United Set For Second Season Without A Trophy

Arsenal’s 2-1 win in the FA Cup Quarter Final at Old Trafford last night meant that Manchester United will endure a second season without getting their hands on a trophy.  For most teams that’s no big deal, and even Louis Van Gaal’s opposite number last night Arsene Wenger, has suffered a far longer and more painful barren spell of trophy-less years at Arsenal.  But for Manchester United and their army of fans this is an unusual situation.  In fact the last time they experienced two years without a title was in a 4 year spell stretching from season 1985-86 to 1988-89.  They will all be hoping that this one doesn’t last 4 years.

A lot was made of Louis Van Gaal’s record at previous clubs where he won a trophy in his first season at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, which given they’re the top clubs in their respective leagues probably wasn’t that remarkable.  However, he won’t achieve that with Manchester United and some interesting stats in the Daily Mail show us that he has won 19 trophies in 831 matches giving him a ‘trophy per match’ average of 43.73 matches for each trophy.  The guys at the Daily Mail gave us the stats for other high profile managers past and present which makes for fascinating reading.

The full list is headed by Pep Guardiola with a hugely impressive 19 trophies achieved at an average of only 19.9 matches for each one.  Having said that, many of the other managers would have loved to have managed the Barcelona and Bayern Munich sides that he’s presided over.  Bob Paisley’s great era at Liverpool saw him amass 20 trophies in an average of 26.8 games.  Maybe more impressive is the late Jock Stein’s haul of 27 trophies at an average of 37.2 games.  Sir Alex Ferguson boasts the biggest number of trophies at 44, even though he needed over 48 games for each one.  The great Sir Bobby Robson has the worst record in the list, of only 13 trophies at an average of 111 games for each one.  However, if his England side in Italia 90 had lifted the World Cup, his legend as the greatest manager from these shores would have been secured!

Here’s the full list from the Daily Mail:

1)  Pep Guardiola – 378 matches, 21 trophies, 19.9 games per trophy

2)  Bob Paisley – 535 matches, 20 trophies, 26.8 games per trophy

3)  Jose Mourinho – 727 matches, 21 trophies, 34.6 games per trophy

4)  Walter Smith – 766 matches, 21 trophies, 36.5 games per trophy

5)  Jock Stein – 1005 matches,  27 trophies, 37.2 games per trophy

6)  Ottmar Hitzfeld – 1039 matches, 26 trophies, 40.0 games per trophy

7)  Louis Van Gaal – 831 matches, 19 trophies, 43.7 games per trophy

8)  Vincente Del Bosque – 472 matches, 10 trophies, 47.2 games per trophy

9)  Fabio Capello – 625 matches, 13 trophies, 48.1 games per trophy

10)  Roberto Mancini – 627 matches, 13 trophies, 48.2 games per trophy

11)  Sir Alex Ferguson – 2131 matches, 44 trophies, 48.4 games per trophy

12)  Marcello Lippi – 958 matches, 19 trophies, 50.4 games per trophy

13)  Carlo Ancelotti – 952 matches, 16 trophies, 59.5 games per trophy

14)  Rafael Benitez – 912 matches, 12 trophies, 76.0 games per trophy

15)  Arsene Wenger – 1487 matches, 17 trophies, 87.5 games per trophy

16)  Brian Clough – 1319 matches, 13 trophies, 101.5 games per trophy

17)  Bill Shankly – 1160 matches, 11 trophies, 105.5 games per trophy

18)  Sir Bobby Robson – 1446 matches, 13 trophies, 111.2 games per trophy