1990 team rached the second round, Iordanescu took Romania to the USA 94 quarter-finals. Hagi was in career-best form and when Raducioiu was out of the match against Argentina, he still persisted in Ilie Dumitrescu and he played the game of his life. Romania under Iordanescu played rapid, counter-attacking football and it's doubtful that any other Romanian coach can improve or motivate his players like he does.
8. Guy Thys - there are some people that would rate Raymond Goethals at the best Belgian coach ever but on the basis of his WC record, I prefer Thys. He played an important part in the greatest era of Belgian football, especially when Belgium reached the semi-finals in Mexico 86.
9. Cesar Luis Menotti - I don't agree with his philosophy in which "attacking football is left-wing football" but I do argee with belief that players should be free to express themselves. Argentina around 1978 was known for producing cynical teams for the previous 15-20 years. There's always some controversy about Argentina's win against Peru but Menotti's men played well throughout the tornament and they played with more flair than what most people had seen from an Argentine side in a long time.
10. Helmut Schoen - the manager of West German from 1963-78, he had great track record and in nearly every match, he would always make the right substitutions. Schoen's West Germany played some of the best football his nation has ever produced and managed to play the greatest German players in the one team. Too bad his Italian counterpart, Valcareggi, couldn't take a page out his book. At the same time, what Schoen did with Seeler and Muller at Mexico 70, was a Pozzo-esque thing.