Pep, Klopp or Tuchel? Who is the greatest manager in the world?

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 26 Nov 2021 09:45 GMT
• 4 min read

It is no coincidence that the three teams at the top of the Premier League are Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool – after all, these are the clubs widely considered not only to have the best players in the league, but also the best managers.

Football is entering the age of the super coach, in which the man pulling the strings from the dugout is finally recognised as being every bit as important as those acting out his instructions on the field.

It is an era that was ushered in by Jose Mourinho at Porto, Inter and Real Madrid, and even if his star has waned, others have picked it up.

Pep Guardiola arrived on the scene a few years later than the Portuguese and has been followed by the Germans, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel.

But which, in your opinion is the greatest manager in the world today?

Pep Guardiola’s managerial record

Pep Guardiola’s first major job arrived at Barcelona in 2008. He would become wildly successful at Camp Nou with his brand of tiki-taka football, which ushered in a Golden Age for the Catalans and produced perhaps the greatest club side the game has ever seen.

Having grown fatigued at Barca, he took a year out of the game before moving to Bayern Munich in 2013, where he dominated German football for three years.

Then came the Premier League and Manchester City, where he has broken all kinds of records with the Etihad club, who have become England’s foremost domestic force.

Failure to win the Champions League at Bayern and (so far) with City two points that count against him.

Jurgen Klopp’s managerial record

After a somewhat unremarkable playing career, Jurgen Klopp moved into management in 2001 with Mainz and would remain at the club for seven years.

He graduated to Borussia Dortmund, where his interpretation of Gegenpressing allowed BVB to re-establish themselves as a major force in Germany after years in the wilderness. Indeed, he came within one game of the Champions League title with BVB and beat Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga crown on two occasions.

In 2015, he moved to Liverpool, where he has been similarly successful. Under Klopp, the Reds have won the Champions League and broke their extended duck in England’s top flight as he led them to a first Premier League title.

His achievements have been all the more remarkable given that he has not had the budget the Guardiola has enjoyed.

Thomas Tuchel’s managerial record

Tuchel followed a similar path to Klopp, kicking his managerial career off proper at Mainz and then Dortmund, though after he was sacked by BVB he went to Paris Saint-Germain instead of the Premier League.

While he was successful at PSG, his relationship with senior figures at the club complicated his life, just as it had done at Dortmund. Ultimately, it would cost him his job, despite leading the Parisians to a first Champions League final.

Having been ditched mid-season by PSG, he took over a Chelsea team in crisis the following January and transformed them. He led the Blues to a second Champions League trophy and has them top of the Premier League.