FIVE managers more ‘sophisticated’ than Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce. Big, brutal and no nonsense.
So when he came out with the comments that he is ‘the most sophisticated manager in the Premier League’, along with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, many jaws dropped.
It’s safe to say that looking at the current crop Premier League managers, there are a lot more sophisticated than Allardyce.
With Wenger topping the tree of the most sophisticated, here are another FIVE that beat Big Sam hands down.
Click on the man himself to reveal
Ronald Koeman
In his playing career, he donned the shirts of the likes of Barcelona, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.
To say that you have played for these kind of teams is something special. His managerial career isn’t too shabby, either. As well as being involved in the management, as a coach and assistant of all of his former clubs he played for, Koeman has also gone onto manage Portuguese giants Benfica, Spanish outfit Valencia and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Now the 51-year-old is working wonders with high flying Southampton, where the Saints are on course to book a place in next season’s Champions League. In all of his footballing life, Koeman has always known to play attractive, fast paced, counter attacking football, and it’s certainly working at St. Mary’s.
On the touchline, he is as cool as a cucumber, and personified in any post or pre match interview, less ruthless than Allardyce.
Jose Mourinho
The ‘Special One’ is one of the most intriguing gaffers in England’s top flight.
He has enjoyed paramount success wherever he has managed. The Portuguese mastermind has won two Premier League and League Cup titles with Chelsea, while also winning the FA Cup and FA Community Shield on one occasion.
In the past, he has also managed the likes of FC Porto, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, where he won a staggering combined total 14 cups while away from English football. There’s no doubt about it, he is one of the greatest managers to grace the footballing planet.
However, his relationship with the media and touchline antics are even more intriguing than his tactical methods. On the evidence of recent matches against Southampton and Everton, many would say he is arrogant after failing to show for his pre-match and post-match press conferences and walking out of his post-match interview after the 1-0 win against Everton, after being asked about the Branislav Ivanovic head butt on James McCarthy.
However, the way in which he deals with it is in a very clam manner, and he has the trophies to justify his arrogance.
Manuel Pellegrini
After last season’s title scalp, the current campaign hasn’t exactly gone to plan, with inconsistency overshadowing Manchester City’s campaign.
Pellegrini failed to get enough credit for City’s title win, and has come under pressure this season with his job under threat.
Dubbed ‘The Engineer’, Pellegrini’s managerial prowess was first noticed while at Spanish outfit Villarreal where they were a force to be reckoned with from 2004-2009 in both La Liga and the Champions League, after a year’s stint as Real Madrid’s chief in 2009 failed miserably.
The Chilean then moved onto Malaga in 2010, and soon guided them to the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
However, does he react to bad criticism or bad publicity? Absolutely not. To say that he is a true gentleman of football is an understatement.
Louis Van Gaal
Where do we start with this man? His tactical expertise are believed to resemble the great Sir Alex Ferguson. They’re not the United of the Ferguson era, but the Scotsman also struggled at the start of his tenure at Old Trafford. Are there better things to come from LVG?
Big Sam described the Red Devils as ‘long ball United’, after the recent 1-1 draw between West Ham and Manchester United at Upton Park, Much to the anger and disappointment of the former Ajax, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich gaffer, who produced a dossier of stats in an attempt that his side did not play as many long balls as West Ham. (The document actually proved that United played long balls in the game against the Hammers, rather embarrassingly!)
Nevertheless, despite Van Gaal ranting after the match, during it, his presence alone is extremely powerful. Van Gaal doesn’t need shouting in order to get the message across that his players are not performing to the best of their ability.
Something very different to Allardyce.
Roberto Martinez
There’s no denying it, Everton have been extremely disappointing this season.
After last season’s brilliance, where Roberto Martinez was the focal point in the Toffees producing 72 points, there highest points tally they have ever had in a Premier league campaign.
Swansea City was the first club he managed and bounced onto the scene and got the Swans playing very attractive football, which they have carried on to this day under the guidance of Garry Monk.
Again, in his next job with Wigan Athletic, the Latics were always in a relegation dogfight, but the Spaniard never changed his philosophy or style. That is what Everton were attracted by.
Despite Everton’s demise this season, the Goodison park outfit are still going strong in the Europa League. With Martinez’s strong persona, Everton will eventually improve without changing the playing style, unlike Allardyce.