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Rinus Michels best coach ever

September 16th, 2007 | By: Jan | 10 Comments »

Rinus Michels won another price. The late great Dutch coach is pronounced the Best Coach of the World (post WW2) by The Times.

No discussion, according to Chief Sports Matt Dickinson.

Dickinson consulted with many colleagues and insiders to draw up a top 50 of coaches. “It was very hard to determine criteria to decide whether Clough, Ferguson or Zagallo was the better. But picking the best coach ever wasn’t hard at all.”

These are the words The Times used:

The Dutchman, who died in 2005, was proclaimed the Coach of the Century by the FIFA in 1999. This time, the Federation got it right for once. He is the inventor of Total Football and with Ajax Michels won the Europa Cup 1, with Barcelona the Spanish title and with the Dutch team the EC 1988.
He should have won the WC 1974.”

Michels isn’t the only Dutch coach on the list. Johan Cruyff (15), Guus Hiddink (29) and Louis van Gaal (36) also made it among the world elite.
The Times again: “It’s a shame Johan Cruyff stopped as a coach. Hiddink is one of the best of the current generation, with a love for the underdog, like Australia and South Korea. And Van Gaal’s strongest weapon is his stubborness. He believes in himself even more than Brian Clough.”

This is the Top 50’s top:

1. Rinus Michels (Ned)
2. Sir Matt Busby (Eng)
3. Ernst Happel (Oos)
4. Sir Alex Ferguson (Scho)
5. Bill Shankly (Eng)
6. Bob Paisley (Eng)
7. Brian Clough (Eng)
8. Bela Guttman (Hon)
9. Miguel Muñoz (Spa)
10. Arsène Wenger (Fra)
11. Arrigo Sacchi (Ita)
12. Jock Stein (Scho)
13. Helenio Herrera (Arg)
14. Mario Zagallo (Bra)
15. Johan Cruijff (Ned)
16. José Mourinho (Por)
17. Marcello Lippi (Ita)
18. Luiz Felipe Scolari (Bra)
19. Vicente del Bosque (Spa)
20. Franz Beckenbauer (Dui)
29. Guus Hiddink (Ned)
36. Louis van Gaal (Ned)

Marco van Basten just didn’t make it into the Top 50….

Tags: Guus Hiddink, Johan Cruyff, Rinus Michels, The Netherlands

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Comments

By ferenc | September 17th, 2007 at 2:55 am

typically english - i read the article friday and was really surprised by the fact that there were at least 25 british coaches in the 50. for me the best coaches are they who made a tactical revolution which hugely influenced the history of football. like michels,herrera.

my top 20:

1. michels
2. helmut schon
3. sacchi
4. herrera
5. menotti
6. zagallo
7. cruijff
8. beckenbauer
9. sebes (the coach of zhe hungarian national team in the 50s)
10. lobanovskij
11. paisley
12. michel hidalgo
13. happel
14. lippi
15. brian clough
16. hugo meisl (austrian wundermanschaft in the 1930s)
17. scolari
18. hiddink
19. bearzot
20. capello

Posted from Hungary

By Jan | September 17th, 2007 at 5:28 am

Wow Ferenc, impressive… You’re like an encyclopedia. Man, Schon?? Why? He was the Borussia Monchengladbach coach right? And did he coach Real Madrid once? Or Barca? I’d have Happel in the top 5 myself and Lobanovski belongs in the top 10 indeed. Well done!

I agree with Sacchi. But where’s Wenger?

And, most Ajax players said the coach who succeeded Michels - can’t remember his name - was much better. He won 2 Europa Cups wirh Ajax. Man, what’s his name again….??

Posted from Australia

By ferenc | September 17th, 2007 at 7:30 am

Jan: he was an jungarian born roumanian,called Stefan Kovacs.

about Helmuth Schon: he was the coach of the german national team between 1964 (?) and 1974 - wc 66: second place, wc70: third place - ec72: european champion, wc74: world champion (unfortunately). he did quite well,i guess.

Posted from Hungary

By Caleb | September 17th, 2007 at 8:12 am

18. Luiz Felipe Scolari (Bra)

Man, I hate that guy with a passion. He may be a good coach, but for me he embodies everything that is bad, dirty, and cheap in the game today. I mean, the Portuguese team already had a bad enough reputation before, but when he took over they went to a new level of being dirty (just look at the Holland vs. Portuguese game).

And then just recently, trying to punch a player.. what a fucking asshole!

Posted from Japan

By ferenc | September 17th, 2007 at 9:24 am

Caleb: he might be an asshole but he’s a brilliant coach. i’m not sympathize with him,but if we make this kind of list it’s better to be as objecrive as we can. don’t forget that he was the coach of brasil 2002 too with rivaldo,ronaldo and the very young ronaldinho. they didn’t play dirty football. or let’s see for ex. i hate catenaccio but helenio herrera,the inventor of the system was a genious. or do you think i like helmut schon who managed the german team in 74 (against holland for ex.)? not really. do you like capello’s style? noone like his gests,etc. but he’s a great master. beeing and considered to be a great coach doesn’t mean that the guys are nice,sympathetic,etc. otherways frank rijkaard would be the number one.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | September 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am

impressive list ferenc:

agreed with Caleb; scolari is an asshole but ferenc is also right, hes a very good coach (did he actually touch that player btw, looked like a miss to me)

ferenc; whos Paisly??

its always so difficult to rade these managers.. are they as important as the players, more, less

nice list ferenc, well done!!

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By ferenc | September 17th, 2007 at 11:34 am

goose: paisley was the coach of the great liverpool of the late seventies and early eighties.

Posted from Hungary

By Bob | September 17th, 2007 at 11:58 am

Lists of the “best” of anything drive me crazy! The word means that someone is better, more talented, more gifted, more competent, whatever, THAN ANYONE ELSE HAS EVER BEEN! Any attempt at such a category is pure rubbish! What is the criteria for the listing? What is the data to support the listing? Who determined the listing, and why? Was Pele the greatest, or Cruyff or diStefano or George Best or…? Each, in their own time and moment, may have been for that time and moment better than others were–but on an absolute scale, to make a declaration that some one person was the best football player or coach is simply a waste of time.

What is a better way of describing these people, in my opinion, is to say that they were among an elite group of coaches/players who were, for their time in history, among the most talented that played/coached the sport. Who cares if someone ranks Michels as the best coach ever? What does that mean? Why do we think that the ranking is important? Better to say that Rinus Michels was one of the most gifted and talented coaches for his time, and that he compares with the most talented coaches of all time!

Posted from United States

By Jan | September 17th, 2007 at 6:13 pm

Bob: you’re right. It’s like the Oscars too. It doesn’t work like that.

Ferenc: Kovacs! That was it. He is regarded very highly still within Ajax.

Posted from Australia

By Caleb | September 18th, 2007 at 9:57 am

ferenc - Notice I said “He may be a good coach, but…” I never denied he is a good coach, I just hate his guts.

goose - does it really matter if he actually hit the player? It does look like a miss, but that just means he punches like a little girl (he really does, watch the video). The intent was there. I hope he gets a lengthy ban.

Posted from Japan

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