5 Up-and-Coming Heirs to Mourinho, Ferguson and Wenger in the Coaching World
Who does world football have to offer when Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson retire? Who steps up to the plate and who rivals Jose Mourinho for the title of best manager in the world?
Bleacher Report takes a look at five candidates to step up and go from young, promising coaches to masterful tacticians.
Read on for more details.
Juergen Klopp
1 of 6We start with the strongest candidate, and it's clear for everyone to see that Juergen Klopp has phenomenal managerial charisma.
He seems to have mastered the boundaries of manager-player relationships, simultaneously becoming your best bud and the one you never cross.
He game-plans well and shakes his side up when necessary. He was even willing to try a 3-5-2 formation, and although it failed, it was nice to see some tactical flexibility.
You get the sense he's very proud of his players while remaining gracious to all others.
Antonio Conte
2 of 6Antonio Conte is another one of those superb modern managers—he works hard, studies film, tweaks, tries and prospers.
The Italian guided Juventus to their first Scudetto in nine years last season and that's down to clever recruitment, good touchline coaching and tactical superiority.
The 3-5-2 formation he's using at the Bianconeri right now is destroying all in its path, securing a result at the Donbass Arena and leading them seven points clear at the top of the Serie A table.
Conte hasn't been afraid to try different things—who would've thought Kwadwo Asamoah would make a quality left-wing-back?
Roberto Mancini
3 of 6Roberto Mancini has shown huge intelligence throughout his reign at Manchester City so far, and it's tough to believe he's only 48 years of age—he's been around for a long, long time.
He's dealt with immense pressure right from the word go, and if the British press are to be believed, dodged numerous potential sackings.
He also makes bold decisions on the field and isn't afraid to chop and change. While the experiment with the 3-5-2 formation hasn't worked out so well, Mancini knows he's still got a couple of trump cards up his sleeve at all times.
Diego Simeone
4 of 6Diego Simeone is truly Marcelo Bielsa's disciple, and it was odd to see the disciple prevail when Atletico Madrid crushed Athletic Bilbao in last season's UEFA Europa League final.
The Argentine coach has followed that up with a splendid start to the season, occupying second place in La Liga table after pulling four points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Simeone is yet another example of a modern manager, taking advantage of modern tools and thinking to get results.
Vincenzo Montella
5 of 6If there's an award going for coaching revelation of the year, Vincenzo Montella deserves it.
Tasked with transforming a lazy, unmotivated Fiorentina squad into contenders, the young Italian tactician hasn't put a foot wrong so far.
He turfed out old relics such as Juan Manuel Vargas and brought in younger, hungrier players such as Juan Cuadrado. His formation, the 3-5-2, has allowed his new crop to express themselves while retaining a core defensive shape.
Also of Note...
6 of 6Paul Lambert
The former Norwich manager sees an opportunity and takes it. He'll do well at Aston Villa, but when it comes to it, he'll skip to the next high-profile job.
Lambert is tactically excellent, understands the modern game and shows the same disciplinary excellence that Sir Alex Ferguson does. It must be a Scottish thing.
Andre Villas-Boas
He's put his Chelsea nightmare behind him and learned an incredibly valuable lesson—don't be so stubborn, Andre!
His time at Tottenham has been really promising so far and his tactical flexibility is a new, refreshing characteristic in a reformed man.
Tito Vilanova
My best wishes to you, Tito, in your health battle. You made subtle, yet brilliant changes to an already superb Barcelona side and, to quote a colleague, were onto something special.
