Managers

Often I wonder what would happen if high-profile, top-spending managers were forced to manage for small, budget-minded sides. Wouldn’t this be a fun exercise? I see it in my dreams: Louis van Gaal slumming it in on a Thursday night in Ligue Deux, scouting unknowns like Riyad Mahrez instead of delivering briefcases of cash to PSV-Eindhoven for lab-sculpted Memphis Depay. Arsene Wenger taking over recently-bankrupt League 2 side Portsmouth and trying to teach the boys about the benefits of going to the French opera.

Luis Enrique has won the award for FIFA Coach Of The Year For Men’s Football 2015. Enrique won the treble with FC Barcelona in 2015 as he guided his team to titles in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. 

Enrique beat out two other finalists for the award, Pep Guardiola of FC Bayern Munich and Jorge Sampaoli of the Chilean national team.

Jill Ellis is starting 2016 on a high note, thanks to what she did in 2015.

Ellis was named the 2015 FIFA Women's Coach of the Year for guiding her USWNT squad to the 2015 World Cup totle in Canada. She was quick to shift the credit to ther USWNT players.

"I truly believe this team won the award," Ellis said at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala.

Ellis's USWNT team started out slowly at the World Cup, but found their stride in the knockout stage and obliterated Japan in the final, 5-2.

It’s unlikely to have escaped your attention that earlier this week Real Madrid appointed club legend and archetypal galactico Zinedine Zidane as their new manager.

Although, during the last six weeks of 2015, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said he supported the permanence of Rafa Benitez as coach his club, just four days into 2016 Perez changed his mind. Now Zinedine Zidane is the new man in charge of Los Blancos.

So, The18 presents 18 facts about the life of Zidane, a former excellent player who is beginning his coaching career in a difficult moment for Real Madrid. If he fails will be Benitez and Perez’s fault, but any positive result would be his individual achievement.

After the rumours spread throughout the past weeks, the call has been made: Rafa Benítez is reportedly no longer Real Madrid’s coach after a draw in Mestalla.

Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti just led Tigres to the 2015 Apertura Championship in Liga MX. It cost him dearly though. It cost him his mustache. Tuca bet his players that if they won the championship final against Pumas, he would shave his famous mustache.

With all the motivation that came from making that bet, Tigres would go on to win the Apertura Championship in a penalty shoot-out win against Pumas. 

I wrote a poem about Miguel Herrera for Christmas. Here it is:

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, except for The Louse;

The plates were put out in the kitchen with care,

And piled with traditional Mexican fare;

Club Tijuana's players were snug in their beds,

While visions of La Clausura danced in their heads;

With a big red suit and a puffy red hat,

Louis van Gaal may be sacked by Manchester United this season, and the sacking of Louis van Gaal may come sooner rather than later, but the sacking of Louis van Gaal has not already happened. Tell that to BBC reporter Trevor Sinclair, who reported LVG's sacking on Twitter.

Or did he?

Jose Mourinho is like a carton of milk — once past expiration, it is no good to anyone. The magic in the Special One’s “us-against-them” approach quickly wore off in 2015/16 as the Chelsea dressing room dissipated into warring factions and clash of egos. The Portuguese has long been hailed as the premier man manager in the world, but that gift left him when he needed it the most.