During the Euros of 2024 we’ll see a lot of big name players with star quality on and off the pitch, but we’ll also see plenty of big names and familiar faces by the sidelines, some of which we’ve already seen take the helm of some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Here are the managers who are the most believed in for the Euro 2024 tournament.
Didier Deschamps (France)
Starting off strong, we have one of the biggest favourites to win the whole tournament in Germany this summer.
Deschamps went from a player to a manager within the same year and he’s been keeping busy ever since. Since 2012 he’s been the manager for the French national team with a lot of success, including the World Cup victory of 2018 as well as the runner up for the same tournament in 2022 when Deschamps side lost to Leo Messi’s Argentina in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. France was also the runner up in the Euro 2016 where Portugal acquired their first major tournament win.
While Deschamps national team have brought home glory, there’s still a lot of pressure on him. The French side is one of the most star-filled teams in the tournament and the country is eying the first European trophy since 2000. Deschamps is also the manager who’s been in his position the longest, with him coming in on his 12th year.
Gareth Southgate (England)
Oh Gareth, surely England is not in for another defeat in the final? The Three Lions are one of the favourites to win and the English squad is packed with players at their peak or with massive form. Jadon Sancho’s been having a terrific season, same goes for Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham’s season has just been outstanding. And we’re not even mentioning Harry Kane at this point who has been a reliable goal scorer as usual, despite the disappointing season for his Bayern Munich.
Nothing but a final is deemed good enough for Gareth and the pressure is on to bring it home and redeem the national team for the tough loss in 2021 (2020) on home turf.
Southgate’s contract is set to expire this year and the man himself has said that is not a distraction, but surely the result of this tournament will affect the outcome.
Julian Nagelsmann (Germany)
Germany, along with England and France are the biggest favourites to win as we enter the competition. The German side also have the youngest manager in the tournament at only 36. Despite his young age, Julian Nagelsmann has already been a manager at the top tier since 2016, steering the German bundesliga clubs Hoffenheim, Leipzig and Bayern Munich. The Bayern Munich job ended in a sacking but the rumours surrounding the club is that he’s going back, eventually. Now young Nagelsmann is aiming for glory at home as he leads the German team. Being one of the absolute favourites to win the tournament, the pressure is on this manager prodigy and time will tell how much of a home advantage “Die Mannschaft” will have as the tournament progresses.
France and England might have the better squads, but Germany is not far behind with players like Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané, Antonio Rüdiger and Toni Kroos, both of which just won the Champions League title (again). Kroos is playing his last games of professional football this summer, which might be additional fuel for the squad.
Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
Koeman is once again leading the Dutch national team. Believe it or not, this is his third time in charge, although he was an assistant the first time (to Guus Hiddink). Last time he led the national team was between 2018-2020 before Barcelona wanted him. Now that wasn’t the most successful stint. Luckily he could have his old job back as he was once again appointed in January 2023. The Dutch national team is once again a force to be reckoned with as they have some dark days behind them where they wouldn’t even manage to qualify for the bigger tournaments. Last time the team played in the Euros, they shockingly fell to the Czech Republic in the round of 16. Koeman and his team needs to do better than that in the coming tournament according to the Euro 2024 odds.
Roberto Martinez (Portugal)
Another familiar face – as of late we’ve mostly associated Roberto Martinez with being the manager for Belgium that didn’t take them all the way despite the Belgian golden generation he had at his disposal. Now the Spaniard is at the reins of the Portuguese national team.
Portugal knows what a Euro victory tastes like, including players such as Cristiano Ronaldo who is playing his sixth Euro tournament, surely this must be his last?
Luciano Spalletti (Italy)
For those who follow Italian football, Spalletti is a familiar face. He’s been the manager for Napoli, Inter, Roma, Zenit, Udinese, Sampdoria, Empoli, Venezia. Perhaps surprisingly, half of his trophies as a manager came from his time in Russia with him leading Zenit to the Russian championship twice, as well as winning the cup and super cup.
However the brightest shining trophy must be the Scudetto that he brought home to Napoli after a long title drought for the south Italian club. In fact, this was only the third time that Napoli won the league, with the previous two times being in 89/90 and 86/87 (and yes, Diego Maradona was there).
Bear in mind, the Italians are the reigning champions of Europe. Nobody at the time believed them to go all the way, and it’s a similar story now, where there are multiple teams ahead of them in the rankings.
However, it wasn’t Spalletti who was at the helm at the time, but the ex-Man City manager Roberto Mancini who made magic happen and took the Italian side all the way, beating England on penalties at Wembley. Not to mention knocking out both Belgium and Spain on their way to the final.
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