Thomas Tuchel was named the best coach in Europe of the past season on Thursday evening. The Chelsea coach outperformed both Roberto Mancini and Pep Guardiola in the election. The 24 national coaches of the past European Championship, the 80 trainers of the clubs that participated in the Champions League and the Europa League last season and 55 journalists were asked as part of a jury to provide a shortlist of three men. Tuchel received the most votes and is the successor of Hansi Flick, who was the first UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year was appointed.
Tuchel, 47, was appointed to succeed Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge at the end of January. Led by the German, Chelsea managed to finish fourth in the Premier League and reach the final battle of both the FA Cup and the Champions League. Leicester City was too strong in the final of England’s most important cup tournament, but the Champions League was a prey for the Blues. Thanks to a goal from Kai Havert, Manchester City was defeated: 0-1.
Under Mancini, 56, Italy won the European Championship for the second time in history this summer, after 1968. If only participant won la Squadra Azzurra all group matches without conceding a single goal. In the final, Mancini’s team was too strong for England after a necessary penalty shootout, after a 1-1 score in regular time: 3-2. Italy is already unbeaten under Mancini with a record 34 international matches in a row.
Guardiola, 50, won both the Premier League and the EFL Cup with Manchester City. Won between December 2020 and March 2021 the Citizens no fewer than 21 official games in a row and in the end they suffered no defeat in all competitions in 28 games in a row. Chelsea was too strong for Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, which was also no match for the Londoners in the final of the Champions League: 1-0 and 0-1.
Unai Emery (Villarreal), Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Antonio Conte, who has since left Internazionale, Gareth Southgate (England), Christophe Galtier (LOSC Lille, now working for OGC Nice), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United) and Kasper Hjulmand (Denmark) complete the top ten. There was no room for Erik ten Hag, who won the double with Ajax and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League.