Ranking the top 5 Managers in the FC Barcelona history

FC Barcelona- Arguably the most successful football club in the world in the last decade with an incredible number of trophies to prove that fact . And that success is credited to some great players along with some of the best managers in the world that have been at the helm of the club over the years. Here we present to you the top 5 managers in the club’s history –

5) Frank Rijkaard

Rijkaard was a fans favorite as a player and also achieved success as a manager, including leading the club out of a trophy less slump. The Dutch International was the first Barcelona manager to win the Champions League – note Champions League, not European Cup. He also won two league titles and also introduced Lionel Messi to the first team. Rijkaard had a win percentage of 58.61%

4) Ferdinand Daucik

He came to the club together with his brother-in-law, Kubala and coached the team from 1950 to 1954 . The beginning of his tenure at the club was difficult, but things began to change with time, as Barca slowly turned into a football-making machine.  Daucik’s enviable list of trophies includes two League Cups, one Latin Cup, three Spanish Cups and two Eva Duarte Cups, along with one highly successful season which brought the club 5 trophies.

3) Johan Cruyff

11 trophies in 8 years made Johan Cruyff arguably the best manager in the club’s history, that is, until the Guardiola revolution. The Dutchman led Barcelona to 4 consecutive league titles and their first Champions League triumph. However, his last two seasons at the Club were far less successful with Barça failing to capture a single title during that time. As a result of his very public disagreements with the then president, Josep Lluís Núñez, Cruyff left the club via the back door. But after a series of legal disputes, the Club and the Dutchman came to the agreement to stage two emotional testimonials at the Camp Nou and Amsterdam Arena.

His philosophy still continues at the club as it was his disciples, Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola, who continued the model orchestrated by the Barca legend and lead the club to its one of the most glorious periods of World Football. Most of his principles can also be seen in the current version of Barca lead by Luis Enrique although the youth academy of Barcelona, La Masia , on which Cruyff gave a lot of importance, hasn’t been producing the amazing players lately for which it is reputed for.

2) Luis Enrique

A treble in his debut season. Luis Enrique couldn’t have ask for a better season as the current Barca gaffer won the club an unprecedented second treble –  a feat never achieved in  the sport’s history. He then went on to win the UEFA Super Cup making it 4 trophies out of a possible 5 as Barca missed the chance to repeat Pep Guardiola’s historic feat of winning the sextuple by losing the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao.

However,Enrique still has a long way to go to be considered in the same ranks as of Guardiola, although he does have a better winning percentage than his compatriot, but there is still no match for the magnificent,enchanting football that the Catalans played  during the latter’s regime. May be sometime later when the Blaugranas continue with their success under Lucho, we might be debating the question of greatest ever Barcelona manager out of Pep and Enrique.

1) Pep Guardiola

Arguably the most popular and successful manager in the club’s history. FC Barcelona witnessed its golden period under the Spaniard’s regime. Pep was already a Barcelona hero when he took over at the young age of 37 as he had captained the side for years and won many trophies. He became the youngest manager when he won for the club the Spanish League title, Champions League title and the Spanish Cup title during his first season at the club. Having spent four seasons at the club, he possessed an amazing 72.4 % win record only bettered by current manager Luis Enrique.

Also, he gave some of the most memorable moments to the FC Barcelona fans as the recorded the historical drubbing of their arch rivals Real Madrid, 6-2 at the Bernabeu which he later bettered that win with a 5-0 over the same team led by Jose Mourinho at the Camp Nou . The Treble, the Sextuple, the unplayable ‘Tiki-Taka’ which lead the great Sir Alex Ferguson to denote the 2011 Barca as the greatest club side of all time after Pep’s men outclassed Manchester United 3-1 at the Wembley stadium in the 2011 Champions League Final. For all these moments, he is the greatest Barcelona manager till date and will probably remain so for a very long time.