The best club managers in the world all laid out in some kind of (very specific) order
(Image credit: Future)
Who are the best club managers in the world right now? It's not as easy as simply picking the boss at the top of the league, is it?
When we sought out to pick the premier masterminds and motivators in the sport right now, we considered a few aspects. Trophy haul, naturally, but simply how well they've performed in comparison to the expectations laid out for them. History, record and prestige came into the equation, as did tactical ingenuity. Not all achievements are equal – but all deserve to be considered with nuance.
Narrowing down the half-century of best bosses has been tricky enough – but putting them into some kind of ranked list was even more difficult. Still, we'd love to know what you think – get us @FourFourTwo and tell us your thoughts…
Ranked! The 50 best club managers in the world right now
50. Enzo Maresca
Leicester City are flying under Maresca (Image credit: Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta isn’t the only disciple of Pep Guardiola to flourish since moving away from the Catalan - Maresca is proof of that. Prior to spending last season at Manchester City as Guardiola’s assistant, Maresca spent just 14 games in charge of Parma in 2021. While things didn’t go smoothly for him in his home country, they certainly are in the east midlands.
Storming towards promotion back to the Premier League, Leicester have been imperious as they sweep aside every team - aside from Hull and Leeds - in the Championship. They have made the best start of any Championship side ever under the 43-year-old, with the record points tally firmly in view.
In a league where surprises are fairly routine and underdogs are expected (check out the fallen giants further down the pyramid), Stuttgart are one of the more pleasant shocks of the Bundesliga this season, pushing up the table to keep pace with the big boys. Sebastian Hoeness – nephew of Bayern Munich legend Uli – has taken a fairly un-noteworthy group of players into the top four in Germany, spearheaded by super Serhou Guirassy, who can't stop scoring. Can they do an Union and qualify for the Champions League?
48. Magne Hoseth
Magne Hoseth managing in a Champions League play-off (Image credit: Getty Images)
KÍ Klaksvik became the first Faroese club to qualify for the group stages of a European competition this season when they reached the Europa Conference League under Norwegian boss Hoseth, who has only been in his first managerial job since November 2022.
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They nearly reached the Champions League group stages, though, after beating Ferencvaros and BK Hacken, but Molde managed to scrape through with a 3-2 aggregate win. Still, Hoseth has clearly stumbled upon something great in the Faroe Islands, where Ki are running away with yet another league title.
47. Peter Bosz
PSV manager Peter Bosz (Image credit: Getty Images)
Peter Bosz has been all over Europe now, to mixed acclaim, managing Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and most recently Lyon. While he has a habit of picking difficult gigs (for one reason or another), he's found a stable base at PSV and got them ticking. It will be intriguing to see if they can topple Feyenoord in the absence of Bosz's former employers Ajax, who are languishing in the relegation zone.
46. Christian Streich
Streich has lasted over a decade at Freiburg (Image credit: Getty Images)
Into his 12th season in charge of Freiburg, Streich has, remarkably, only ever managed the German side. Relegation in 2014/15 could've marked the end of his time in charge, but immediately winning 2.Bundesliga highlighted his quality to bounce straight back to the top tier.
Since then, Freiburg have been slowly progressing, finishing sixth and fifth in the last two seasons. Reaching the final of the 2022 DFB-Pokal, which they lost on penalties to RB Leipzig, stands out on the 58-year-old’s CV, too.
45. Will Still
Still is one of the youngest managers in top-level football (Image credit: Getty Images)
We've all seen the memes, the Football Manager jokes, the fact about Stade de Reims having to pay tens of thousands of Euros for employing a manager who doesn't have correct qualifications and the viral clips of Frenglish training sessions – but have you seen how good Will Still actually is?
The Belgian-born boss has set up the Ligue 1 side fantastically with a solid back three, going unbeaten from October until March last term before a late collapse prevented a top-half finish. Reims have started strong again though this time around – and under the guidance of Still, will be looking to punch above their weight once more.
44. Rafa Benitez
Benitez returned to management with Celta Vigo (Image credit: Getty Images)
While a long way from his heady days of lifting the Champions League and FA Cup at Liverpool, Rafa is still going strong - now with Celta Vigo in La Liga. Everton seemed a poison chalice for Benitez as soon as he took charge in 2021, and so it proved, but the Spaniard’s acumen as a manager simply cannot be overlooked.
Sure, Celta are struggling at the moment, but Benitez’s trophy haul at clubs such as Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Napoli proves his ability.
43. Gary O'Neil
O'Neil is the manager of Wolves (Image credit: Getty Images)
Gary O'Neil was infamously sacked after managing to keep Bournemouth in the Premier League – and he's so far proven himself to be an excellent hire at Wolves. The former midfielder showed tactical flexibility last term to squeeze points from a relegation battle, defying the odds to keep the Cherries afloat: now he's doing the same in the Midlands, masterminding victory over Manchester City and proving himself to be an excellent galvaniser of a dressing room.
42. Edin Terzic
Dortmund nearly won the Bundesliga last season with Terzic in charge (Image credit: Getty Images)
Borussia Dortmund so nearly managed to break the Bayern Munich stranglehold on the Bundesliga last term, and Terzic had a huge role to play in their resurgence. While they fell at the last hurdle, the German boss had Dortmund playing some excellent football with a vibrant team.
Losing Jude Bellingham in the summer would have hurt any team, but the 41-year-old has seamlessly transitioned his side into another formidable force. The sky's the limit for this young coach.
41. Thomas Frank
Brentford have established themselves in the Premier League under Frank (Image credit: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
Thomas Frank is the third-longest-serving Premier League manager behind Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola – and in many ways, he's proven himself as more versatile than either.
Adapting his side to become more physical in the Premier League, he has oscillated between his favoured 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 to batter teams at either end of the table. Brentford have become an established name in the top flight who don't even feel in danger of the drop – and they owe so much of that to the Dane.
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Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
