Going from the field to the direction of the bench of his heart club is not always easy, as evidenced by the course of Ole Gunnar Solskjær with the Red Devils. Mancunian legend at the end of the 1990s, the Norwegian technician did not however shine at the head of the Manchester United bench – until his dismissal on Sunday, November 21 after a new rout against Watford (1-4), the day before . Overview of the great European figures who have taken control of their favorite clubs, with varying degrees of success.
Those who succeeded: Guardiola, Zidane and Enrique
Crowned with success as a player between 2001 and 2006 (scorer 46 times in 202 matches and notably winner of the Champions League in 2002), Zinédine Zidane also shone as a coach. He managed to climb the ranks at the club after his retirement from sports, until he took the reins of the first team in January 2016.
The former French international has continued to write history as a coach at the head of Madrid, notably becoming the first coach to win the Champions League three times in a row (from 2016 to 2018). After a prolific first stint in the Madrid house (nine trophies won in two and a half years), the Frenchman moved away from the Merengues before being recalled nine months later, in the spring of 2019, to replace Santiago Solari – with a duller record this time around. Failing to retain the league title at the end of the 2020-2021 season, the Frenchman put an end to his romance with Real.
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Trained in Barcelona, Blaugrana for 10 seasons from 1990 to 2001, Guardiola was the centerpiece of Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team”. With the latter, he won the club’s first European Cup in 1992 and four Spanish league titles between 1991 and 1994 before taking on the captain’s armband from 1997 until his departure from the club in 2001. Real leader in Catalonia, the technician marked his club by his vision of the game and his technical qualities.
Emblem of his club on the lawns, he reconverted as a coach in 2008 and soon made sparks at the head of the Barcelona bench – with, under his orders, Lionel Messi, Xavi or even Iniesta. Double winner of the Champions League (2009 and 2011), triple champion of Spain, between 2009 and 2011, and double winner of the Spanish Cup (2009 and 2012), he became the most successful coach of the history of the Blaugranas, with 14 trophies accumulated in four years. In 2012, the former La Roja international left FC Barcelona to join Bayern Munich.
After four seasons at Real Madrid between 1991 and 1996, it was finally with the sworn enemy of the Merengues, FC Barcelona, that Luis Enrique flourished the most (from 1996 to 2004). A few years after his retirement from sports, at the age of 34, Lucho took over at the helm of the Catalan club. Arriving in May 2014, the former Barça captain helped fill the club’s trophy collection, winning nine titles in three seasons, and became the third best coach in club history, behind Guardiola and Cruyff.
Under the leadership of Luis Enrique, Barça also achieved their best unbeaten streak by winning 39 consecutive games without defeat in 2015 (in all competitions). A record still relevant today. Despite a positive assessment, the technician left the management of the Barcelona bench in spring 2017, while the club was still engaged in three competitions.
Half figs, half grapes: Lampard, Solskjaer and Gattuso
He is one of the best midfielders of his generation, the top scorer in the history of the Blues but also the holder of the worst record of coaches of the era Roman Abramovich (1.67 points per game). Lampard collects superlatives. For his return to the Champions League, Chelsea relied on the experience of his former player, crowned champion in 2012 with the Blues and triple champion of England in 2005, 2006, 2010, to carry his players. But the following season was far from expectations. With a team nine points from the podium, the coach of Blues was sacked in January 2021, barely two years after taking office.
Not renegades, lsupporters of the group We Are The Shed joined together to display a large banner “In Franck we believe. Before. Now. Forever “ on his last game. The epilogue of a chiaroscuro story.
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No one will question the defensive relentlessness of “Ringhio“(” roar “in French) under the Milanese colors. But his rough directives from the coaches’ bench were not enough to hoist his team in the Champions League.In the meadow, Gattuso was already considered a little savage. Between 1992 and 2012, he became San Siro’s darling with his rough playing and long hair that styled a three-day beard. Finalist of the Champions League in 2004, Gattuso was in almost every game.
With some coaching experiences to his credit, Ringhio was called up by his favorite club in 2017. If he tried to instill, in his own way, warlike values in his players, the first season was very average and Milan finished sixth series A. THEhe second year was more convincing but, disillusioned by the fifth place in Rossoneri, Gattuso decided to step down on his own accord.
Emblematic player of the Red Devils from 1996 to 2007, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho at the head of Manchester United in December 2018, with the mission of putting the club back on the path to success. If he partially succeeded in his mission, with a Europa League final and a second place in the league last season, the Dane has not withstood several distressing results this season, despite the recruitments of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho or again Raphaël Varane, who should have allowed United to aim higher.
United. Always.
⚪⚫#MUFC pic.twitter.com/H57iPf0KuZ
– Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 21, 2021
After playing 366 games for the Red Devils, Solskjaer has led 168 games for 54% wins. Michael Carrick, former Manchester United captain, will succeed him on the bench: “I like him a lot, he is great, everything will be fine and I will put up with them”, assured Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, very moved, in a video broadcast by the club.
Those who missed the boat: Henry and Pirlo
If Thierry Henry’s success has been resounding on the pitch with ASM, his career as a coach for the first team will have been nightmarish. Arrived on a rescue mission in 2018 after the dismissal of Leonardo Jardim, the former Habs was dismissed from his duties barely three months after his arrival, as his record was catastrophic: 11 defeats in 20 games for only 2 victories, in all competitions. He left ASM in 19th place in the standings, unable to find a typical team and a precise game plan.
A brilliant midfielder on the meadow with Juve, with whom he brought home four league titles and an Italian Cup, Andrea Pirlo found himself catapulted in 2020 at the head of the team, without any coaching experience.
Thank you for everything, @Pirlo_official!
– JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) May 28, 2021
At the end of a disappointing season, Turin let slip its title of champion of Italy and was eliminated in the round of 16 in the Champions League. Pirlo was therefore dismissed at the end of his first season. A stinging setback for the club legend, noted for the quality of his placements and his assists in Turin between 2011 and 2015. Pirlo still won the Italian Cup in 2021 and the Supercup in 2020 with “the Old Lady”, but the booty was too meager to stay at the head of Bianconeri.