Due to the unpredictability of football, it isn’t surprising to find top football managers being unemployed.
Football managers have lots of responsibilities, including: team selection, choosing tactics, recruiting/transferring players, negotiating player contracts, and speaking to the media.
But they are extremely vulnerable to loosing their jobs when things go wrong.
In fact, sacking managers has become the norm in the modern era. Trigger-happy boards/owners are very much aware of how much a shrewd managerial change can boost a team’s performances.
In this article, FootballOrbit presents you with 11 top football coaches that are currently out of job.
11. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his name as a manager at Norwegian side, Molde.
In late 2018, former club Manchester United appointed him as caretaker manager to replace José Mourinho.
He impressed by winning 14 of his first 19 matches in charge, and was subsequently appointed on a permanent basis.
He took the Red Devils to the Europa League final in 2021, where they lost to Villareal on penalties.
Solskjaer got sacked in November 2021 following a poor string of performances, and has been unemployed since.
10. Andre Villas-Boas
Andre Villas-Boas came to limelight when he won the Portuguese Primeira Liga title unbeaten with Porto 2011 — becoming the youngest manager to do so in Europe.
Underwhelming spells at Chelsea and Tottenham dented his reputation. But he redeemed himself at Zenith St Petersburg and in China.
Marseille appointed him in 2019 and he qualified them for the UEFA Champions League after a 6-year absence.
But Villas-Boas resigned in 2021 after clashing with the club over recruitment policies. He hasn’t gotten another job since.
9. Joachim Low
Joachim Low was the manager of Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure, he led Germany to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
He left his post after Euro 2020 where Germany lost to England in the quarterfinals.
Low managed 198 games during his 15 years in charge of the German national team.
8. Rafael Benitez
Rafael Benitez has coached top sides like Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Napoli, Real Madrid and Chelsea.
He took over as Everton manager in 2021 but was dismissed in January 2022 after a disappointing run — where Everton lost 9 out of 13 games.
7. Frank de Boer
After a successful playing career with the likes of Ajax and Barcelona, Frank de Boer went into management.
He coached team like Ajax, Crystal Palace and Atlanta United.
Referencing De Boer’s dismissal stint at Crystal Palace, Jose Mourinho famously described him as “the worst manager in the history of the Premier League”.
De Boer was appointed head coach of the Netherlands national team in September 2020, but left less than a year later in June 2021 after the team’s disappointing Euro 2020 campaign.
6. Marcelo Bielsa
Hailed as one of the most influential managers of all time, Marcelo Bielsa influenced the likes of Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Diego Simeone and Marcelo Gallardo.
He has managed several football clubs as well as the national teams of Argentina and Chile.
In 2018, Bielsa was appointed manager of Leeds United. He sensationally led the club back to the Premier League in 2020 after a 16-year absence
But after a poor run of results and with relegation looming, Leeds sacked him in February 2022.
Marcelo Bielsa was one of the top managers that got sacked in the 2021/22 season.
5. Claudio Ranieri
Having managed several top European clubs, Claudio Ranieri was appointed by Leicester City in 2015.
He miraculously led the club to the 2015/16 EPL title.
In October 2021, he was appointed manager of Watford, only to be sacked in January 2022 after poor results.
Ranieri has been out of work since.
4. Ronald Koeman
After his successful playing career, Ronald Koeman became a manager and was equally successful.
He was the manager of the Netherlands national team between 2018 and 2020. He led them to a runners-up finish in the 2019 UEFA Nations League.
In August 2020, Koeman was appointed as manager of Barcelona — and won the 2020/2021 Copa del Rey.
He was sacked in October 2021 following a poor start to the new season, and has been unemployed since.
3. Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino started his managerial career with decent spells at Espanyol and Southampton.
He joined Tottenham in 2014 and built one of the best teams in the Premier League.
Spurs finished as league runners-up in 2016/17 and also reached the Champions League final in 2019.
After a string of poor results, Pochettino lost his job in 2021.
Subsequently, PSG appointed him and he won the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France. But failure in the Champions league saw him got fired.
Due to his reputation, Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with several jobs since then but still remains unemployed.
2. Thomas Tuchel
After brilliant tenures at Borussia Dortmund and PSG, Chelsea hired Thomas Tuchel in 2021. The German won the UEFA Champions League in his debut season.
He was dismissed in September 2022 after a poor start to the new season. Graham Potter replaced him at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel is currently being tipped to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager should the latter get sacked.
1. Zinedine Zidane
The most high-profile football manager that is currently unemployed is Zinedine Zidane.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, the Frenchman also became one of the most successful managers in the world
At Real Madrid, Zidane became the first ever coach to win the UEFA Champions League three times in a row.
Furthermore, he won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup twice each — as well as a La Liga title and a Supercopa de Espana.
This saw him named FIFA Best Manager in 2017.
He resigned in 2018, but returned to Real in 2019 and won another La Liga and a Supercopa de Espana title before leaving again in 2021.
Since his departure from Madrid, Zidane has been linked with every vacant top level vacant managerial position in football; but he still remains jobless.
Many believe that Zinedine Zidane will replace Didier Deschamps as manager of France.
