<\/p>\n
Carlo Ancelotti ensured plenty of eyebrows matched his own perennially arched state with some choice comments in 2025. \/ Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
In a job where managers are subjected to the world\u2019s microphones every three days for an ever-widening window of time, it\u2019s a testament to their collectively cool temperaments that there aren\u2019t more blunt outbursts. Nevertheless, the mask does slip on occasion.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m confused because I heard that we\u2019re terrible at football and what I see is that Real Madrid are top.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0Carlo Ancelotti (Jan. 19)<\/p>\n
Real Madrid would ultimately end the 2024\u201325 season without victory in La Liga or the Champions League, while Carlo Ancelotti lost his job. Yet, the Italian didn\u2019t go before he was defended by Espanyol\u2019s Manolo Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t go to the surgeon and tell him how to operate on me because I haven\u2019t got a f—— clue, but saying ridiculous things comes free.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0Manolo Gonz\u00e1lez (Feb. 1)<\/p>\n
Gonz\u00e1lez wasn\u2019t always so good at defending himself. During a five-game losing streak at the end of 2024\u201325, he lamented:<\/p>\n
One day you\u2019re John Travolta, the next you\u2019re Manolo Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0Manolo Gonz\u00e1lez (May 3)<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Mourinho always reserves top billing for himself. \u201cYou published fake news about me this week,\u201d the Benfica manager told a Portuguese reporter. \u201cAs the main character of the article, I\u2019m telling you it\u2019s fake.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re grounded, I won\u2019t answer. Maybe next week.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mourinho (Dec. 24)<\/p>\n
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (centre) is no stranger to a frank exchange with Ruben Amorim. \/ James Gill – Danehouse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t only journalists who can get under the skin of managers. As Manchester United<\/a>\u2019s minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe revealed, Ruben Amorim will let his ruthless paymaster know when his advice is unwanted.<\/p>\n I really, really like Ruben. He\u2019s a very thoughtful guy. Every time I go to the training ground, I speak to Ruben. I sit down and have a cup of coffee with him and tell him where it\u2019s going wrong, and he tells me to f— off. I like him.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Sir Jim Ratcliffe (March 10)<\/p>\n Amorim has nothing on Pep Guardiola when it comes to his sarcastic edicts, which the Manchester City boss is very comfortable airing in public.<\/p>\n We are s—.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Pep Guardiola (Sept. 23)<\/p>\n During a particularly impassioned rant<\/a> about City\u2019s supposedly more direct style, Guardiola added:<\/p>\n I changed absolutely everything in three days. I must be a really, really good manager.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Pep Guardiola (Sept. 23)<\/p>\n The former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou was a really, really good manager for a quote. Whether all Spurs fans feel the same about his tactical acumen is less certain, although everyone in N17 will have enjoyed his response to Ars\u00e8ne Wenger\u2019s claim that the Europa League winner should not be guaranteed Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a debate that\u2019s been raging for years…at least the last eight days.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ange Postecoglou (May 7)<\/p>\n As Postecoglou fiendishly added: \u201cSpurs does crazy things to people.\u201d<\/p>\n Public opinion also does crazy things to players.<\/p>\n Many people think I don\u2019t know how to play football. They don\u2019t have a f—— clue.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Gavi (April 9) Gavi (left) and Robert Lewandowski are two outspoken Barcelona figures. \/ Image Photo Agency\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Gavi\u2019s Barcelona<\/a> teammate Robert Lewandowski, who turned 37 in 2025, also had reason to huff.<\/p>\n In the Premier League, they pay a lot. You see the players they are buying for big prices when players don\u2019t even have one good season. You are young, you score 10 goals in six months and some club will pay 60 or 70 million. Before, you had to achieve something.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Robert Lewandowski (Sept. 13)<\/p>\n Real Madrid\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 is far too savvy to let any insolence seep out in public. Yet, after being awarded<\/a> \u20ac60 million ($70.4 million) in unpaid wages from his time at Paris Saint-Germain, his legal team of Delphine Verheyden and Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique Cassereau couldn\u2019t resist a parting shot.<\/p>\n I hope that PSG will be able to comply voluntarily, without having to go through a bailiff; that would be gracious.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s lawyers (Dec. 16)<\/p>\n You ask stupid questions, you will get a stupid answer back.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Erling Haaland (July 31)<\/p>\n Perhaps Unai Emery had Erling Haaland\u2019s warning in mind when he provided the same response to every prematch question he faced on the eve of the summer transfer<\/a> window: \u201cEmi Mart\u00ednez not in the squad at all tonight, why is that?\u201d he was asked. \u201cWhere is Emi Mart\u00ednez though? Will he be your future goalkeeper?\u201d<\/p>\n Marco Bizot.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Unai Emery (Aug. 31)<\/p>\n FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark<\/p>\n Martin O\u2019Neill proved the doubters wrong during his eight-game stretch as Celtic boss in 2025\u2014including those in his own home:<\/p>\n My two daughters were all for going for it, but my wife said I\u2019d probably mess it up. I haven\u2019t messed it up so far.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Martin O\u2019Neill (Nov. 27)<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill\u2019s predicted demise wasn\u2019t the most grievous mistake of the year.<\/p>\n Arda Kardzhali held a minute\u2019s silence ahead of a Bulgarian top-flight clash against Levski Sofia in March to commemorate the life of their legendary former striker, Petko Ganchev. As Ganchev promptly pointed out, that life was still ongoing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Being buried alive is quite stressful, really.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Petko Ganchev (March 16)<\/p>\n \u201cI was 10 minutes late [for kick-off] because I had a personal job,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWhile driving home, my phone started ringing a lot. I parked in front of our house, entered the yard and my wife greets me crying, shouting: \u2018Petko, Petko, they announced on TV that you have died!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mohamed Salah (right) was an unused substitute in Liverpool\u2019s 3\u20133 draw against Leeds United. \/ Chris Brunskill\/Fantasista\/Getty Images <\/p>\n 2025 was the year that player power rose to unprecedented levels of prominence. Chloe Kelly turned the spotlight on Manchester City in the final hours of the January transfer window, ultimately forcing through a late loan move to Arsenal, where she would win the Champions League and regain her England spot before lifting the 2025 European Championship title<\/a>.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve called reporters to assassinate my character and tried to plant negative stories about me in the football media.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Chloe Kelly (Jan. 31)<\/p>\n Every outburst wasn\u2019t so successful.<\/p>\n Sadly I feel I have no choice but to speak out for what I believe is right and I feel that enough is enough.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ademola Lookman (Aug. 3)<\/p>\n Ademola Lookman didn\u2019t leave Atalanta.<\/p>\n Alexander Isak, however, did force through his move away from Newcastle, proving that posting on social media late in the night<\/a> can have some happy outcomes. If that\u2019s what you\u2019d call his Liverpool career so far.<\/p>\n When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Alexander Isak (Aug. 19)<\/p>\n Mohamed Salah took a leaf out of Isak\u2019s playbook in December with an extraordinary takedown<\/a> of Liverpool, Arne Slot and Harry Kane oddly enough.<\/p>\n It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Mohamed Salah (Dec. 6) Bruno Fernandes took aim at the \u201ccourage\u201d of Man Utd\u2019s directors, who supposedly wanted him out of the club. \/ Jan Kruger\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Bruno Fernandes soon followed suit.<\/p>\n The club wanted me to go, I have that in my head. I said that to the directors, but I think they did not have the courage to make this decision.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Bruno Fernandes (Dec. 16)<\/p>\n \u201cIn England,\u201d the experienced Manchester United captain added<\/a>, \u201cwhen a player starts to approach 30, they start to think they need to remodel. It\u2019s like the furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n Jules Kounde is only 27 but felt compelled to defend players of all ages given the ever expanding footballing calendar.<\/p>\n You have to understand that we are not machines.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Jules Kounde (March 27)<\/p>\n Not all player gripes were so serious, however.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t let my wife win anything\u2026 We play Uno. I hate to lose. It\u2019s just in me.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Dominik Szoboszlai (May 24) Ange Postecoglou loved a good one-liner. \/ IMAGO\/Pro Sports Images<\/p>\n Football is prone to hyperbole. This is, after all, \u201cmuch more serious\u201d than life and death. In the quest to convey the depth of this pursuit, plenty of silly sentiments have been raised.<\/p>\n I thought Trump would solve the world\u2019s problems in Alaska. I saw Putin very serious and playing his part. We\u2019ll have to keep waiting to see if these two figures can take the necessary steps to restore calm to Ukraine. Speaking of tranquility, look no further than Mallorca this Saturday.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Josep Maria Minguella (Aug. 18)<\/p>\n Some figures have a stronger grasp of how to get an idea across using some colourful imagery.<\/p>\n Every time I\u2019ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, it\u2019s usually been an oncoming train.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ange Postecoglou (Jan. 31)<\/p>\n Statistics are like thongs: they reveal a lot, but they hide what\u2019s most important.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Paco J\u00e9mez (March 7)<\/p>\n But not everyone.<\/p>\n Flick is a Gladiator, he looks just like Russell Crowe.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Joan Laporta (Oct. 13)<\/p>\n Frenkie de Jong offered a more balanced view of Barcelona\u2019s manager with the same underlying sentiment: \u201cFlick does have character. He has very clear ideas, he\u2019s approachable, and he\u2019s kind. But then you have to do what you have to do. And if you don\u2019t, you don\u2019t play.\u201d<\/p>\n Hansi Flick came, saw and conquered all before him in Spain during 2025. \/ IMAGO\/Insidefoto<\/p>\n Arsenal<\/a>\u2019s Mikel Arteta is a little more pliable\u2014especially when it comes to the purse strings.<\/p>\n The budget is like when you have your wedding: you plan your wedding with your wife and you give her a budget and it\u2019s never less, it\u2019s always more.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Mikel Arteta (May 16)<\/p>\n Some expressions can get lost in translation. Guardiola\u2019s advice to his Real Madrid counterpart Xabi Alonso before their Champions League clash<\/a> this season played upon a Catalan saying:<\/p>\n That he pee with his own one. And since he won\u2019t be peeing cologne, he\u2019ll be O.K.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Pep Guardiola (Dec. 9)<\/p>\n The City boss knew exactly what he was doing. \u201cYou like that headline, right?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Sean Dyche\u2019s attempts to manipulate the media are just as varied.<\/p>\n Skinny jeans, flared jeans, skinny jeans, flared jeans, my daughter hammers me for whatever jeans I wear.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Sean Dyche (Oct. 22)<\/p>\n Next. Best Dressed PL managers. The Premier League\u2019s Best (and Worst) Dressed Managers. dark<\/p>\n Arteta is known to fall down rabbit holes of his own.<\/p>\n That\u2019s an opportunity tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., everybody, 7:30 p.m. kick-off to be at the Emirates, bouncing and putting energy to win the game. That\u2019s the opportunity that we have tomorrow, 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Mikel Arteta (Dec. 3)<\/p>\n A week later after that early evening victory over Brentford, Arsenal started flat against Wolverhampton Wanderers<\/a> in the later 8 p.m. slot. Arteta mused: \u201cI don\u2019t know, before Brentford I called everybody at 7:30 p.m. and today was a late kick-off, I forgot to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Marc Gu\u00e9hi forgot to shake hands with his Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner at the height of transfer speculation surrounding his future last summer. Many queried the snub, but not Roy Keane.<\/p>\n \u201cA player has just had a tough match, he\u2019s physically exhausted, and the manager is just trying to go and have a little chit-chat,\u201d the sharp-tongued pundit argued. \u201cWhat happened to years ago when the manager would shake the other manager\u2019s hand and walk down the tunnel? It\u2019s the new thing.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the new garlic bread.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Roy Keane (Aug. 17)<\/p>\n Igor Tudor didn\u2019t stand for any disrespect at Juventus.<\/p>\n I spoke to Lilian Thuram yesterday on the phone. He told me: \u2018If my son Kh\u00e9phren does anything wrong, you can slap him.\u2019<\/p>\n –\u00a0Igor Tudor (March 27) Jos\u00e9 Mourinho always knows what to say. \/ Gualter Fatia\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n All the media training in the world can\u2019t save the sport\u2019s protagonists from breaking character on occasion. Although Mourinho always seems to have an idea of what\u2019s coming out of his mouth.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to be very naughty but very honest.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mourinho (May 31)<\/p>\n Haaland can be similarly blunt.<\/p>\n Every footballer is waiting the whole year for holidays.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Erling Haaland (July 31)<\/p>\n Burnley captain Josh Brownhill was perhaps thinking of an exciting summer trip when Championship promotion was confirmed after the Clarets conceded 16 goals in 46 league games:<\/p>\n We\u2019ve bored our way to the Premier League.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Josh Brownhill (April 21)<\/p>\n The criticism which Scott Parker attracted from even his own players for a mightily successful season with Burnley rams home a sentiment captured by the most prolific winner of promotion in English league football history.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lonely job, being a manager.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Neil Warnock (Aug. 1)<\/p>\n Miron Musli\u0107 offered some specifics on the genre when he previewed the evening he would spend after masterminding Plymouth Argyle\u2019s FA Cup upset of Liverpool<\/a>.<\/p>\n I will go home. I will rewatch the game. I will eat some nachos and drink some Fanta. Very boring for me. But the fans should enjoy themselves.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Miron Musli\u0107 (Feb. 9) Chelsea have two strong-willed managers. \/ Darren Walsh\/Chelsea FC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The managers of Chelsea<\/a> men and women take different approaches to the treatment of their players. <\/p>\n My father is 75 years old and for 50 years he\u2019s been a fisherman, working from two o\u2019clock in the morning till 10 o\u2019clock in the morning. This is a hard life\u2014not the way a player works.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Enzo Maresca (Sept. 19)<\/p>\n Enzo Maresca\u2019s father may be best advised to avoid Sonia Bompastor.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t let my players breathe.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Sonia Bompastor (April 30)<\/p>\n It seems as though Arnaut Danjuma may have come across the serial-winning Frenchwoman.<\/p>\n There are few coaches who are not crazy.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Arnaut Danjuma (Dec. 27)<\/p>\n Managers aren\u2019t the only ones that can be a little unhinged.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a bit of a psychopath.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Wojciech Szcz\u0119sny (July 9)<\/p>\n \u201cA few years ago I learned to turn off emotions completely during matches,\u201d Barcelona\u2019s goalkeeper somewhat worryingly declared. \u201cI\u2019m not in everyday life, only in sport. Many athletes are too, that\u2019s why I admire them: Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods… It\u2019s a psychological profile, we\u2019re all very similar.\u201d<\/p>\n I see myself as a scumbag on the pitch. This character is needed in every team.<\/p>\n –\u00a0David Raum (Jan. 8)<\/p>\n Scumbags aren\u2019t exclusively required on the pitch.<\/p>\n There are coaches who try things that don\u2019t work and fail, but they say, \u2018I died with my idea.\u2019 If you die with your idea, you\u2019re a fool.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mourinho (July 22)<\/p>\n Egos kill success.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Hansi Flick (Sept. 3) No one does brutal honesty like Ruben Amorim. \/ Catherine Ivill-AMA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n No one can match Amorim\u2019s levels of unfiltered\u2014unwanted, unrecommended, unwise\u2014levels of honesty.<\/p>\n Sometimes I want to quit, sometimes I want to be here for 20 years … Sometimes I hate my players, sometimes I love my players.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ruben Amorim (Aug. 29)<\/p>\n It would not be Manchester United without suffering a little bit.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ruben Amorim (Oct. 25)<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t stop with the club\u2019s manager. United\u2019s minority co-owner has also proven to be loose lipped, especially when it comes to his opinion of the players.<\/p>\n Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Sir Jim Ratcliffe (March 10) Nonno Gasp wasn\u2019t always as friendly as he looked. \/ Pier Marco Tacca\/Getty Images<\/p>\n A torrent of tongue-lashing takes place behind the scenes, but some managers can\u2019t help but bring their critiques into the open.<\/p>\n Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I\u2019ve ever seen. He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Gian Piero Gasperini on Ademola Lookman<\/p>\n He can become a good right back for the physicality he has. The thing is not to play in the middle because he\u2019s not clever enough with the composure.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Pep Guardiola on Matheus Nunes<\/p>\n Unfortunately for him he does a lot of things well but he has been a bit too much at the crime scene.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Arne Slot on Ibrahima Konat\u00e9<\/p>\n There\u2019s no way you\u2019ll go into a race and be given the keys to a Honda Civic and say, \u2018I want you to drive it like a Ferrari.\u2019 It\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Brendan Rodgers on the Celtic squad<\/p>\n After conceding three goals in the final eight minutes to give up a 1\u20130 lead at Old Trafford, Southampton\u2019s increasingly beleaguered Croatian manager Ivan Juri\u0107 managed to insult his players and the entire peninsula of Italy: <\/p>\n There is a moment you have to be Italian. Some fouls. We are innocent, like kids, playing well and they score. I will show the situation when you do other things. We have to be more evil.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ivan Juric (Jan 16)<\/p>\n Clearly Juri\u0107, who has spent more than 20 years playing and managing in Serie A, was familiar with the sentiment preached by the legendary Italian journalist Gianni Brera: \u201cIn Italy, we have never heard of fair play.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcus Rashford (right) quickly lost the trust of Ruben Amorim. \/ IMAGO\/PA Images<\/p>\n It seemed for a time that Amorim had never heard of Marcus Rashford\u2019s standing within Manchester United<\/a>. After leaving the academy graduate out of the squad yet again, the United boss claimed he had more faith in the club\u2019s then-63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital.<\/p>\n You can see on the bench we miss a bit of pace on the bench. But I would put Vital before a player who doesn\u2019t give the maximum every day.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ruben Amorim on Marcus Rashford<\/p>\n Amorim\u2019s Mancunian ire was not reserved for Rashford.<\/p>\n We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ruben Amorim (Jan. 19)<\/p>\n Unwanted opinions proliferate the game. Bayern Munich executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge lambasted Newcastle United\u2019s entire transfer strategy after the Magpies paid \u00a369 million ($93m) for Nick Woltemade, who snubbed the Bavarians for Tyneside.<\/p>\n I congratulate Stuttgart, because they found an idiot who paid the money we didn\u2019t want to pay in Munich.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Sept. 28)<\/p>\n Newcastle took little notice of Rummenigge, and Real Madrid adopted the same indifference to Roy Keane\u2019s view of Trent Alexander-Arnold.<\/p>\n They\u2019re talking about him going to Real Madrid; he\u2019ll be going to Tranmere Rovers at this rate.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Roy Keane on Trent Alexander-Arnold<\/p>\n Keane also claimed that Haaland\u2019s general standard of play was \u201calmost like a League Two player.\u201d And he remains one of the Premier League\u2019s most sought-after pundits.<\/p>\n Next. Best Strikers in the World. The 25 Best Strikers in World Soccer\u2014Ranked. dark<\/p>\n Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic stuck up for players<\/a> in this ongoing war of words with the sport\u2019s talking heads.<\/p>\n I think those guys are chasing checks and for me I just feel like they\u2019re really evil, honestly, because they\u2019ve been players and they know what it\u2019s like when you\u2019re getting bashed. Those are the same guys that\u2019ll turn around and shake your hand and try to be friendly with you at the end of the day.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Tim Weah (Aug. 13)<\/p>\n Long-held establishments also came under fire this year.<\/p>\n For example, if the BBC says Frenkie earns 40 million a year, it\u2019s their responsibility to ensure the information they publish is accurate. And when something isn\u2019t true, as was the case here, I feel I have the right to criticise them: they published something false.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Frenkie de Jong (Oct. 17)<\/p>\n None more so than the game\u2019s governing bodies.<\/p>\n Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish\u2019s view of his club being banned from the Europa League by UEFA<\/a> did conveniently overlook his poor inbox monitoring. \u201cIn 15 years I’ve never had an email from UEFA, not one,\u201d he scoffed. \u201cThey sent a notification that this rule change was coming to info@cpfc.co.uk. Nobody saw it so they kept sending it again and again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest injustice in the history of football.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Steve Parish (July 11) VAR looms large above most Premier League fixtures. \/ JUSTIN TALLIS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The sport\u2019s referees\u2014and VAR in particular\u2014were routinely bombarded by disgruntled managers and players.<\/p>\n Those people there at FIFA wearing Armani, in their smart jackets, are turning this into technological football. The rules were perfect, they should give a Nobel prize to the person who invented them, and they\u2019re ruining it.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Joaqu\u00edn Caparr\u00f3s (May 18)<\/p>\n I just thought we had a bit more about us as a race in terms of fighting against things that derail the core of what we believe in.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ange Postecoglou (April 4)<\/p>\n The game is gone if that\u2019s a red card.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Thomas Frank (Dec. 20)<\/p>\n VAR wasn\u2019t the only FIFA creation causing fury.<\/p>\n Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football.<\/p>\n –\u00a0J\u00fcrgen Klopp (June 28) Mikel Arteta has expressed some odd takes. \/ BRUNO FAHY\/BELGA MAG\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The skillset of a successful manager eerily overlaps with that of a cult leader. Just as those false prophets, some coach have been taken in by their own often unfounded messaging.<\/p>\n I have the feeling that this competition [Club World Cup] is going to be as important, if not more important, than the Champions League.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Enzo Maresca (July 13)<\/p>\n In the bizarre debate over precisely what Jude Bellingham said to referee Jos\u00e9 Luis Munuera Montero during a league game last February, Ancelotti wasn\u2019t convincing anyone:<\/p>\n He said f— off, not f— you\u2014that\u2019s way different.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Carlo Ancelotti (Feb. 15)<\/p>\n Arteta also didn\u2019t have many takers to his lofty opinion of Arsenal after getting knocked out of the Champions League<\/a> semifinals by Paris Saint-Germain:<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been a better team in the competition from what I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Mikel Arteta (May 7)<\/p>\n Viktor Gy\u00f6keres boasted a similar confidence shortly before he signed for Arteta\u2019s Arsenal.<\/p>\n You haven\u2019t seen the best of Gy\u00f6keres yet.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Viktor Gy\u00f6keres (July 12)<\/p>\n We\u2019re still waiting for the best of Gy\u01d2keres at Arsenal<\/a>, but fans didn\u2019t have to hold their breath for Xabi Alonso\u2019s best intentions to fall flat.<\/p>\n Hopefully we don\u2019t have to talk about the referees. I don\u2019t want to talk too soon.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Xabi Alonso (Aug. 17)<\/p>\n The referee\u2019s decisions drove us crazy.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Xabi Alonso (Dec. 7) Xabi Alonso (right) has been confounded by VAR more than most managers. \/ Joan Valls\/Urbanandsport\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Ange Postecoglou needed to wait just two weeks before his triumphant declaration during Tottenham\u2019s Europa League trophy parade was spectacularly undermined by his sacking:<\/p>\n All the best television series, season three is better than season two.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ange Postecoglou (May 23)<\/p>\n Erik ten Hag only lasted two more days at Bayer Leverkusen after calling for more time and less wizardry.<\/p>\n I am no Harry Potter.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Erik ten Hag (Aug. 29)<\/p>\n Amorim is still searching for the spell to break Manchester United\u2019s curse.<\/p>\n Six months ago, I said the storm was coming. Today, after this disastrous season, I want to tell you that good times are coming.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ruben Amorim (May 25)<\/p>\n Wishful thinking grips players as much as managers, spreading across the globe and at every level of the footballing pyramid.<\/p>\n I told my friends I don\u2019t dream of winning one Ballon d\u2019Or, I dream of winning many.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Lamine Yamal (Sept. 9)<\/p>\n What a story it would be if I went to the World Cup after I was in the [Chelsea] bomb squad and everyone had counted me out 12 months prior. It would just be the biggest middle finger to so many people, which to me is a motivation.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ben Chilwell (Nov. 26)<\/p>\n There is a fine line between being wishful and wilfully ignorant. Neil Warnock crossed it.<\/p>\n Beckenbauer would never have got on, would he, with the data? He\u2019d have been playing Sunday league, Beckenbauer.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Neil Warnock (Aug. 1)<\/p>\n As did Lazio\u2019s former falconer Juan Bernab\u00e8. The divisive character in charge of the club\u2019s live eagle mascot, who had previously sparked controversy for his open admiration of Benito Mussolini, was sacked by the Serie A side after publishing a post-op image of himself following a procedure to attach a prosthetic penis. Bernab\u00e8 was shocked by the club\u2019s reaction:<\/p>\n For me, nudity is normal. I grew up in an open-minded family of naturists. I don\u2019t understand what\u2019s pornographic about the photo.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Juan Bernab\u00e8 (Jan. 13) Luka Modri\u0107\u2019s time with Real Madrid came to an emotional conclusion over the summer of 2025. \/ IMAGO \/Gribaudi\/ImagePhoto<\/p>\n As keen as its seedy underbelly is still spill out on show, football can also offer some wholesome moments.<\/p>\n I\u00f1igo P\u00e9rez had the perfect sentiment to express Rayo Vallecano\u2019s wholly unexpected qualification for European competition at the end of last season:<\/p>\n My grandad used to say to me \u2018effort equals reward.\u2019 That\u2019s not always true, but I\u2019m happy that tonight it is.<\/p>\n –\u00a0I\u00f1igo P\u00e9rez (May 24)<\/p>\n Dan Burn enjoyed his own fairytale when helping his boyhood club Newcastle<\/a> end a 56-year trophy drought two days after earning his a first England call-up at the age of 32.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to go to sleep because I feel like I\u2019m dreaming and it\u2019s all going to be a lie.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Dan Burn (March 16)<\/p>\n Leicester City\u2019s Premier League title winner Claudio Ranieri knows all about the fleeting joys this game can conjure.<\/p>\n This is football: sometimes it gives you beautiful things, other times less beautiful. You need to know how to accept it.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Claudio Ranieri (April 13)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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