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While footballers receive all the glory and attention with the spotlight focused on them as gladiators on the battlefield, managers are equally if not more important in the overall functioning of a team.
From tactical innovations, player management and pre-game analysis, the modern-day manager is extremely important. It is for this reason that football teams go all out in their bid to get the right manager.
There is a saying that players are as good or bad as their manager makes them. And while this might be open to debate, it cannot be denied that managers are crucial to the success of failure of any team.
The dynamic nature of players' contracts means that football management is an extremely volatile field, with managers' jobs usually the first on the line whenever things start going south. Consequently, it is not an unfamiliar sight for managers to constantly revolve in and out of employment; there are always more than a handful of top-quality managers out of a job at any given point in time.
With the coaching situation at some top clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal less than assured, it is understandable that the attention of fans has turned to the market to scour for potential replacements for their under-fire managers.
In this piece, we look at the top five managers who are currently without a job.
Note: While Luis Enrique might be a top-quality coach out of a job, his decision to take a break from football management due to personal reasons renders him ineligible for this list.
Honorable mentions: Marcelino, Javi Garcia
#5 Laurent Blanc
In what was a very distinguished playing career, Laurent Blanc represented some of the biggest clubs in the world including Manchester United, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Marseille. He won almost everything there was to win at club level, and he was also one of the stars as France won their maiden World Cup in 1998.
Upon retirement Blanc ventured into coaching, and in his first managerial stint he led Bordeaux to the double in 2009. The team also impressively topped a Champions League group containing Bayern Munich and Juventus en-route their quarterfinal run in 2010.
Blanc was subsequently appointed as the manager of the French national team in the summer of 2010. However, he stepped down from the role after Les Bleus' sub-par display at Euro 2012.
A successful three-year spell followed at PSG. It was under Blanc, the capital club began their unprecedented dominance of the French league.
In total, PSG won 11 trophies with him in charge, including consecutive domestic trebles. But Blanc was dismissed from the position in the summer of 2016 after failing to guide an expensively assembled PSG squad to the latter stages of the Champions League.
He has been without a job since then. These days, Le Président can be found spending his time on golf courses around the world.
That said, having been linked with numerous high-profile jobs in the past, the 53-year-old could well be tempted to leave the 'gentleman's game' for the 'beautiful game'.
Also check out:La Liga matches La Liga fixtures La liga table 2019-20
#4 Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti had a largely nondescript playing career, representing numerous clubs in the lower reaches of the Italian game. But he has undoubtedly enjoyed more success in the dugout.
Spalletti gained traction early in his coaching career after guiding the lowly Tuscan side Empoli to consecutive promotions from Serie C1 to the Serie A. He subsequently went on to manage Udinese and Ancona.
His second stint with Udinese brought him mainstream prominence, as he took them to Champions League qualification in 2004. That led to an appointment by AS Roma; with the capital club, Spalletti firmly established himself in the upper echelons of football management.
Long before Pep Guardiola earned rave reviews for his deployment of Lionel Messi as a 'false nine', Spalletti did so with the iconic Francesco Totti. It was under Spalletti's management that the Roma legend had his best individual campaign, scoring 26 goals to win the European Golden Shoe for the first and only time in 2007.
An indifferent five-year stint with Zenit St. Petersburg followed, while a second return to Roma in January ended when he left by mutual consent. He was then appointed by Inter Milan in the summer of 2017.
Despite showing flashes of brilliance, Inter Milan did not maintain any form of consistency under Spalletti. After narrowly securing qualification for the Champions League, the 60-year-old was sacked at the end of last season.
#3 Arsene Wenger
While younger fans might be more accustomed to seeing an aging Arsene Wenger struggle to come to grips with a destabilizing Arsenal team, older fans know that the Frenchman is an absolute legend when it comes to football management.
When he was announced as Arsenal's manager in the summer of 1996, Wenger arrived with a non-existent reputation. The media were flabbergasted with the decision to appoint an unknown manager who had a funny accent, and a leading newspaper announced his arrival with the rather insulting headline: Arsene Who?
However, Wenger soon got the world talking about his exploits. He got a breath of international fresh air into a league that was dominated by sub-standard English managers.
Wenger's tactics as well as attention to players' diets and general well-being are regarded as revolutionary in football management. Under him, Arsenal became one of the most dominant teams in the land, regularly engaging Manchester United in enthralling title races.
The 'Invincible' campaign of 2003-04 will forever be carved in the annals of football history. But the arrival of billionaire owners massively altered the course of football in England.
Clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea rose with vast financial pull, and a number of factors ensured that Arsenal simply couldn't keep up. Still, Wenger deserves praise for keeping the club competitive despite a paucity of funds.
The latter years of his Arsenal tenure got to a head, with fans openly demanding for his sack. And after a series of unfavorable finishes, the Frenchman decided to step down in the summer of 2018.
In hindsight, his replacement Unai Emery has not fared too well either. While a return to the Emirates might be unlikely, Wenger remains eligible for one last stint in the dugout at the top level.
#2 Massimiliano Allegri
Following Antonio Conte's departure in the summer of 2014, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed in his stead at the helm of Juventus.
The Livorno native had earlier impressed at the San Siro with AC Milan, where he won the 2011 Scudetto. And in his debut season at Turin, Allegri almost guided Juventus to their first-ever treble, only to be denied in the final of the Champions League by Barcelona.
In total, Allegri spent five years with the Bianconeri and won a domestic double in each of his first four (becoming the first manager in history to achieve this feat in Europe's top five leagues). He also extended Juventus' record-breaking run to eight consecutive Serie A titles.
However, despite his domestic invincibility, the much sought-after European glory continuously eluded Juventus. After another elimination at the quarterfinal stage, Allegri announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the 2018-19 season.
#1 Jose Mourinho
As far as announcements to a global audience go, few if any can beat Jose Mourinho's first press conference after being unveiled as Chelsea's manager.
During the telecast, the Setubal native unabashedly declared himself as the 'Special One'. This was a moniker that was to stick with him over the next 15 years.
Mourinho had earlier announced himself to English fans when he did an infuriating knee slide at a packed Old Trafford. This was after he had guided an unfancied Porto to a win over Manchester United en route their improbable Champions League triumph in 2004.
With Chelsea, Mourinho went on to live up to his Special One tag and rewrote the record books. His Blues side won consecutive Premier League titles in record-breaking fashion.
Further successful stints followed at Inter Milan, Chelsea and Manchester United. And even though his spell at Old Trafford ended acrimoniously, the 56-year-old has not ruled himself out of a return to top-level management.
With 25 major trophies won, there are only a handful of coaches throughout history who can match Mourinho's success as a manager. His in-depth analysis as a pundit shows that he has not lost his tactical acumen, and it would not be a surprise if he does return to the dugout sooner rather than later.
