Top 5 Managers Ready for a Jump to the Elite in their Career

There are wunderkind players all the time. They are destined for greatness. However, in managers, the trajectories are rarely so linear. Some jump straight into a top club, thrive and never look back (Pep Guardiola, and maybe his protege Mikel Arteta). Some take a circuitous route to the top, but stay there for a long time (Maurizio Sarri).

However, there are also some managers who take a big step in their career too soon and struggle to recover from that failure. Managers like Frank Lampard are suffering from the same fate right now. When to make that big jump in your career is crucial for managers as one wrong step can set their career back by many years.

The latter shouldn’t be a problem for the managers listed below. These are not necessarily “wunderkinds” in the traditional sense. That means that these managers might be working for a long time, but they have proved themselves at levels below the elite. Therefore, they deserve a chance and are ready to take the big step in their career.

Here are five such managers who could be seen in the dugout of a giant in the near future.

Arne Slot

Highest point-per-game figure in the history of AZ. Winner of the Eredivisie Coach of the Year award, toppling Dutch giants Ajax in the domestic league and punching above the weight in Europe.

Arne Slot has been a manager for less than five years, but the way his star has risen puts him in the bracket for the most exciting manager in Europe.

Elite clubs these days look for more than just a winning manager. They want a manager who wins with style. Arne Slot’s tactics provide just that. Slot combines the best elements of two widespread schools of tactics – ‘Gegenpressing’ and ‘Juego de Posicion‘.

His teams press ferociously in the opponent’s half, a staple of ‘Gegenpressing‘. Once the ball is regained, they aim to cut through the opponents with crisp vertical passes while also being capable of stretching play, a staple of the positional game.

Slot has been linked with Tottenham and Chelsea jobs while there have been interesting enquiries from Crystal Palace. Erik ten Hag’s success at Manchester United has opened doors for Eredivisie managers to the Premier League after Frank de Boer’s stint at Palace shut them.

Get Arne Slot in ASAP. #THFC #COYS pic.twitter.com/Ebs9HkWuJ4

— Abhi (@abhi_spring) April 9, 2023

Whether Arne Slot chooses to walk through those doors or fancies a European adventure first is up to him. One thing is for certain,…