Jurgen Klopp has been named the best manager in the world by ESPN FC, topping their list ahead of the likes of Pep Guardiola and Hansi Flick – the latter of whom won a treble with Bayern Munich last season.
The Liverpool boss is undoubtedly one of the best bosses the Premier League has ever seen and his inclusion should be no surprise, but there were two shock picks further down the pecking order.
Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa and Everton’s Carlo Ancelotti somehow cracked the top ten – while they’re top-class managers, they’ve just one major honour between them since 2017.
Honestly, the top ten makes for some head-scratching – here it is in full:
- Jurgen Klopp
- Hansi Flick
- Pep Guardiola
- Gian Piero Gasperini
- Julian Nagelsmann
- Marcelo Bielsa
- Diego Simeone
- Julen Lopetegui
- Zinedine Zidane
- Carlo Ancelotti
MORE: Jurgen Klopp names Premier League title favourites – it’s not Liverpool, City or Spurs
We at Empire of the Kop are obviously Liverpool fans, but we try our best to take a step back and remove the rose-tinted glasses, and while we think Klopp is the best in the business, it’s bizarre Flick hasn’t topped the pile.
Bielsa and Ancelotti’s inclusions suggest ESPN’s list has little to do with current form, and must be based on a more general basis, which also explains why Guardiola ranks so highly.
It’s great to see Gian Piero Gasperini get the recognition he deserves – what he’s done with Atalanta over in Italy is nothing short of a miracle – which we got to see first-hand at Anfield last month, but again makes you question how this top ten was conceived.
Definitely yes! Klopp was UCL 2nd in 2018 came back in 2019 to show kari us errors costs Liverpool and everyone saw it when he reclaimed it. Thatsame yr (2019) we shouldn’t 4get “he lost the EPL to consoled himself with D ucl. Which he has to come back following yr again amending his ways after some transfer marketings two prestigious trophies in two yrs, i mean its incredible.
Ancelotti? Now that’s raised an eyebrow or two!