Two Down, One To Go! Mourinho and Van Gaal's Treble Quest

Come May 22nd, either the master (Louis Van Gaal) or the apprentice (Jose Mourinho) would have achieved two milestones in their career. One, Inter Milan or Bayern Munich will have captured the unique treble (domestic league, domestic cup and continental cup). Two, either manager will become only the third manager to have won this prestigious tournament twice with two different clubs.

Everyone knows the history behind Van Gaal and Mourinho. It was Van Gaal who spotted the potential of Mourinho and offered him the chance to work with him. Mourinho calls Van Gaal his "teacher" and with good reason, as Mourinho's demeanor seemed to mirror the arrogance and aloofness of Louis Van Gaal. The tough taskmaster attitude towards their players are remarkably similar.

The similarities in team preparation have also been acknowledged by Louis Van Gaal when he spoke to Soccernet,

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Roberto Mancini Brings Style And Swagger Back To The English Premier League!

Roberto Mancini's appointment has had the desired effect on the stuttering Manchester City team. In the two matches that the Italian has been in charge, the team has tightened up with two clean sheets and Carlos Tevez looks to be in the form of his life.

City's performance has been so encouraging that Mancini has been bold enough to change his cautious top four statement to legitimate Premier League title contenders. All these on the back of two wins on the trot.

I for one, am glad Mancini has arrived on Premier League shores. His style and confidence are reminiscent of one who had left...Jose Mourinho! Look, the similarities can be uncanny.

They wear their scarfs the same way...

They like embracing their best players...

They celebrate goals in the same unrestrained manner...

and also the same media-savvy personality

So who says Mourinho can't be replaced? The self-styled "Special One" privileged place in English football ironically, may be taken over by the man he replaced as Inter boss.

Roberto Mancini has officially brought back style and swagger back to the English Premier League.

World's Best Football Manager

Bob Bradley is the most winningest coach/manager in MLS history with 141 victories. That got me thinking about who could be the best active football manager. Naturally, the usual suspects were around, namely, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez.
I came across the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) website and found All-Time World Coach Ranking.

From the period of 1996-2008, the accumulated rankings compiled by IFFHS are as follows,
1. Sir Alexander Ferguson (Manchester United)
2. Marcello Lippi (Italy)
3. Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)
4. Guus Hiddink (Russia/Chelsea)
5. Sven-Göran Eriksson (Mexico)
Sir Alex had a winning percentage of 58.3% out of 1261 matches and is the only manager from this list to have won the Champions League twice.
Guus Hiddink however had a slightly better win percentage (59.2%) with a lower number of games.

6. José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Felix (Inter Milan)
Jose Mourinho was 6th overall. Jose has a superior win percentage of 68% but lost out on the elusive Champions League Cup while at Chelsea. Still solely on win percentage, Jose is the world's best football manager.

In 14th place, is
14. Rafael Benítez Maudes (Liverpool)
- a winning percentage of 55.5% and boosted by the consecutive semifinal appearances in recent years in the Champions League.

16. Vicente del Bosque (Spain)
The current Spain boss is in 16th place, cruelly let go by Real Madrid but now proving that he has the managerial nous for international football. Del Bosque's Spain is still unbeaten in the World Cup 2010 Qualifiers.

20. Fabio Capello (England)
Have won 9 out of 12 England games with a win percentage of 70%. Let's hope he wins the World Cup for England. It's been too long for the oft-suffering England fans.

Becks with Fergie before Inter CL game (image from Getty images)