Loew, Ancelotti or Simeone: Who should win FIFA Manager of the Year 2014 award?

The finalists – Diego Simeone, Carlo Ancelotti, and Joachim Loew.Diego Simeone, Carlo Ancelotti and Joachim Loew have made it to the final list of the FIFA Coach of the Year – 2014 Award. Each one of them has achieved incredible feats with their respective teams. Here is a piece on the three finalists.

#1 Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid)

Diego Simeone – The enchanter who took Atletico Madrid to great heights in 2014.

In the home dugout at the Vicente Calderon, one can see a well-built figure standing tall, suited and booted in black with greasy and well-combed hair. The figure, while making wild gestures with its hands, looks like a Goth performing some kind of magic. Well, the man standing, if not a magician, is surely a charming personality.

Diego Simeone’s pep talks, relationship with his players was the key to Atleti’s rise in the recent seasons. Last season, his players were even ready to take bullets for him on the field. The dark horses of La Liga, Atletico, had a transfer budget that was meagre compared to the budgets of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

2014 capped Atleti’s rise and Simeone’s genius. In 2014, Atletico made it to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, the finals of the UEFA Champions League and also won the Spanish Super Copa, apart from breaking the Barcelona – Real Madrid duopoly in the La Liga. Continuous pressing coupled with a narrow and deep defending was the master plan used by Simeone to hold off the super powers in Spain and Europe.

At the start of the new season, even after losing a few key players, Atleti have managed to put up a decent show. The main reason for this is the right choices made by Simeone in picking up the replacements for the departed players. Borussia Dortmund, the finalists of UCL in 2012-2013, are now lying in the relegation zone of Bundesliga. Finger can be pointed out at Jürgen Klopp, for not making the right signings.

Diego Simeone deserves to win the FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year – 2014 Award, for the revolution he started in Spain last season, which has inspired a number of clubs throughout Europe.

#2 Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)

Calmness personified is Carlo Ancelotti. Trailing by a goal to the city rivals Atletico in the Champions League final, it was his assistant, Zinedine Zidane who did all the shouting as Ancelotti, calm as a summer sea, stood in the background thinking about the substitutions to make. Experience is what separates Ancelotti form Simeone.

His plan of bringing on a proactive Marcelo to support Angel di Maria on the left proved to be decisive in winning the La Decima for Real. Copa del Rey was bagged a month before the final in Lisbon.

Real Madrid have made a good start to this season by winning the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. After few glitches the early stages, Real now find them at the top of the league standings.

Ancelotti’s main contribution to this Real Madrid team is his shrewd deployment of 4-4-2, which changes to 4-2-4 while attacking. He instilled a winning mentality in the Real camp by switching from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2, which resulted in a run of 18 games unbeaten last season. This phase was a very vital one and Ancelotti must be credited for it.

Ancelotti isn’t afraid to spend big; he has signed James Rodriguez from AS Monaco to add to the club’s custom of signing superstars every year.

An unbeaten run of 20 plus games this season has made Carlo Ancelotti a true contender for the FIFA Manager of the Year – 2014 Award.

#3 Joachim Loew (Germany)

“Jogi” Loew ended Germany’s trophyless run by winning the World Cup in Brazil.

The tactical genius of Joachim Loew took inspiration from the Golden generation of Spain and adopted a system which was a blend of 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 with high pressing and incisive passing. “Jogi” Loew learnt from the mistakes he committed during the World Cup of 2010 and Euro 2012. He finally broke Germany’s deadlock by lifting the World Cup in Brazil this July.

Germany never had any real difficulties in Brazil, except Algeria, who came close to an upset. The two matches before the final at Belo Horizonte proved to be a cake walk for the Germans. Loew will be best remembered for tweaking his tactics depending on the opponents. Against Brazil, he took advantage of the attacking mindset of Marcelo by targeting and overloading the Selecao’s left back position.

With big names retiring from international football, Loew has a tough task ahead of him to choose the right players. Recent performances in the Euro 2016 qualifiers have been dull and Loew is expected to make some big changes.

Of the three contenders, Loew is the one with the least chances to bag home the award, at least according to me.