As Arsene Wenger comes under fire, here are five top bosses like Jose Mourinho, David Moyes and Carlo Ancelotti who lost the dressing room before
After the Gunners' Carabao Cup collapse sparked rumours over Wenger, our friends at Football Whispers look at other big-name managers who faced testing times
LOST the dressing room. It’s the accusation thrown at any struggling manager and the reason given when the inevitable parting of company follows.
And as the fall-out from Sunday’s humbling defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final continues, reports have emerged claiming Arsene Wenger has lost the Arsenal dressing room.
With a year left on his contract the Gunners’ hierarchy will meet with the Frenchman at the end of the season to weigh up his future at the Emirates Stadium.
Claims he has lost the confidence of his players could hasten Wenger’s departure and we asked our friends at to trawl the archives for other examples of managers who lost the dressing room.
Jose Mourinho
The Portuguese coach’s career has been characterised by three-year cycles. Though considered a success at every club he’s managed, Mourinho has an unrivalled ability to make his position untenable and leave under a cloud.
But few examples have been as spectacular as his second stint at Chelsea.
Mourinho returned as the messiah, having won two Premier League titles in his first spell. That quickly became three in 2015. Then things unravelled.
The tone for Mourinho’s final season at Stamford Bridge was set when Chelsea drew 2-2 with Swansea City on the opening day of the season.
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The result wasn’t ideal but far worse was the blazing row he had with Dr Eva Carneiro after she rushed to the aid of Eden Hazard.
Things did not improve and with Chelsea players no longer appearing to perform for their manager, Mourinho was sacked with the reigning champions languishing in the bottom half after 15 games.
David Moyes
Replacing Sir Alex Ferguson after 26 glittering years at Manchester United was always an unenviable task but it was one that then-Everton boss Moyes could not turn down.
The Scot decided to do things his way but soon regretted it. His first mistake was to replace Ferguson’s long-established and well-respected coaching staff with his own men – something Fergie felt was an error.
Next he asked former England captain Rio Ferdinand to watch tapes of Phil Jagielka from his Everton days in order to glean tips on how to defend. The biggest controversy, though, was the decision to ban chips from the training ground menu.
Gradually Moyes alienated United’s players and as soon as it became mathematically impossible to qualify for the Champions League he was sacked.
Carlo Ancelotti
Universally respected as a coach, Ancelotti’s bulging medal collection has seen him win the Champions League three times and clinch league titles in four countries.
So when he was appointed as Pep Guardiola’s successor at Bayern Munich it appeared a match made in heaven. A Bundesliga title duly followed and all seemed to be going well.
However, the start of the 2017/18 season proved disastrous for Die Roten.
Tonked 3-0 at Paris Saint-Germain – Ancelotti’s old club – in their second Champions League fixture, Bayern won just four from six domestically.
‘Struggling’ in third, the Bavarian giants ditched Ancelotti at the end of September with the Italian’s relaxed attitude to training and lack of discipline cited as the reasons for the players’ dissatisfaction.
Andre Villas-Boas
Young, handsome and charming, AVB was touted as the next Mourinho and followed in the former Chelsea boss’ footsteps, winning the treble with Porto before completing a £13.3m switch to Stamford Bridge – a world-record compensation fee for a manager at the time.
But that was as far as the comparison went. Villas-Boas’ handling of the club’s senior players did not endear him to a squad which already had reservations about his lack of a playing career.
Out of the top four following a defeat to Everton, AVB cancelled a day off to hold an inquest. It did not go well. The players questioned their coach’s tactics in front of owner Roman Abramovich.
The Russian later demanded an explanation after Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Michael Essien were benched for a Champions League last-16 defeat in Napoli.
In March 2012, following a 1-0 loss at West Brom and fearing they would not make the top four, Chelsea sacked AVB and placed his assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, in charge. The rest is history.
Brian Clough
Ol’ Big Head had long coveted the Leeds United job.
The former Derby County manager despised what the Whites – and particularly manager Don Revie – stood for and felt they lacked the discipline or grace to be the people’s champions.
Upon his arrival at Elland Road in July 1974, the opinionated Clough set his stall out early by uttering the immortal line: “You can throw all your medals in the bin because they were not won fairly.”
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Unsurprisingly that did not go down well and the players who had grown used to Revie’s style of management before he was appointed England manager.
Clough attempted to put his stamp on the squad by bringing in some stalwarts from his Derby days but Leeds’ players simply refused to perform and, led by Johnny Giles, Norman Hunter and Billy Bremner, the revolt saw Clough dismissed after 44 disastrous days.