Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard won his first match as a manager on Thursday with Scotland’s Rangers FC against Macedonia’s FK Shkupi. Rangers’ Jamie Murphy and James Tavernier led a 2-0 win in the second leg of the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League.
After just over two years as manager of Chelsea FC, Antonio Conte has been officially fired from the English club and is to be replaced by former Napoli FC coach Maurizio Sarri. Conte now joins Carlo Ancelotti (who'll actually replace Sarri at Napoli), Claudio Ranieri and Roberto Di Matteo as the fourth Italian manager at Chelsea to be, how do you say, relieved of his duties.
With Mexico failing to advance beyond the Round of 16 for the seventh consecutive World Cup and South America failing to send a representative to the semifinals for the first time since 2006, a myriad of coaching changes are expected in both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF over the coming weeks. Key to all this is Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio, who’s expected to step down from his role when his contract expires at the end of the month.
Remember Michael Jordan’s flu game in the 1997 Finals, when he scored 38 points to will Chicago to a 3-2 series lead over Utah? Well, while Germany left back Jonas Hector stayed home to recover from a cold, Mexico attackers Carlos Vela and Chucky Lozano were slicing through the Die Mannschaft defense while emulating MJ — playing with guts while puking up said guts.
With less than 24 hours until the start of the World Cup and just two days before Spain takes on Portugal in one of the marquee group stage matches of the tournament, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced its decision to fire manager Julen Lopetegui.
Joachim Low is a very well respected and accomplished manager who has had a lot of success, with winning the 2014 World Cup as his crowning achievement. He has been the manager of the German national team for 12 years, and managers lasting longer than two years at the same place isn’t something you see often today.
Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has dropped some serious allegations against Pep Guardiola, who managed the Ivorian at both City and Barcelona, in a recent interview with France Football.
If you haven’t heard already, Zinedine Zidane recently quit his role as manager at Real Madrid. The news comes just after he guided Los Blancos to their third Champions League final victory in three years — an incredible feat for a manager who was thrown into the deep end.
Well, Zinedine Zidane went and did it again. Despite everyone constantly doubting his managerial credentials and tactical know-how, Zidane won his third straight UEFA Champions League title on Saturday, becoming the first manager to win the European Cup three times in a row.
Zidane now officially stands alone as the greatest “rookie” manager ever — meaning the Frenchman’s success in his first-ever major coaching role has been unrivaled throughout history.