Pep closing in on sir Alex Ferguson

By winning his fifth EFL Cup title, Pep Guardiola became the most successful manager in the competition’s history (surpassing Brian Clough, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho). But even more importantly for the Spanish coach, he also reached 40 trophies in his managerial career. Step by step, one of the most influential managers in football history has now closed the gap to the all-time record holder, Sir Alex Ferguson, to single digits. The legendary Scot finished his career with 49 trophies.

Guardiola has been unmatched in the period since 2008, when he began his managerial career. On that list, Luis Enrique is second with 19 trophies, Marcelo Gallardo third with 15, followed by Jose Mourinho (14), Massimiliano Allegri and Carlo Ancelotti (13 each), and Zinedine Zidane and Jurgen Klopp (11 each). This League Cup is the 19th trophy Guardiola has won with Manchester City. He has 14 with FC Barcelona and seven with Bayern Munich. What makes it even more impressive is that Guardiola reached a total of 40 trophies in less than 18 years of coaching. For comparison, Ferguson needed 39 years to collect his 49 titles.

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From this perspective, Guardiola’s second place on the all-time list already looks quite secure. Mircea Lucescu, who follows with 38 trophies, is now 80 years old and currently manages the Romanian national team, while Carlo Ancelotti trails by four and has also moved into international management. As for potentially surpassing Ferguson, much will depend on where Guardiola continues his career—whether he stays in club football or, like Ancelotti, moves into international management. If he stays at club level, there is little doubt he immediately becomes the favorite to become the most decorated manager in football history.