There’s a point with any “greatest manager” debate where it stops being about medals and starts being about what they actually built. That’s why, for me, the very top table is crowded, and it’s hard to split it cleanly.
Busby, Shankly, Ferguson. Different eras, different methods, but the same core achievement: they didn’t just win, they created institutions out of clubs that needed rebuilding. That matters. Anyone can inherit a good side and keep it ticking over for a bit. It’s the ones who change a club’s direction, standards and identity who are harder to ignore.
Liverpool’s names belong in the serious conversation
After that absolute top tier, you’ve got a group who still feel essential to the English story. Paisley is the obvious one for us, because it’s not only what he won, it’s how Liverpool became the benchmark. Then you can make a proper case for Klopp too. Not because he arrived with everything ready-made, but because he dragged the mood of the club and the expectations of the league somewhere else entirely.
Wenger sits in that bracket for similar reasons, whether you like Arsenal or not. He modernised habits across the division and made “how you play” part of the conversation in a way it hadn’t been. And Kenny Dalglish, in terms of influence and aura, is right in there as well. You don’t have to force it. Those names just fit.
Why some brilliant winners still don’t land
Jose is an interesting one because you can’t pretend he wasn’t effective, but I also get why people leave him out. The football could be grim, and the resources at his disposal at the biggest stops were enormous. That combination makes it harder to romanticise. There’s also the personal side for some of us: if you’re the type who publicly tears into staff and people who can’t answer back, it sticks.
As a comparison, the idea of “Clough with money” is harsh but you can see the shape of it: charisma, edge, and then a real sourness when the cycle turns. It’s not that the achievements disappear, it’s that the overall legacy feels spikier.
Pep, money, and the rivalry we actually enjoyed
Pep has to be in the top 10 for what he’s done to the standard of the league, even if nobody’s pretending the finances don’t help. And to be fair, the same era has had other giants spending big too. The uncomfortable truth is that money is part of modern greatness, whether we like it or not.
But I’ll say this: I didn’t “love” City as a club, yet I loved the rivalry. Those seasons against them in Klopp’s best years were the closest thing to two heavyweights trading blows every week. It felt like the league had a proper edge again. And as a Liverpool fan, that’s hard not to respect.
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