Thomas Tuchel is among the eight coaches on the list who now have jobs, but four are still out of work.
Gazzetta dello Sport once made a list of the 12 best available football managers – and only eight of them have jobs today.
In September 2022, the Italian website published the list, just days after Chelsea had fired Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel had delivered a Champions League title to Stamford Bridge the year before, but a weak start to the season combined with disagreements with the club leaders led to him having to go.
The German now has a job again, of course, as manager of England’s men’s national team, after being manager of Bayern Munich after his stay at Chelsea.
The other name on Gazzetta’s list was Tuchel’s colleague Mauricio Pochettino, who is now in charge of the United States men’s national team as they prepare to host the 2026 World Cup.
And ex-Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa is also likely to be in the United States in the summer – but then with Uruguay.
Claudio Ranieri, who won the Premier League with Leicester, was also unemployed when Gazzetta’s list was published. He is now manager of Roma, he will retire again after the season.
Former Swansea and Leicester boss Paulo Sousa was also mentioned. The ex-Portuguese midfielder has had a wandering coaching career, with jobs in Italy, France, Brazil, Hungary, Switzerland and China, as well as a spell as national team manager for Poland.
Sousa is now the head coach of Shabab Al Ahli, who play in the United Arab Emirates.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær, on the other hand, who with Norwegian objective eyes is one of the world’s best managers, now leads Turkish Super Lig club Beşiktaş, after a long period without a job after he was fired from Manchester United in 2022.
Read: There was yet another proof that Solskjaer is a better coach than Mourinho
The last two on Gazzetta’s list who now have jobs are Quique Setién and Dejan Stanković, who are coaches of Chinese club Beijing Guoan and Russian club Spartak Moscow, respectively.
But what about the other four?
Rafael Benítez
In September 2022, Rafael Benítez was out of work after being sacked by Everton in January of the same year.
He returned to the coaching job with Celta Vigo in La Liga in June 2023. But when Celta were only two points above the relegation zone in March the following year, the Spaniard was sacked for the second time in 18 months.
Joachim Löw
After a coaching career that included jobs in Germany, Austria and Turkey, Joachim Löw took over as Germany’s national team manager in 2006 and held the job for a full 15 years.
Despite rumours of jobs at Manchester United and Bayern Munich, Löw has not returned to football, and it is uncertain whether the 65-year-old has already coached his last team.
Jorge Sampaoli
One of the most colourful coaching personalities in football, Jorge Sampaoli, has coached as many as 20 clubs and national teams during his career, including Argentina, Chile and Marseille.
Sampaoli was without a club when the list was published, but has since had three new jobs.
His last club was Rennes in Ligue 1, where he lasted only two months and 10 games (with three wins) before being fired in January.
Zinedine Zidane
The big question among Zinedine Zidane fans is whether the French legend will ever return to the manager’s job, after two spells at Real Madrid.
The answer is yes – probably.
A third spell at Real doesn’t seem very likely – but you never know – while a job as France’s national team manager is a real possibility.
Current national team manager Didier Deschamps has announced that he will retire after the 2026 World Cup, and Zidane is already the heavy favourite to take over.
There aren’t many other French candidates ready – Nice coach Franck Haise could be one, maybe Lille’s Bruno Genesio too – so if the French Football Federation doesn’t want to look to a foreign coach, Zidane is likely to be one of the biggest candidates.
Read on F7: Hooters of America has filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas
