Football is one of the traditional sports in the Germany. The level of football in the country can be seen on various fronts, from national teams to professional football clubs.

The rise of football coaches also aided the successes recorded by Germans in football. Today, Germany houses some of the best football coaches globally, from Joachim Löw to Jürgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick, Hansi Flick and the new generation Julian Nagglesman.

German football coaches are rated high, and some of these coaches are in charge of some of the biggest football clubs in the world.

In the English Premier League, Jürgen Klopp brought back the league title to Liverpool, ending the club’s 30-year wait for the league title.

Read: Best German managers in the Premier League

Joachim Löw led the German Men’s National Team (commonly known as the Die Mannschaft) to success outing in various FIFA and UEFA competitions. His success added Germany on the world map as one of the strongest forces in football.

Today, more German coaches are becoming the go-to by several European clubs interested in the German football philosophy.

There’s one quite exciting aspect of German football managers, which is utilising the Gegenpressing style of play. Wait a minute, what is Gegenpressing? We’ll you will find out more in our article.

Best German football managers 2023 – top Coaches

1. Jürgen Klopp

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Jürgen Klopp is undoubtedly one of the best German soccer managers out there. His philosophy and style of play have accelerated his career.

Moving up from Mainz 05 to Borussia Dortmund, Klopp ended Liverpool FC’s 30-year wait in the 2019/20 season when his brilliant tactics helped the club lift its first-ever title since the rebrand to the Premier League in 1992.

The 58-year old German tactician is one of the faces of German football, and he’s been consistently grinding out the best result. To further prove his tactical strength, Klopp won the UEFA Champions League trophy despite losing in the previous final to Real Madrid.

Jürgen Klopp profile

Klopp began his professional coaching career with Eintracht Frankfurt U23 in 1987 after an agreement with the club. He asked the club if he could coach the youth team, and it was accepted, and that was how his career began following his retirement from active football.

Although it wasn’t the best in the first few weeks, he was able to adapt to the system, coupled with the experience he’s had studying sports science.

Klopp later joined his former team Mainz 05, now as a coach. At Mainz, he took over at the helm of affairs when the club was at rock bottom of the 18-man Bundesliga 2 table, and he successfully took to the top flight for the 2004 season.

Borussia Dortmund became Jürgen Klopp’s fortress and one of his best performances. Klopp successfully won back to back Bundesliga titles in the 2010–11 and 2011–12, including the double that includes the DFB-Pokal 2011–12.

Klopp also won the DFL-Supercup back to back in 2013 and 2014. And ultimately, the German guided Dortmund to a runner-up finish in the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League.

Jürgen moved to Liverpool when they seriously began to look for a solution for their Premier League trophy drought. In 2015 which was his first year, a significant change was brought to the club.

But four years after following a series of revivals in many areas, Jürgen Klopp did the unthinkable when he won three major trophies in the 2019 football season, including the UEFA Champions League UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The following season, Klopp outclassed the firepower of Manchester City that had already denied him the opportunity to win the league title and ended Liverpool FC’s 30-year wait for the title.

MORE: Jürgen Klopp teams coached, trophies, tactics

Jürgen Klopp is undoubtedly one of the best football managers in the modern history of Liverpool and one of the best German football managers. He’s currently the best performing German coach in the Premier League with five significant trophies.

2. Hansi Flick

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Flick’s role as the assistant of the German Men’s National Team heralds his appointment as assistant to Niko Kovac at Bayern Munich.

However, his transition to the top job at Bayern Munich brought back the old days of Bayern Munich European dominance.

In 2020, Hansi Flick won seven major trophies, including the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Thanks to a more Effective Gegenpressing that other German managers like Jürgen Klopp, Ralf Rangnick and Julian Nagglesman, Hansi Flick, and Bayern Munich went undefeated in the 2019–20 Champions League. They became the first team in Champions League history to lift the trophy with a 100-per-cent win record.

Handi Flick also led Bayern Munich to a treble, the second treble in Bayern’s history.

The Statistics tell more of Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich alone. He lost just seven games and won seven trophies (Bundesliga twice, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Supercup, Club World Cup) and Twenty-three matches across all competitions between 16 February 2020 and 18 September 2020.

Hansi Flick is currently in charge of the German Men’s National Team, otherwise known as Die Mannschaft, replacing 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Joachim Löw. His first job was to qualify the team for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which he successfully achieved.

3. Thomas Tuchel

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Managing Chelsea comes with many benefits and an eye for a trophy. Tuchel was well aware of this when he accepted the chance to coach in the ever increasingly difficult English Premier League.

Tuchel worked with the existing crop of players even though he brought in some new faces and promoted some academy players like Trevoh Chalobah.

In 2021, Thomas Tuchel won three trophies (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup) and was runners up in the FA Cup.

Thomas Tuchel rose to prominence when he was appointed at Mainz 05. He taught possessing football to technically inferior players and made them look better against the big sides by dominating the opposition half with more effective counter-attacks.

Although his role did not amount to a trophy-winning campaign, he quickly got himself on the map of talented managers.

Tuchel later joined Borussia Dortmund following the departure of Jürgen Klopp. His tenure at Dortmund only brought in the DFB-Pokal in 2016–17.

However, he successfully built a formidable team upon the already existing structure by Jürgen Klopp. In the end, Tuchel left the club with a 62.96% win.

Paris Saint-Germain was another uplift to his managerial career where he had some of the best players in the world like Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani.

At PSG, Thomas Tuchel won seven significant trophies (Ligue 1 twice, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and two Trophée des Champions). He also guided the club to runners up in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League.

4. Joachim Löw

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Joachim Löw is undoubtedly one of the most excellent German football managers. He’s been on the coaching scene since 1995.

Joachim Löw took the German team to runners up in the 2008 European Football Championship and third place twice in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

Although Löw wasn’t successful at the European continent even though he was close to winning the European Championship, he took the team to an impactful outing in the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017 and emerged the winner.

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil, the German Men’s National Team humiliated Brazil 7-1. And went on to win the trophy at the expense of the Argentine after a previous attempt in 2010 in South Africa brought a bronze medal.

Even though most of Joachim Löw’s successful career was with Die Mannschaft, he won the DFB-Pokal VfB Stuttgart, the Austrian Bundesliga with Tirol Innsbruck and the Austrian Supercup with Austria Wien.

At the moment, Joachim Löw is without a club. But he remains one of the best German football managers.

5. Marco Rose

Marco Rose is a talented football coach whose style of play has attracted commendations from the German football community.

He started his career with Mainz 05 II as an assistant; Rose eventually got the opportunity to lead a team when he was appointed Lokomotive Leipzig’s new trainer.

He then moved to Austria, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga twice and the Austrian Cup after winning the UEFA Youth League with Salzburg Youth Team.

Marco Rose’s teams have always been a joy to watch most due to their impressive style, especially during his tenure at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

6. Ralf Rangnick

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A football executive and manager, Ralf Rangnick has excelled in both areas over the years, from aiding the growth of RB Leipzig to a more advanced role at Locomotiv Moscow and Manchester United.

In his portfolio, what stands out the most is his role in developing RB Leipzig in what is currently seen as a deviation of the traditional 5+1 rule that separates the club from the rest.

MORE: Ralf Rangnick teams coached, trophies, tactics

That being said, Ralf Rangnick is undoubtedly an excellent football director with creative ideas.

7. Julian Nagglesman

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Julian Nagglesman rose to become one of the youngest German football managers of the modern era. The German who had little or no active playing career switched to football management at age 21.

Youth stints at FC Augsburg and 1899 Hoffenheim herald the appointment of Julian Nagglesman to the assistant role of 1899 Hoffenheim senior team and later as head coach of the club.

Although Nagglesman did not have the best managerial experience, he could be seen dishing out instructions that became more effective in the club’s style of play and approach to the game.

At 28, Nagelsmann was appointed head coach of Hoffenheim 2016–17 season, making him the youngest coach in Bundesliga history. He also holds the record as the youngest Bundesliga coach to reach the 100 match milestone.

Although Ralf Rangnick had laid the groundwork, Julian Nagglesman’s appointment at RB Leipzig was a step in the right direction for a relatively new Bundesliga club that has struggled to attract the attention of fans.

Nagglesman became the youngest coach in history to win a UEFA Champions League knockout tie when his side secured a 4–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur.

Although trophies were out of reach, the young German football manager finished runner-up in the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal.

With the announcement of his appointment at Bayern Munich replacing Hansi Flick, Nagglesman was on course for another potential record-breaking career with a massive arsenal of world-class players at his disposal.

So, Julian Nagglesman has won just one trophy, which was the 2021 DFL-Supercup. However, more could come through his leadership in Munich.

8. Christian Streich

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Although he is not the trophy-winning coach at the moment, Christian Streich is well respected in the German football community due to his approach to the game.

Currently, the head coach of SC Freiburg, Streich, has successfully kept the club at the top without many struggles. His immediate success at the club led to his recognition in the German football scene as a “cult figure” and a “football philosopher”.

Christian Streich has been able to build a brand even though he’s not won a major trophy since he started professional coaching in 2011. He was voted Coach of the Year by Goal!, an official Bundesliga Magazine, at the end of the 2011–12 football season in the country.

Streich has made SC Freiburg a solid and formidable team in the Bundesliga. He has also helped preserve the club’s top-flight status since the 2016–17 season.

Streich guided SC Freiburg to the group stages of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League in Group H but finished third behind Slovan Liberec and eventual winners Sevilla. 

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