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Coaching at top level football is not an easy job at all. The coaches have to deal with incredible pressure while doing their work at a top club. The pressure of expectations is always there and it is not at all easy to live with that.
Moreover, different clubs have different cultures and playing styles. Therefore, it is not easy to adjust to the changing demands either. For example, coaching at Real Madrid and Barcelona are two very different jobs because of the contrasting playing style and culture of those two clubs.
In addition to that, different football leagues have different demands too. The EPL is more fast and direct, the LaLiga is more skill-oriented and the Serie A is more defensive and tactical. Therefore, it is very difficult for a coach to do his job successfully in each of those 3 top leagues. We would now like to have a look at the 3 managers who have coached successfully in EPL, Serie A and La Liga:
1. Jose Mourinho:
The 'Special One' from Portugal has coached in all 3 top leagues with considerable success. After winning the Champions League with FC Porto, Mourinho built his legacy at Chelsea by leading the club to unprecedented success. He built an incredibly strong team with players like Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and John Terry.
Chelsea dominated the midfield battles and Mourinho won 2 League titles and 1 FA Cup with them during his first stint with the club. He came back again to Chelsea in 2013 and won another league title with them. He then moved to Manchester United in 2016 and is still their manager.
Mourinho also coached in Serie A as he went to Inter Milan from Chelsea and won 2 Serie A titles with them. He also famously won the Champions League with Inter in the 2009-10 season, which was Inter’s first European success since 1965. Inter had an incredibly strong defence comprising players like Walter Samuel, Javier Zanetti, Cristian Chivu and Esteban Cambiasso.
Mourinho then managed Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013 and won a LaLiga title in 2011-12. He built a strong side at Real too and made them play fast, counter-attacking football which paved the way for their 4 European crowns in 5 seasons from 2013-14 to 2017-18. He also signed Luka Modric, who is the favourite to win the Ballon D’Or this year, from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012.
2. Rafael Benitez:
Benitez is a Spanish manager who has successfully coached in the top 3 leagues. He started his managerial career in Spain and caught the attention of the football world by his work at Valencia.
Benitez won 2 LaLiga titles with Valencia from 2001 to 2004 and also won the UEFA Cup in 2003-04. He was then appointed as the Liverpool manager in 2004. Benitez could not win the EPL title for Liverpool, but won the elusive Champions League in the 2004-05 season by beating AC Milan in penalties in a thrilling final in Istanbul. He also won a FA Cup with Liverpool.
Benitez’s Liverpool had wonderful players like Vladimir Smicer, Sami Hyypia, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. He signed players like Xabi Alonso, Ryan Babel and Fernando Torres, all of whom performed creditably for Liverpool. Benitez then managed Chelsea for a while, but was not as successful with them. However, he still managed to win the Europa League with them in 2013.
He then went to Italy to manage Inter and Napoli and won an Italian Cup each with those two clubs. He also started a revival of sorts at Napoli by signing players like Raul Albiol and Jose Callejon. Benitez is now again coaching in EPL as he is the manager of Newcastle United.
3. Carlo Ancelotti:
Ancelotti has coached in a number of clubs in his glittering managerial career. Very few managers in the history of football can match his all-round success with different clubs. He was the manager of the great AC Milan side from 2001 to 2009.
Prior to that, he had also coached at Juventus. Like all Italian managers, Ancelotti put great emphasis on defence and his teams typically play counter-attacking football. Ancelotti ushered in a new era at Milan as players like Kakhaber Kaladze, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko developed into world-class ones under him.
Milan won the Serie A once under Ancelotti. They also won the Champions League in 2002-03 and 2006-07, beating Juventus and Liverpool in the final respectively. Ancelotti’s Milan were strong defensively, but also played free flowing, passing football in the midfield through players like Rui Costa, Pirlo, Seedorf and Kaka.
He then managed in EPL by being in charge of Chelsea from 2009 to 2011 and won the EPL title and FA Cup with them in 2009-10. He also signed players like Torres and David Luiz during his tenure at Chelsea.
He became the manager of Real Madrid in 2013 and won the elusive 10th Champions League title with them in the 2013-14 season. Ancelotti’s Real played solid and fast football to beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final. Ancelotti’s Real had stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas and Karim Benzema.
He also signed Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, who continues to be one of the key performers for Real. Ancelotti is now again coaching in Serie A as his Napoli side is currently among the top 4 in the league table.
