Managers feeling the pressure – the best of (video)

While many of us like to think of ourselves as football purists, with the action on the field mattering above all, it is undeniably fun to watch a manager dispensing with pleasantries and saying something that makes you stop and think ‘did he just say that?’

Sometimes, as Rafa Benitez has shown us, even a pre-meditated statement can seem downright knee-jerk and bonkers. In the midst of Liverpool’s most threatening title challenge for years, he took the FA and Sir Alex Ferguson to task on the fixture list, Fergie’s influence over the FA, and referees. This press conference is often pin-pointed as the time that Liverpool conceded the title to Man United, when in reality, they won 12 out of 15 games to end the season. So ignore the context, and enjoy the compelling viewing.

If Benitez was calm and collected, Kevin Keegan was nothing of the sort. In a post-match interview after a win at Leeds, the Newcastle manager was bristling at the suggestion that teams were trying harder against Fergie’s Man United side than Newcastle. In the heat of one of the Premier League’s most exciting title races, the Magpies were blowing a 12-point lead, and like Liverpool, ended up losing out. Unfortunately, with the timing and emotion involved, it is impossible to look past this as a key psychological victory for Man United.

This one was a snapshot into what many managers are genuinely like, on the bench – pure unbridled adrenaline and emotion. For Graham Taylor, this was the night when it all started to unravel. Needing a win, England fell to a 2-0 defeat in Holland, as their World Cup 1994 hopes were cut to ribbons, thanks largely to a Ronald Koeman free-kick. Koeman was lucky to stay on the field to begin with, and Taylor realised exactly what this night would cost him – his job.