From Ferguson to Gasperini: Seven managers you can't picture anywhere else
In what follows, Flashscore takes a look at some of the best managers this century who you just cannot imagine anywhere else.
Sir Alex Ferguson - Manchester United (1986-2013)
Arguably the greatest manager in Premier League history, Sir Alex Ferguson’s absence at Manchester United is still being felt 11 years after his retirement.
The Scotsman was truly a phenomenon, capturing 13 Premier Leagues, two Champions Leagues, five FA Cups and four League Cups during a prestigious era.
Ferguson practically oversaw everything at the club from top to bottom, and was a master of rejuvenating and reinvigorating his squad when things began getting stale, producing some of the best players and teams the Premier League has ever seen.
Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney are just some of the names that thrived under him, going on to secure their spots in the upper echelons of Premier League history.
The standout moment was surely the 1998/99 campaign when United became the first English team to ever win the Treble, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s late heroics against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.
Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson were the face of the Premier League, and his legacy only grows the longer the Red Devils continue to struggle.
Arsene Wenger - Arsenal (1996-2019)
Arsene Wenger and Arsenal were so intertwined that even their names had similarities!
The Frenchman was responsible for so much greatness and history at the club while becoming one of the most influential managers in Premier League history.
Wenger overhauled the culture at Arsenal, improving fitness standards and implementing an exciting brand of football. He also started signing more overseas players, with a huge number of French stars arriving. Names like Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira instantly come to mind.
During his 22 years, Wenger lifted the FA Cup seven times and the Premier League three times - including the Invincibles season in 2003/04. He also had a fearsome rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson.
He even helped oversee a move from Highbury to The Emirates in 2006, working on a smaller budget but consistently keeping Arsenal within the top four.
Despite a sour end to his tenure, Arsene Wenger is a certified Arsenal legend, confirmed by his immortalisation outside The Emirates with a statue.
Fatih Terim - Galatasaray (1996-2000), (2002-2004), (2011-2013), (2017-2022)
The most influential and important figure in Turkish football history, Fatih Terim goes far beyond the term ‘legend’ in regards to his status at Galatasaray.
Fatih Terim spent 11 years at the club as a player and captain, before four stints as manager, displaying the love affair between the pair. Whenever Galatasaray came knocking for their saviour, he never said no, and success ALWAYS followed.
During his first tenure, ‘imparator’ (meaning emperor in English), won four consecutive Super Lig titles - the only team to do that in Turkish football history. He also won the UEFA Cup in 2000, the first European trophy any Turkish side had ever clinched.
He also won eight Super Lig titles and four Turkish Cups overall, making him the most decorated figure in the country’s history.
His personality and aura were one of a kind, and to this day, he continues to be linked back to Galatasaray despite being 71 years old.
Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool (2015-2024)
Borussia Dortmund fans may have something to say about this, but Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool became one and the same.
Klopp didn’t just represent the football club, he represented the entire city, becoming an icon in Liverpool. His passion, emotion and vibrant personality were a reflection of the fans - it was the perfect match.
During his tenure, Klopp helped Liverpool win the league for the first time in 30 years, instantly confirming himself as their best manager in Premier League history. In addition, he won the Champions League, the FA Cup and two League Cups.
Liverpool's incredible comeback from a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Barcelona will live long in the memory - one of the greatest matches in Champions League history.
If it wasn’t for Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City juggernaut, he would undoubtedly have won at least another league title, demonstrated by the fact Liverpool finished second in the 2018/19 season with 97 points.
The German was pure box office and guaranteed entertainment on the touchline every week. Football will be a poorer place without him... until his return.
Christian Streich - Freiburg (2011 - 2024)
An extraordinary marriage, Christian Streich spent a year with Freiburg as a player, but they have been all he has known in his managerial career.
Streich went from managing the Freiburg U19s from 1995 to 2011, before eventually picking up the managerial mantle for the next 13 years.
He was responsible for seeing Freiburg through their most successful era, turning them into a Bundesliga mainstay, as well as seeing them to two fifth-place finishes and their highest-ever points tally (59).
They were also a penalty shootout away from winning their first-ever DFB-Pokal trophy against Leipzig in 2022, and despite suffering relegation in 2015, he saw them promoted the following season after winning 2. Bundesliga - ahead of Leipzig.
His achievements at Freiburg are forever etched in history, and his legacy will never be forgotten.
Diego Simeone - Atletico Madrid (2011 - ongoing)
As well as spending half a decade with the club as a player, perhaps no team on this list has morphed into the personality of the manager as much as Atletico Madrid have with Diego Simeone at the helm.
Simeone is a wildly passionate, unabating and intense character, who is certainly never afraid of wearing his heart on his sleeve. As a result, Atletico became a fiery and relentless unit on the pitch, with the Wanda Metropolitano becoming one of the most feared stadiums to go to due to the hostile atmosphere and aggression of the players on the pitch.
During an era of dominance by Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga, Simeone rocked up into town and won two titles seven years apart (2013/14 and 2020/21), two Europa Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, a Copa del Rey, as well as reaching two Champions League finals and missing out by the finest of margins.
The longest-serving current manager in European football, it is hard to picture Simeone without Atletico, and Atletico without Simeone. It is a club perfectly moulded in his image.
Gian Piero Gasperini - Atalanta (2016 - ongoing)
Gian Piero Gasperini is a truly beloved coach at Atalanta, who transformed the Italian outfit into one of the finest attacking teams in Europe.
Before he arrived at the club, they were a certified mid-table team, while also being relegated four times in the 21st century.
However, Gasperini turned their fortunes around. Since his appointment, they have never finished lower than eighth, and have secured European football on a regular basis.
In 2020, they reached the Champions League quarter-final, but their best moment came last season when they beat Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League. It was their first-ever European crown and their first trophy since 1963.
A fine manager who perhaps doesn't get the credit he deserves, he has fully earned his icon status at the Northern Italian club.
