There are also old friends.
“Old age doesn’t mean wisdom, sometimes old age comes by itself.” Everyone knows this expression, which is often expressed in different interpretations. It seems that in coaching such doubts about the usefulness of experience do not apply. And most often already experienced and experienced specialists are heard who have achieved this state for a long time. With various exceptions. But the authoritative portal FourFourTwo decided to rank the best coaches among those who have not yet turned 40. Some names may seem dubious, while others are familiar and appropriate. Let’s take a look at the list.
7. Wayne Rooney (37, Washington DC United)
It appears that Rooney still has no merit that allows him to be placed here. But at 37, in which some players continue to play dust and a leading role, the former Manchester United and England star has a pretty good resume. When Rooney took over at Derby County, no miracles were expected of Rooney, based only on his name and outside interest in the club. But Wayne managed to save the team from relegation in the 2020/21 season and showed good management skills.
The following season he was “liquidated” on a higher difficulty level, because the club was bankrupt and had huge financial problems. As a result, 21 points were taken from Derby, the team flew out of the championship. But he fell behind the save post by just seven points. That is, if not for this “minus”, “Derby” would have finished 17th. With those financial issues, this is quite a feat. I had to rely only on the “sideline” players and their own pupils.
Now Rooney feels much more comfortable United States of Americawhere I already had the opportunity to coach a star team mls. And rumor has it he won’t be far off when he starts to take the English Premier League by storm, being better prepared than his teammates Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
6. Will Still (30, Reims)
The compilers of the rankings only placed him in sixth place, but one gets the feeling that the Belgian should be much higher. When the modest Reims hosted last October PSG, then-team head coach Oscar Garcia was away for family reasons. And the leadership of the team was entrusted to a 29-year-old self-taught assistant.
Finally, Reims held the Parisians back and ended the game 0-0. And five days later, Garcia was fired, and his place was taken by Still, who first temporarily took the job, but then received a full contract, because Reims with Still built up a crazy unbeaten streak in Ligue 1 It lasted right from that match in October until the last round, before the match against Marseille.
At the same time, Reims still pays a fine of 25,000 euros for each game in which Still manages them, as he does not have the necessary license. Add to this that the Belgian really has no gaming experience and is only 30 years old. He trained as a football coach.
5. Matthias Jaissle (34, Red Bull Salzburg)
The German spent his entire playing career at Hoffenheim before joining Brøndby as assistant coach in 2017. After two years in Denmark, Jaissle moved to Salzburg as junior team coach. He really wanted to try his hand at independent work, so he went to second division club Liefering in January 2021. But in Salzburg they remembered the talented coach and soon offered him the post of boss.
At the European level, Jaissle does not yet have a name, but it is worth a closer look, because a specialist can go far. And in 2022 she won the Austrian championship and the cup.
4. Vincent Kompany (36, Burnley)
When Kompany left Manchester City in 2019, Anderlecht hired him as player-manager. But the club then experienced their worst league start in 20 years. Kompany soon had to step down as manager and focus on his role as a footballer. And when Vincent hung up his boots at the end of the season, he was reinstated as mentor. And the second attempt was much more successful.
In the Belgian championship, he took fourth and third place, reached the Cup final, where Anderlecht lost to Gent. Leaving the Belgian league, Kompany joined Burnley, who had just been relegated Premier League. And he immediately inspired the team. He has been named Championship Manager of the Month four times and with him Burnley are looking for a championship to get back into the elite.
3. Domenico Tedesco (37 years old, Belgian international)
Didn’t you expect to see your old friend from Spartak so high? Tedesco is still between three and forty years old, but he has had an excellent coaching school, passing various stages of the Stuttgart youth team. He got his first independent experience in 2017 in the 2nd Bundesliga with the Erzgebirge. Then there was a season and a half at Schalke.
Then Tedesco had a spell at Spartak and, after leaving Russia, worked at Leipzig. He managed to win the German Cup in 2022, as well as to succeed Roberto Martinez at the helm of the Belgian national team, no longer listed as a few years ago, but still among the elite national teams.
2. Ruben Amorim (38 years old, sportsman)
Lisbon are taking the Europa League by storm this season, but if they win, this won’t be young manager Amorim’s first title. Ruben ended his playing career in 2017 and immediately went to coaching in the third division. And in September 2019 he was signed by the Braga reserve. Three months later, when he sacked Ricardo Sa Pinta, Amorim was promoted to head coach. And it started.
Braga managed to take the League Cup with them, beating Porto in the final. They also won Benfica away for the first time in 65 years, also a historic event for the club. Of course, Sporting soon realized that they were a promising coach and the invitation was not long in coming. And he didn’t keep the Lions waiting and carried the title with them in his first full season. Sporting had not won the league for 19 years at that point. In addition, Amorim then set a record – 32 matches in a season without defeat.
1. Julian Nagelsmann (35, Bayern)
If someone has failed to name the owners of other places, someone doubts the positions, then there should be a consensus about Nagelsmann. His name immediately comes to mind when talking about a talented young coach. He was under 30 when he helped Hoffenheim qualify for the Champions League. In January 2019, Nagelsmann became the youngest manager to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances.
Leipzig killed Nagelsmann at the age of 32. He immediately helped the team reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. For the first time in the history of the club. After two impressive seasons with Julian at Leipzig, Bayern approached him with an offer he couldn’t refuse.
In his first season at Bayern, Nagelsmann won the championship. Of course, many will say that there is nothing complicated in this, but one cannot think that Julian got everything for nothing, and he did nothing for it. His tactical decisions are often impressive. Although the coach himself is inclined to downplay his merits in various interviews. However, this season his team is one of the favorites of the Champions League.
