Technology has entered every aspect of sport, the latest of which is the AI ranking of the top 10 coaches in football history.
But the first-of-its-kind classification put fans at a loss because of its conformity with reality, because it ignored some coaches with many and great achievements in modern football, including German Jürgen Klopp and Italian Carlo Ancelotti.
The ranking drawn up by the British newspaper "Mirror" for coaches who worked in England was heavily biased.
Here are the top 10 coaches in football history ranked by AI selection:
10. Ukrainian Valery Lobanovsky
His coaching career spanned more than 30 years, during which he became a coaching legend in his country for being one of the pioneers of the development of football "tactics", in addition to winning many titles with the Dynamo Kyiv team, and overseeing the coaching of the UAE and Kuwait national teams.
The late Lobanovsky coached Dynamo Kiev in the seventies and eighties, and led him to win the league championship in the former Soviet Union 8 times, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1975 and 1986, and supervised the training of this team and the Ukrainian national team simultaneously starting in 2000 and died in 2002.
#OnThisDay in 1989: a first #ThreeLions goal for Paul Gascoigne!
We just love the post-match interview with Sir Bobby Robson ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zd1AjZBfTx
— England (@England) April 26, 2020
9. Englishman Sir Bobby Robson
Robson shone as Ipswich Town manager when he led them to the 1978 FA Cup and their only European title, the UEFA Cup in 1981, reaching their peak stardom when he led England to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals in Italy and lost on penalties to Germany.
Robson then led Eindhoven and discovered Brazilian star Ronaldo Nazario, then oversaw Sporting Lisbon and Porto and Barcelona and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1997 before concluding his career with Newcastle.
Robson suffered from cancer and died in 2009.
8. Englishman Brian Clough
He is the undisputed all-time coach of English side Nottingham Forest, who placed him among the top European teams and led them to their first title when they won the European Club Cup in 1979 and repeated the feat the following year in 1980.
He also led them to the Premier League title for the only time in their history in the 1977-1978 season.
He crossed the line to win the Champions League with Forest with its old name for the first time in the club's history for two consecutive seasons starting in the 1978-1979 season.
7. Dutchman Johan Cruyff
He is one of the icons of football as a player and coach, and he is the legend of the Netherlands and Barcelona.
He developed offensive methods in modern football and influenced many coaches, most notably the Spaniard Pep Guardiola.
He won 11 titles as a coach with Barcelona:
- Champions League (1)
- European Cup Winners' Cup (1)
- UEFA Super Cup (1)
- La Liga (4)
- Copa del Rey (1)
- Spanish Super Cup (3)
Psaki (right) with compatriot Ancelotti in a 2015 reunion (Getty Images)
6. Italian Arrigo Sake
His tactical prowess continues to inspire many twenty-first-century coaches.
Sacchi led AC Milan to two consecutive European Cup titles in 1989 and 1990, and reached the World Cup final as coach of Italy at the 1994 World Cup in America.
5. Scottish Bill Shankly
He took over as Liverpool coach in 1959 and lasted 15 years around the team, and is credited with turning the Reds into a great team that achieves domestic and European titles and his legacy lasted into the eighties.
Upon arrival, the team was playing in the First Division and dispensed with 24 players to begin a revolution that resulted in Liverpool's return to the Premier League in 1962 and their title crown just two years after their first promotion in 17 years.
In 1965 Shankly led the team to the FA Cup for the first time. In 1966, the club won the Premier League and qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.
He led Liverpool to win the league and UEFA Cup in 1972–1973, and the FA Cup the following season.
As Sir Matt Busby once famously said, "If you're good enough you're old enough".
It's time for Erik Ten Hag to prove it by turning to the academy during this period of injury and off-the-pitch crisis.
Shea Lacey and Isak Hansen-Aarøen deserve a chance. pic.twitter.com/fsyzQhR3ji
— $KM (@yoofnited) September 12, 2023
4. Scottish Sir Matt Busby
He was the first manager to lead Manchester United after World War II and won his first European Cup title in 1968.
His first trophy with the team was the FA Cup in 1948, and he also returned the Premier League title to Old Trafford in 1952. The feat was repeated twice, in 1956 and 1957, respectively.
The following season 1957-1958 was full of hope as Manchester United competed in all competitions in February when it suffered a historic tragedy. On the sixth of February / February / February 1958 the team suffered a plane crash known as the Munich accident, which left 23 dead, including 8 Manchester United players.
After 71 days in hospital, Busby returned to lead United and succeeded with the surviving group of players in winning the FA Cup in 1963, the club's first title after the Munich incident.
He then won the Premier League title with United in 1965 and 1967.
Jose Mourinho after beating Barcelona in the Champions League. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/EAZx9jQfvT
— SportsOddsGuide (@SportsOddsGuide) September 14, 2023
3. Jose Mourinho
Last year, Mourinho completed a historic feat winning all European titles at club level, after winning the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, which he won with Italian side Roma in the 2021-2022 season.
Mourinho is fifth in the list of the most decorated coaches in history with 26 titles in his career.
He began his career with a historic achievement with Porto, when he won two consecutive European titles, winning the FA Cup in 2002-2003, and then the Champions League the following season in a major upset.
After leaving Porto, he coached Chelsea in two periods and won 3 domestic titles, most notably the Premier League title 8 times.
He led Inter Milan to 5 titles, most notably the Champions League season 2009-2010.
His success with Chelsea and Inter made Real Madrid sign him and lead him to 3 titles, the same number as his titles with Manchester United.
Guardiola led Manchester City to the club's first European Champions title (Getty Images)
2. Spaniard Pep Guardiola
Despite being heavily influenced by Johan Cruyff, he excelled in his coaching and tactical style during his time coaching Barcelona, which he began with the six-title triumph in 2008.
Guardiola has won 36 titles in his coaching career, and despite this huge number, he stands 13 titles away from Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired from coaching years ago, so Pep's 52-year-old has a great chance of reaching the top of coaching titles.
Of course, Guardiola's most important title was in the Champions League, which he won 3 times, winning two of them with Barcelona in the 2008-2009 and 2011-2011 seasons, and the latter was achieved with Manchester City last season.
Guardiola equaled the achievement of Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, who collected 3 consecutive titles with Real Madrid in the seasons 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, and the late Englishman Bob Paisley, who won the same number of titles with Liverpool in the seasons 1976-1977, 1977-1978 and 1980-1981.
Pep Guardiola is currently surpassed only by Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the title four times, two of them with Milan in 4-2002 and 2003-2006, and represented them with Real Madrid in the 2007-2013 and 2014-2021 seasons.
Ferguson (right) is the creator of Manchester United's most prominent stars in the modern era, including Ronaldo (Getty Images)
1. Scottish Sir Alex Ferguson
He is widely regarded as one of the best football coaches in history, not only for his achievements and trophies that no other coach has reached so far, nor for his top of the list of the most decorated coaches with 49 titles, but for his leadership personality and being the maker of Manchester United's most prominent stars in the modern era, which made him the undisputed legends of Manchester United.
He has won only two Champions League titles, but has dominated the Premier League by winning 13 trophies with Manchester United in the golden era of a team whose form has declined since Ferguson retired from coaching 10 years ago.