Massive recognition for a Croatian football coach who, in his first season in the Belgian First Division A, is the frontrunner for the championship title.
The renowned British football magazine Four Four Two has published a list of the top European managers you’ve probably never heard of, and interestingly, one Croatian representative has found his way into the top ten, reports Gol.hr on April 11, 2018.
Precisely, the list recognized 40-year-old Ivan Leko from Split who became a big hit in Belgium at the helm of Club Brugge. Leko’s club is currently the convincing frontrunner to claim the championship title with his unique format and style of play.
“Brugge fans were generally disappointed when 40-year-old Croat Leko was named as coach last summer. Granted, he used to play for the club, but his inexperience was definitely against him. How wrong they were to doubt him. With Leko on the touchline, the blue and blacks suddenly flourished, playing the best football in Belgium by a distance and getting phenomenal results at the top of the table. He is tactically flexible and a great motivator, proving himself as an ambitious coach with boundless self-belief. Winning the league title in his debut season would be a great achievement; the sky’s the limit for him thereafter,” writes Four Four Two and ESPN correspondent Michael Yokhin.
Leko spent most of his professional career playing in Belgium – at Club Brugge and Lokeren – and before Club Brugge at Sint-Truiden. Leko also played for his hometown heroes Hajduk Split, as well as Trogir, Malaga and Germinal Beerschot. Furthermore, Leko made 13 appearances for the Croatia national team from 1999 to 2006. Though he was called up for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he did not get a chance to play in the competition. If you remember, Croatia was knocked out in the group stage.
Leko began his career as a manager at Oud-Heverlee Leuven and was an assistant to Igor Tudor on PAOK’s bench before returning to his beloved Belgium.
In addition to Leko, the list includes Domenico Tedesco (Schalke), Pablo Machin (Girona), Florian Kohfeldt (Werder), Erik Ten Hag (Ajax), Miguel Cardoso (Rio Ave), Luis Pimenta (Brommapojkarna) Semak (UFA), Adi Hutter (Young Boys) and Cristophe Pelissier (Amiens).
Translated from Gol.hr
