World-class managers like Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, José Mourinho, and Jürgen Klopp have featured in many great tactical battles and high-quality encounters over the years. However, with most top managers either already employed or not working right now, it’s time to look at the new generation of managers and head coaches, assess their playing style and tactical nous, and speculate on their chances of going to the very top.
Many European sides are now showing faith in young coaches and investing in them. Several young ex-players who have assisted head coaches have also entered the fray and are performing well.
Here, we present to you our top picks for some of football’s best young head coaches and managers in charge of men’s first teams across Europe.
Will Still | RC Lens
Still relatively young, Will Still turned crisis into opportunity when he was announced as the head coach of Ligue 1 side Reims after the dismissal Óscar García in 2022. The news created waves, as a 30-year-old former video analyst had been handed the reigns of a French topflight outfit.
However, Still soon proved his detractors wrong as Reims went on an incredible 17-game unbeaten run to finish 11th in the league table. The Belgian coach’s style of play has proved solid rather than experimental, which is usually not the case with young, inexperienced managers.
Under Still, Reims played in a 4-2-3-1 formation and ended the 2023/24 season ninth in Ligue 1, which rose his stocks furthermore as he worked wonders at the Stade Auguste-Delaune with limited resources. At the beginning of 2024/25 season, Still parted ways with Reims and moved to another French topflight side, Lens, to become their head coach.
Fabian Hürzeler | Brighton and Hove Albion FC
After the departure of Roberto de Zerbi, Brighton hired young German coach Fabien Hürzeler as his replacement. A product of the Bayern Munich academy, Hürzuler retired from football at the age of 23 with the aim of becoming a football coach for a long time.
The 31-year-old’s move to a high-profile job like Brighton came about due his success with 2. Bundesliga side St. Pauli, whom he managed for two seasons and got them promoted to the German topflight in only his second season.
So far, Hürzeler has done well in the Premier League, with Brighton at a respectable sixth position with three wins, three draws, and one loss. He has an attractive, attacking style of play, which he prefers with a very high line. Under his tutelage, the Seagulls are proving to be a very dangerous side.
Francesco Farioli | AFC Ajax
Francesco Farioli is a former protégé of Roberto de Zerbi, who was also crucial in Farioli’s entry into coaching with Italian sides Benevento and Sassuolo. It was under De Zerbi’s guidance that the former keeper learned the basics of coaching.
The 35-year-old further honed his skills at Alanyaspor in Türkiye, where he played dynamic formations with a back-three or back-four defence line and a lone striker up top backed by creative midfielders. His performances in the Süper Lig didn’t go unnoticed, and French Ligue 1 side Nice came calling for him in 2023. Farioli led Nice to fifth position in his first season at the Allianz Riviera, which led to bigger European clubs taking an interest in him. Duly, earlier in the summer, Dutch heavyweights Ajax appointed him as their head coach.
Andoni Iraola | AFC Bournemouth
This former Spanish footballer-turned-manager played for Athletic Bilbao as a right-back. Manager of Bournemouth since 2023, Iraola’s style of play is reminiscent of traditional Basque football—reliable, physical, and tough. His Cherries side have been embodying the same approach in their play with their high-intensity pressing to go along with their great mentality.
Iraola’s previous job at Rayo Vallecano started in 2020. A year later, his side achieved promotion to the Spanish topflight via playoffs while also reaching the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the first time in four decades. These achievements were being watched over in Europe, and in 2023 Leeds United came calling, but Los Franjirrojos did not let him leave. However, at the end of the campaign, when the Cherries offered him the managerial post, Iraola decided to move to England. In his first full season, he took Bournemouth to their highest PL points total as they finished 11th in the league with 48 points.
An exciting young manager, Iraola has built upon his previous work at Bournemouth and is now at the cusp of clinching European football with them for next season.
Sebastian Hoeneß | VfB Stuttgart
Sebastian Hoeneß has been heralded as one of the hottest young prospects in the Germany Bundesliga for a while now and is already being courted by many top European sides. He too is a pro-footballer-turned-manager who couldn’t make it to the elite level.
Head coach of VfB Stuttgart since 2023, Hoeneß’s previous job was at TSG Hoffenheim, who hired him in 2020. He has performed miracles with his time with Die Schwaben, having earned with them a Champions League berth in his first season at the club.
Hoeneß also had a stellar record working with youth teams prior to the Hoffenheim job, but at Stuttgart he has reached another level altogether.
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Enzo Maresca | Chelsea FC
The 44-year-old Italian is currently the head coach of Chelsea, but his coaching career began with the Manchester City reserves in 2020.
In 2021, Maresca won the Premier League 2 title with the City reserves. He was poached by Italian side Parma for a season, but his inability to get them promoted to the Serie A led to his dismissal. In 2022, he returned to Man City as an assistant to Pep Guardiola but remained there only for a season before taking up the head coach role at Leicester City in the Championship in 2023, where he finally found success as he led the Foxes to the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.
With Chelsea looking for a new boss after parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca was roped in by the Blues on a five-year deal in the summer. So far, he has been impressive at Stamford Bridge, with his side looking dangerous up front and playing an aggressive brand of football, though they haven’t been very solid at the back. It’s still early days, but Chelsea have made a decent start under him. It would be deemed a success if they manage to qualify for the Champions League come May.
Arne Slot | Liverpool FC
Arne Slot probably took the toughest job in club football when he arrived at Liverpool in the summer to replace the legendary Jürgen Klopp. However, even though his reign as the Liverpool head coach hasn’t been long, it has looked more than promising.
Slot’s first two seasons with Eredivisie side Feyenoord had already resulted in interest from Tottenham Hotspur, but he rejected their advances and continued in the Netherlands for one more season. His three seasons at Feyenoord saw him win one Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup each.
The 46-year-old’s start at Liverpool has been excellent, to say the least. Having won eight of opening nine games, Slot’s 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 setup, inclined toward controlled, possession-based football in contrast to Klopp’s heavymetal pressing, has been good so far. The Dutchman hasn’t looked out of sorts at all, and if he can manage to win Liverpool even one piece of silverware this season, the club could view this as a successful season in transition.
Thiago Motta | Juventus FC
The former Italian midfielder plied his trade for the top clubs in Europe, and its hardly a surprise that the former Barcelona man looks well on his way to becoming a top coach as well.
Motta’s coaching career didn’t start well, though, as Genoa dismissed just three months after appointing him, languishing at the bottom of the table. In 2021, he joined another Italian club, Spezia, and even though they were destined for relegation with an impending transfer ban, Motta miraculously saved them from the drop, yet the two parted ways mutually at the end of the season as he left for Bologna.
In his first season, the Rossoblù finished ninth in the Serie A with a record points tally of 54. The 2023/24 season turned out to be unforgettable one for them as they secured a top-five finish and qualified for the Champions League, ending a six-decade absence from the European topflight.
Motta’s impressive performance at Bologna didn’t go unnoticed and Juventus poached him ahead of the 2024/25 season. It’s still early days, but the Bianconeri have been a defensive rock under his guidance thus far and are currently third in the league table, having conceded just one goal in seven games.
Rúben Amorim | Sporting CP
At 39 years of age, Rúben Amorim has achieved much success with Portuguese side Sporting. In his first full season, he led them to their first league title in almost two decades, with his new signing Pedro Gonçalves making instant impact with 23 goals. Six of his players made the Primeira Liga Team of the Season that term. In his second season, Sporting finished runners-up in the league but made it to the Champions League Round of 16 for the first time since 2008/09. Sporting again won the Primeira Liga title in 2023/24, on the back of which the young Portuguese was linked with moves to Chelsea and Liverpool, but no move materialised and he continued to head the Leões.
Amorim is known for his intense pressing style. He prefers the 3-4-3 formation, with two midfielders assisting the defence and the wingbacks contributing in attack. His teams are solid defensively and their attackers press high up the pitch to open up spaces in behind the opposition defence. Amorim is also popular for his man-management skills and has extracted superb performances in the past from his players, in particular the likes of Gonçalves and Viktor Gyökeres. He has also coached the likes of João Palhinha and Matheus Nunes, who have since moved on to bigger clubs.
Xabi Alonso | Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has been a surprise package when it comes to coaching. A world-class midfielder in his playing days, the Spaniard has been refreshing presence in the dugout thus far.
Alonso took up the Leverkusen job in October 2022, with the team struggling to stay up in the German topflight. However, he quickly turned their fortunes around, leading them to a sixth-place finish in his first term and ensuring qualification to the Europa League.
If the first full season, a dream run ensued as with Leverkusen ended Bayern Munich’s supremacy in the league while also winning the DFB-Pokal. They even made the Europa League final but lost to Atalanta, which was their only defeat of the entire season across all competitions.
Alonso’s prefers possession-based football with quick, intricate passing in a 3-4-2-1 formation. He has instilled in his Leverkusen side a competitive edge with a never-give-up attitude, which has made them famous for winning games from losing positions.
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