Who Are The Top 5 Most OVERRATED Managers Around Today?

5) Brendan Rodgers

Once tipped to be a future England manager, Brendan Rodgers was a media darling until about 8 months ago, when things started going truly sour at Leicester City.  

Embarrassingly leaving the Foxes via mutual consent towards the end of last season, one could label Rodgers’ success as a manager down to three key moments: the emergence of Luis Suarez as the most prolific striker in Europe, Youri Tielemans’ wonder strike which won Leicester the 2021 FA Cup, and the financial issues surrounding Rangers that enabled his Celtic side to go virtually unchallenged in the Scottish Premiership. 

Seemingly welcomed back with open arms by the same Celtic side he acrimoniously departed just a few short years ago, it seems like only a matter of time for the Northern Irishman to once again amass success in a ‘lesser’ league compared to the Premier League, and soon find himself linked with another midtable role.

4) Erik ten Hag

Effectively since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, Manchester United’s financial advantages over the vast majority of the league has allowed them to flourish more than any other team in the league’s history. 

Their current side under Erik Ten Hag is no exception: ten Hag is credited with having the much-missed “United DNA” and “winning mentality” that have took the club up to 3rd in the Premier League (note: lower than where Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had the Red Devils) and Carabao Cup success back in 

But shouldn’t any manager in world football featuring a squad with World Cup winners (Varane and Martinez), prodigal talents (Garnacho and Rashford) and big money transfers (Casemiro and Antony) be producing the results and receiving the subsequent plaudits that Erik ten Hag has been getting this season. 

Whilst still a good manager, the Dutchman has shown his stubbornness and lack of proper preparation in some of Man Utd’s biggest games (and defeats) this season. Only time will tell about whether or not Erik ten Hag truly possesses immense managerial skills and credentials, or is just the latest beneficiary of immense financial backing within the Premier League. 

3) Hansi Flick

Once heralded as the true mastermind behind Germany’s success at the 2014 World Cup, and later the architect behind the legendary 2019-21 years for Bayern Munich, has the truth finally caught up to Hansi Flick?

His German National Team side is one of the worst performing in the nation’s illustrious footballing history, succumbing to another World Cup group stage exit last winter in Qatar, despite recalling old reliable players as well as boasting some exciting young talent attracted by clubs across the continent. 

As Host Nation for the 2024 Euros, Germany will be expected to go VERY far next Summer, but will they flounder once again under Flick, who more and more critics are questioning the tactical capabilities of when he doesn’t have the likes of Robert Lewandowski at his disposal?

2) Mauricio Pochettino

The current Chelsea manager does have his strong share of fans and supporters, but even the most ardent would struggle to name a moment where Pochettino was truly ‘successful’, sans a Lucas Moura hat trick in Amsterdam.

PSG, where a trophy a season is a formality rather than an aspiration, chewed up Pochettino and spat him out, as the Argentine even saw Les Parisiens lose their iron grip on the Ligue 1 title to an exceptional underdog Lille side. 

Gifted with one of the greatest attacking lineups in football history in Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Pochettino was humiliated in the Champions League at the hands of Karim Benzema and Real Madrid, as even with such monumental might up front, even he couldn’t control the rampant egos and potential of PSG.

And now that the Argentine has waltzed into the Chelsea job, which has seen the likes of Graham Potter and Frank Lampard be horrendously exposed, is Pochettino truly prepared to showcase what he can do, or another manager riding the coattails of nostalgia from his underdog days at Southampton and Spurs?

1) Gareth Southgate

As England fans, many of us have finally reached the ‘acceptance’ stage of grief with Gareth Southgate: where no matter what he does within the dugout, we will be persistently reminded of his greatness as a manager. 

Yet another media favourite whose tenure has been retrospectively romanticised as “uniting” England behind the Three Lions, the rose-tinted waistcoat that we wear when looking back at Southgate’s early England days of “Back the man who took us to the Semis in Russia, remember how happy we all were against Croatia?” would have you think Southgate was managing akin to 2004 Jose Mourinho.

Under seemingly any other England manager of the 21st century, the tactical decisions and performances would be enough to warrant the manager’s dismissal, particularly performances like World Cup Semi Final exit to Croatia when 1-0 up and a Wembley loss when also 1-0 up to a bewildered Italy. But Southgate is seemingly untouchable, and will perhaps unjustifiably be remembered as one of the most successful international managers of his era once his stint as England manager finally comes to an end.