The Best Managers Each Elite Nations Never Had

 

Several top managers have never had a chance to take charge of their own national team until they retired.

The best managers tend to have a chance to take charge of their own national team. Their success at the clubs, especially with continental trophies in their collection, should have given them a nod for the expected job easily, and there is no higher pride than leading their own national team in the dugout.

Nevertheless, some legendary names appeared to have never had such a job, despite being linked with it for more than just once! Each name had their own circumstances. 

The most well-known example was probably Brian Clough. The former Derby County and Nottingham Forest boss has been tipped as ‘the best manager England never had’. Despite his rare triumphant success in guiding The Tricky Trees to a league title and a back-to-back European Cup, Clough was never named the English boss. He was reportedly under consideration by FA twice, in 1977 and 1982, to lead the Three Lions. Yet he lost the job to the less successful managers, Ron Greenwood and Sir Bobby Robson, respectively. His outspoken personality was probably the reason why he was not FA’s top choice. Brian Clough often criticised England’s football governing bodies in public.

Today, it's very unlikely for England to have a gaffer as successful as him. No wonder that they lacked choice and eventually had to either opt for the U21 boss or a foreign name to be at the helm of the team. Recently, FA has chosen the top German boss, Thomas Tuchel, as Gareth Southgate’s successor. The former Chelsea and PSG boss will begin to work with Harry Kane and Co. in January 2025.

How about the other elite teams? So far, only Spain has had the right time to lure their best managers to take charge of La Furia Roja. The likes of Miguel Munoz, Luis Aragonés, and Vicente Del Bosque had such opportunities. Perhaps in the future, they could name Pep Guardiola to do the same. The same thing goes for Portugal with Jose Mourinho, Italy with Carlo Ancelotti, and France with Zinedine Zidane. They are the big names who have won a number of prestigious silverware, including Champions League more than once. 

Here are the legendary gaffers who missed the chance to take charge of their own national team.

Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

The Dutch legend was certainly one of the greatest managers in history. He was the best disciple of Rinus Michels, who led the Netherlands in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and won EURO 1988. It seemed Cruyff would follow his former boss's footsteps following his successful managerial career at the club. He never won the Eredivisie but built the legacy in Barcelona by winning La Liga titles consecutively in the early 1990s and delivering their first Champions Cup trophy in 1992. 

His legendary status drew the interest of KNVB to sign him for taking charge of De Oranje. Cruyff did hold talks with them twice, ahead of the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately, it didn't materialise for two different reasons. 

His appointment in 1990 was tampered with by his former boss, Rinus Michels, who was in charge of such a task in KNVB. He opted to name Leo Beenhakker instead due to his own fear that his status as a legendary manager would be gone, as he believed Cruyff could have guided De Oranje to win their first world cup. The captain in the 1974 World Cup was the popular choice, and many would like to see him in charge of Ruud Gullit and Co.  

Meanwhile, his negotiation broke off in 1993 due to the disagreement over the contract fee and his staff. Initially, Cruyff would have only been in the dugout during the World Cup final round in USA 1994, not the qualifiers. Yet, his disagreement over such a petty issue cancelled out his chance.

Arsene Wenger (France)

The former Arsenal boss is one of the best French gaffers in history. Despite never winning continental titles, he was the key figure in Arsenal’s rise in the late 1990s. Wenger clinched three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups with the Gunners. The former Strasbourg man also brought Thierry Henry and Co to the Champions League final in 2006, plus the UEFA Cup final six years earlier. Previously, he also guided AS Monaco to the Winners Cup final in 1992, beside lifting the French Cup trophy in 1991 and the domestic league in 1988.

Regarding the chance of taking charge of Les Blues, the current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development was linked to lead them twice, in 2010 and 2012. Unfortunately, he turned down the offer from FFF. Wenger prefers the day-to-day management with regular, frequent matches in his tenure. Such is only suitable in the club, whereas in international football, a manager would only have huge pressure during the major competition, which is twice a year.

Jupp Heynckes and Udo Lattek (Germany) 

Germany is one of the elite nations that barely named their legendary gaffers with successful stints at the club, or perhaps they have never been able to lure them? None could tell. The likes of Ottmar Hizfield, Otto Rehhagel, and currently Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp have never been prioritised to take charge of Die Mannschaft. The first three names were even appointed to lead the other nations, Switzerland, Greece, and most recently, England, respectively.

No wonder that Jupp Heynckes and Udo Lattek were never seriously considered, despite their remarkable CVs at the club level. Heynckes has won four Bundesliga, DFB Pokal 2013 and two Champions League titles with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich each. Meanwhile, Lattek even delivered more silverware, both domestic and continental ones. The former Bayern boss in the 1970s clinched eight Bundesliga titles, six for Die Roten and two for Gladbach, three DFB Pokal, the European Cup (the old UCL) in 1974 with Bayern Munich, the 1979 UEFA Cup with Gladbach, and the 1982 Winners Cup with Barcelona. Lattek is even one of the rare managers who has won trophies from each three tier of UEFA competitions.

These two managers are considerably at the same level as Hizfield, Rehhagel, Tuchel, and Klopp and shared the same fate as them. Heynckes was linked to DieMannschaft post in early 2010, but he downplayed such a rumour as he did not want it. On the contrary, Lattek had worked for DFB before taking charge of Bayern in 1970. He was one of Helmut Schon’s assistants from 1965 to 1970.

Nereo Rocco (Italy) 

Italy, on the contrary, has been better at recruiting their top managers to lead Gli Azzurri. The likes of Arrigo Sacchi, Marcelo Lippi, and Giovanni Trappatoni had already been given a chance to be at the helm of the national team. Yet, two notable names, Fabio Capello and Nereo Rocco, unfortunately had never had that opportunity. While the former was once at the helm of the England national team from 2008 to 2011, the latter was known as a proponent of catenaccio. Unlike Capello, who only lifted the Champions Cup trophy once, Rocco had won more, including two Serie A titles, two European Cups, and two Winners Cups, plus the Intercontinental Cup with AC Milan. Rocco’s Rossonerri was the first Italian side to win such continental silverware.

Rocco’s incredible stints in Milan appeared to only give him a nod to lead the Italy semi-pro team in the 1960 Olympics, where Rome was the host. Yet, he did not really have another chance to be at the helm of Gi Azzurri, whereas ironically, his archrival, the Argentine Helenio Herrera, did lead the Italy senior team as a joint manager with Ferruccio Valcareggi from 1966 to 1967.

Carlos Bianchi (Argentina) 

The former PSG man was one of the most successful gaffers in Argentina. Despite having less impressive spells in Europe with AS Roma and Atletico Madrid, Bianchi thrived with two clubs on his home soil, Velez Sarsfield and Boca Juniors. He managed to deliver major trophies for both sides. There were seven league titles, four Copa Libertadores, one with the former and three with the latter, plus three Intercontinental Cups, one for Velez and two for Boca.

In 2004, Albiceleste came calling for his service due to Marcelo Bielsa’s sudden resignation. AFA put him as the priority to lead Juan Sorin and Co. for the 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. Unfortunately, Bianchi rejected the offer. The gaffer said that he was not interested in being a manager anymore and would like to focus on his family. The job eventually went to the second choice, Jose Pekerman, the former youth team boss who delivered the FIFA U20 World Cup title three times in 1995, 1997, and 2001.

Paulo Autuori (Brazil)

He is one of the most experienced and respected South American managers. Autuori two Copa Libertadores titles, for Cruzeiro and Sao Paulo each, the Intercontinental Cup 2005, and one league title with Botafogo. The former Peru boss also had a brief stint in Europe with Benfica and Ludogorets Razgard, with a more successful one in the latter side.

Such an impressive CV did attract CBF to sign him. Autuori was linked to the vacant post in Selecao after their dismal 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. Yet he himself denied such news. The current Coritiba technical director stated that there had been no actual contact with CBF regarding their offer. He was also still attached to J-League, Kashima Antlers. Autuori became a journeyman as he had spells in the Middle East, Colombia, and Peru, beside moving around in his own home soil and Japan. He was once named the head coach of the Qatar national team in 2012-2013 but without any notable achievement.