Why English Managers Barely Succeed in the Major Leagues

 

Most English managers barely make their mark in major European leagues, including in their own Premier League.

It seems like an ironic situation for English football, as they only have a few successful football managers in the major leagues compared to their continental counterparts. Judging from the dominance of English clubs in Europe in the past decades, the rarity of English football managers in Europe shows a stark contrast. In fact, no English managers were involved in three all-English finals in the Champions League, once in the Europa League, Manchester City’s triumphant campaign with treble winners, or West Ham’s victory in the Europa Conference League last season.

In the Premier League this season, only five names are registered as the team's gaffer: Eddie Howe (Newcastle United), Sean Dyche (Everton), Gary O’Neill (Wolverhampton), Roy Hodgson (Crystal Palace), and Chris Wilder (Sheffield United). Once again, none is having a continental campaign any longer after Howe’s Newcastle failed to progress to the knockout stage in the Champions League or even secure one spot in the Europa League playoff. The failure of Graham Potter at Chelsea last season as well as his temporary successor, Frank Lampard, only proves this phenomenon even more.

Reasons

A number of reasons can be traced down to such a tendency. Here are some of them:

• English managers (and players) are not well respected and underappreciated in other top leagues. They are considered to lack technical ability, creativity, or even tactical and football knowledge apart from their own, plus they are not multilingual. Such has been a general assumption abroad. Meanwhile, most top clubs in the EPL as well as abroad prefer someone who could win silverware or have remarkable winning records. Such is what the former England boss Steve McLaren and Trevor Booking stated regarding such an issue. The former used to work in the Netherlands and Germany with FC Twente and Wolfsburg, respectively, whereas the latter was a notable football figure in the 1970s and 1980s who is currently working as a director of football development at the FA. He is the one behind the establishment of St.George Park, inspired by FIGC’s Converciano.
• Different football culture. The deficiency English managers have can be traced back to the youth football culture in England and their European counterparts. In England, U16 teams have always been very competitive, which focuses on winning, not the learning process, whereas in Germany and Spain, for example, it is the opposite. That culture impacts the coach’s experience and knowledge one way or another. Some could elevate themselves through education and take up the opportunity to work abroad, but not as many as expected.
• England had a less strict regulation on coaching licences in the past. Coaches who had a contract with English League clubs before 2010 are not required to have a UEFA Pro Licence, the highest level to train in top clubs. They were given the opportunity to take it without having to leave their position. The stricter rule only began in 2010. However, in other European leagues, the UEFA Pro Licence was a must even before 2010.
• The higher cost of getting the license. The cost to prepare for UEFA Pro Licence for example is much higher in the UK, about £9,890, than in other countries like Spain, it costs merely £1,070. So, unless one is willing to prepare more funds to go to Spain and learn the language, it seems that the number of qualified coaches in the United Kingdom will still be below Spanish. In 2017, for example, there were 15,089 coaches with A and Pro Licences (the two highest levels in UEFA training) in Spain, whereas in the UK there were only 1,796 coaches with the same licence.
• Football manager is an unpopular job in England. In England, if a coach has been sacked by a team, then most likely it would be difficult for him to even consider getting offers from other clubs at the same level. Their reputation is ruined. It seems different when compared to Italy, Germany, and Spain, except that it has been the victim of several dismissals by some clubs. No wonder the names that have been fired in Serie A and the Bundesliga are still of interest to other clubs or even his former clubs. So, unless he has a big name like Kenny Daglish, Harry Redknapp, or Roy Hodgson, chances of a second spell in the ex-club are rather unlikely.

Rare Examples from the Past

Despite such affinity, there were always some exceptional figures who became rare examples. Unfortunately, two out of three of them have already departed. The late Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables are the perfect examples. Another one is Roy Hodgson. They all happened to be the former Three Lions bosses in the past.

Sir Bobby Robson might not have won a single league title in England, but he had lifted the top-tier trophies with PSV Eindhoven and FC Porto twice each in a row. He also guided Porto to reach the UCL semifinals in 1994. What’s more, before returning to the EPL, he had won two continental titles: the UEFA Cup in 1981 with Ipswich Town and the Cup Winners Cup in 1997 with Barcelona. Sadly, he was no longer in charge of Blaugrana when they played in UEFA Super Cup 1997. The former Sporting Lisbon boss also led England to progress to the semifinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Terry Venables had a rather unexpected turn of events in his career, as he did not have convincing experience in his CV while taking charge of Barcelona in 1984. Yet, his influence on the Catalan side was huge. Even Pep Guardiola himself praised Venables’ idea of pressing, which brought changes into Blaugrana’s playing system. He succeeded in clinching the La Liga trophy in his season debut in 1984/85 and guided them to the Champions Cup final in 1986 before losing to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. Back in England, he managed to win the FA Cup for Spurs in 1991, the last notable silverware for Tottenham until today, and led Alan Shearer and Co. to advance to the semifinals of EURO 1996.

Last but not least is the current Crystal Palace boss, Roy Hodgson. His silverware collection might not be as impressive as the previous two, but his impact in Swedish football is significant, which was believed to inspire Tomas Brolin and Co’s success in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Hogdson also brought Switzerland to qualify in the same tournament as well as EURO 1996, their first major competition since the 1960s. He also laid the foundation for Inter Milan despite being trophyless after losing to Schalke in the 1997 UEFA Cup final. He even replicated such progress at Fulham, as they reached the Europa League final in 2010.

Hopefully, such a trend will change in the future with the current development in English football. Their U17 and U20 teams became world champions in 2017, and more English players have plied their trade abroad. Jude Bellingham’s and Harry Kane’s remarkable debuts at Real Madrid and Bayern could be a sign of a good start.