Changing Times : Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte is the man behind Juventus’s resurgence

Like the proverbial Phoenix, Juventus has risen from the Calciopoli ashes. Hardest hit by the Italian football scandal that revealed itself in 2006, the club has withered the storm of demotion and humiliation to become Italy’s finest football club once more.

Much of this has to do with Antonio Conte.

The former Juventus midfielder returned in the

Changing Times : Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini — one of football’s purists

Manuel Pellegrini is a man of quiet authority but immaculate intellectualism. The Chilean is thus one of the few football purist intelligentsia still around. His love for football to be played in a certain way – the attacking way – oozes out from all his teams.

What however contradicts him is that his teams rarely produce such tantalizing displays when required to.

Before his 4-1 demolition of Manchester United in the

Changing Times : Gerardo Martino

Gerardo Martino points the way for Barcelona

Rarely do two games in the midst of a six year successful period provide such a quantum conclusion. Indeed, with the emphatic semi-final loss to Bayern Munich last season, there was a sense that the end of an era had arrived for Barcelona.

That is a somewhat hurried conclusion. For if that had been the case, semi-final defeats in 2010 and 2012 would have indicated that long before 2013. But while that had been the short conclusion

Changing Times : Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp — The Charismatic One

A charming charisma typifies Jürgen Klopp’s managerial style. In many ways, he is the German equivalent of Brian Clough. So full of punch lines and so animated on the touchline as he leads his team. In the process, he has made his team a firm favourite among the neutrals.

That charisma however is so engulfing that much like Clough, it is sometimes difficult to assess Klopp’s tactical acumen. Indeed, while every game is somehow about him, there is a way in which he sets out his team that makes every game about them.

With quick transitions, ferocious pressing and rapid counter-attacks, Borrusia Dortmund has come to

Changing Times

Sir Alex Ferguson holds aloft the Champions League trophy in 2008

A look into four managers who may need to change in order to attain Champions League success

It was not that Manchester United played badly. It just was that Real Madrid played better.

Tactically, they proved superior. Technically, they were supreme. Every Madrid player caressed the ball with subtlety – as if it was a crown jewel and passed it around intelligently, seemingly fearful of losing a precious possession.

All this was summarised by the third Madrid goal. Fernando Redondo running down the touchline then,

The Sign of Four : Jose Mourinho

From unknown to special; to public enemy number one, Jose Mourinho has always courted controversy. He divides opinion more than most.

For him however, he recognises that the world is a stage and thus he always plays his part. Mainly cast as the villain, it is surprising just how many times it is he who has performed heroic achievements.

Winning the Champions League with Porto in 2004 was

The Sign of Four : Pep Guardiola

At Barcelona, he exemplified all the features of Plato’s proverbial philosopher king. Born and bred in Catalunya’s playing fields, he rose to dominance with poetic displays in midfield. Then he left, only to return as manager and build probably the greatest club side in history. Certainly, the greatest this side of the century thus far.

Bayern Munich however provides a totally different challenge to Pep Guardiola.

It is a club steeped in different traditions to those of

The Sign of Four : Carlo Ancelotti

After the retirements of Jupp Heynckes and Sir Alex Ferguson, it seems that the most experienced manager left in the competition who can boast some level of Champions League success is Carlo Ancelotti.

But far from experience, the Italian manager brings so much more to Real Madrid. His tactical awareness has meant that he is willing to explore various formations. He may have written a thesis on the 4-3-2-1 –and this is the formation he has used at least once in every managerial job that he has had – but he is not stubbornly stuck to it.

At the same time, he provides contrast to

The Sign of Four

  A look into four managers who could inspire the narrative with a Champions League win

Bill Shankly meant it absolutely. “John, you’re immortal now.”

These were the words the former Liverpool manager said to Jock Stein after Celtic lifted the European Cup in 1967. Of course, there was much context to it – not only were Celtic the first British club to win Europe’s most coveted trophy but there was also an air of moral victory. Their victims had been