Establishing a 5-star coaching staff in Football Manager is one of the essential task when looking to enhance the development of your players. Even though you’d like to gather the best Football Manager 2022 coaches with great reputation and staff abilities relevant to their coaching job, it might be useful to consider staff recruitment at a similar level as squad recruitment.
When it comes to recruitment of players it’s useful to consider the player’s playing pathway and do your businesses early to have better control of the player’s development, especially if they are youth. The same applies to coaches and backroom staff. Like wonderkids and under-23 players they have received a current and potential ability within the editor. The PA level ranges from 0-200, just like players.
Today I would like to look at some of the best Football Manager 2022 coaches in the future as I specifically focus on the coaches with high potential. You might refer to them as Wonderkid Coaches. To restrict the number of coaches, I will prioritize the staff in a coaching role who are under the age of 50. These staff will have an unfilled current ability and could see their coaching attributes improve significantly over the years to come.
Now you might wonder, how?
Before I give you an overview of the coaches with highest potential in Football Manager 2022, let me explain a few methods to develop coaches abilities in FM22.
How to develop coaches abilities in Football Manager 2022?
1. Through Experience
While players will develop their abilities by conducting exercises on the training ground, gaining experiences when playing matches and having coaching staff at their disposal who can get the best out of them. It’s somehow the same with coaches and backroom staff.
Coaches will develop their abilities in the coaching area they are in charge of. A coach being put on Attacking-Tactical assignment will most likely improve Attacking and Tactical Coaching attributes as they gain experience in that area. This means that the coach needs to be responsible for that area over a longer period of time.
2. Taking Coaching Courses
Apart from being on the training ground working with players abilities on and off the ball, you can improve the staff abilities by sending them on Coaching courses.
In the game, there are 7 different coaching qualifications which will affect their knowledge level and abilities.
The coaching qualifications ranges from lowest to highest:
- None
- National C
- National B
- National A
- Continental C Licence
- Continental B Licence
- Continental A Licence
- Continental Pro Licence
To send a staff on Coaching Course, you need to go to the specific staff’s profile and click the overview drop down menu and select ‘Send on Coaching Course‘.
NB! You will also receive recommendations of staff that would benefit from improving their coaching qualifications.
When a coach (or staff) is studying for a new coach licence, his performance on the training ground will be reduced – meaning the development of players in said category will be slightly hampered.
Duration & Cost
The different coaching qualifications will have different durations and costs before the licence is acquired.
The time it takes to finish a coaching course is as follows:
National B to A – 4 months
National A to Continental C – 4 months
Continental C to B – 6 months
Continental B to A – 12 months
Continental A to Pro – 12 months
Depending on the coaches personalities and personal ambitions, a staff may quit the study before it is finished.
3. Assigning a Technical Director
Another way to improve the development of coaches is to assign a Technical Director. The Technical Director’s role is to be involved with coaching development and being responsible for hiring and firing backroom staff. He will recommend on new staff additions by using his reputation and knowledge about the Staff abilities to identify weak positions or a better way to set up your coaching team.
He might suggest to reduce the workload for a specific coach or recommend a coach to take care of a different area of training but can also suggest and send coaches on courses to improve their abilities.
How much the backroom staff and coaches develops under the leadership of a Technical Director will depend on his Reputation and Judging Staff Ability.
A Technical Director with higher Judging Staff Ability will be able to provide more accurate feedback on where the coach is best utilized – something that will help to assign the coach to his best coaching category at an appropriate work load.
Top 20 FM22 Coaches With High Potential
Luiz Fernando Lubel / 32 / Cuiabá EC
We kick off this list of coaches with high potential with a Brazilian coach that could be a great signing for clubs below the top 20. Luíz Fernando Lubel might not be a familiar name to you, but is definitely one to put on your watch list if you’ve made the Brazilian leagues playable in your FM22 career.
The current coach of Cuiabã in the Brasileirão Serie A works alongside former Brazilian fullback legend Jorginho, who was part of the Brazilian national team who won World Cup 1994, and goalkeeping coach Fernando Miranda, who also got great potential.
Lubel’s abilities in Tactical coaching (11) and Tactical Knowledge in additional to Judging player ability (13) could make him a decent assistant manager in the future. If you are playing in the first division of Spain, Italy, Belgium or France, he might be a very good staff member 5 to 10 years into the future.
Potential Rating: 
Bruno / 40 / Brighton
In the backroom staff of Brighton we find a young Spanish coach with great potential, even though his current staff attributes might be fairly average at the start of a new game. What stands out with Bruno is his Model Professional personality and Judging Player Ability.
I would use him as a General coach who can decrease the workload for the best coaches.
Potential Rating:
Kai Oswald / 43 / VfB Stuttgart
If you want to improve your youth coaching team with a brilliant coach who can help to nurture your youngsters, then you should definitely try to approach to sign Kai Oswald as soon as possible. The compensation fee you have to pay in the first season is only at €60K including a wage demand of around €3K per week.
Kai Oswald is a coach with brilliant Working with youngsters (18) and great Determination (16) which will come in handy for anyone looking to focus on youth development in your save.
He’s able to take on the responsibility as an Defending or Attacking – Technical coach, but could also be a decent Possession – Technical coach if you favour a more direct passing style.
Personality: Resolute
Potential Rating:
Albert Peris / 30 / Barcelona B
Under the leadership of former Barcelona fullback Sergi Barjuan, has 30-year old Spanish coach Albert Peris as his assistant manager. Having maximum abilities to work with youngsters, Albert Peris has the tough task to clear the way for the current La Masia pearls by making them ready for the huge pressure of wearing the Blaugrana colours.
In FM22, Albert Peris is a suitable candidate for taking charge of Possession – Tactical coaching since he got great abilities in Mental (13) and Tactical (12) Coaching. His JPA (13) and JPP (14) together with Tactical knowledge of 12 might make him a decent assistant manager or head of youth development, if you’re looking for a staff adapt at coaching the 4-3-3 formation and favouring a possession football philosophy.
Personality: Balanced
Potential Rating: 
Ryan Mason / 30 / Tottenham
When Ryan Mason was forced to retire in 2018 after suffering from a fractured skull in a competitive match against Chelsea the year before, Tottenham took care of one of their own by offering a position in the youth coaching team by taking charge of the club’s UEFA Youth League squad and eventually the club’s youth Academy.
Ryan Mason became the youngest ever Premier League manager when he was appointed interim manager after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho in April 2020.
Faith is strange sometimes! Now, Ryan Mason has impressed fellow staff with his abilities on leading the weekly training at Spurs and his coaching potential seems to surpass his abilities as a footballer.
Standing out for his Attacking (13), Technical (13) and Mental (13) Coaching he’s the perfect candidate to lead Possession – Technical or Attacking – Technical training.
Currently holding a Continental C licence, he has lots of coaching points to increase! Could we be looking at a potential England manager 20-30 years on?!
Personality: Professional
Potential Rating:
Luciano Vulcano / 33 / A.C. Milan
Do you need a coach to take charge of Defending training and help to improve players tactical understanding of the game and your tactics, then look no further! Luciano Vulcano, is a former Performance Analyst who is currently working as a coach for A.C Milan. Having great Tactical Knowledge and Tactical Coaching he’ll be a 5 star coach sooner rather than later.
Luciano Vulcano should also be considered for the Head of Performance Analyst role. 16 in Analysing Data, Tactical Knowledge, 15 in Judging Player Ability will ensure his feedback about player’s performances and stats are accurate and trustworthy.
Potential Rating:
Carlos Cuesta & Miguel Molina / Arsenal
Arsenal manager Mikael Arteta has really formed a coaching team that can really make a major influence on the team for many years to come. Alongside the more experienced coach and former Arsenal player Steve Round as assistant manager, Arsenal’s coaching team includes no staff over the age of 50! Two of the youngest members in Arteta’s coaching staff is Carlos Cuesta (24) and Miguel Molina (26) – both having the potential to be seen as world-class coaches in the future.
While Miguel Molina has experience as performance analyst for the Armenian and South Korean National team, and therefore excels in Tactical Knowledge (16) and Tactical (15) and Mental (14) Coaching, Carlos Cuesta stands out for his excellent mental abilities and Working with Youngsters (18) – two necessary traits when developing youth.
Carlos Cuesta can also become a decent Sport Scientist.
Potential Rating:
Kolo Touré / 40 / Leicester
Best known perhaps for his days in the Arsenal shirt, the former Ivorian defender Kolo Touré is now making a new career as a coach. Under Brendan Rodgers leadership he’s been appointed as an Assistant Manager.
Kolo Touré’s Model Citizen personality and Determination (18) makes him into a brilliant coach. His past playing experience as central defender with 362 caps makes into the ideal person to handle Defending – Tactical training. His abilities in coaching Marking, Tackling, Concentration and Positioning will aid your team to concede less goals.
Kolo Touré fits any clubs favouring possession football and wants to play out from the back, since he prefers a Passing playing style.
Potential Rating:
Mauro Fumagalli / 42 / Atalanta
Mauro Fumagalli is another great coach to look at. His 14 in Attacking, Defending, Mental and Tactical Coaching means he’ll be a suitable coach to reduce the workload of several coaching categories.
He’s a potential great option as Assistant Manager as well due to his 15 in Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential and 14 in People Management. His ‘Media Friendly’ media handling style will make him a great person to handle press conferences and interviews.
At the start of a new save he will have a Continental A Licence which means you can further improve his coaching abilities over the next year.
Potential Rating:
Ryland Morgans / 44 / CSKA Moscow
Ryland Morgans might not be the most familiar name to you, but he is one coach with lots of experience compared to his age. In the start of his career, he was a loyal lieutenant to Brendan Rogers coaching staff working as Fitness coach at Swansea and Liverpool. He’s been working with Gary Speed at the Welsh National Team as well working on the physic of Luis Suarez.
The Welsh Continental Pro licence coach has also been an assistant manager for the Ivorian Coast National team working in a role as Consultant.
His expertise lies in Fitness coaching and got a PHD in Sports Science. Working on reducing player injuries and improving their conditions and match sharpness, Ryland Morgans might be the ideal Fitness Coach you need.
Potential Rating:
Shaun Derry / 43 / Crystal Palace
Shaun Derry is a former Crystal Palace midfielder who have spent most of his playing career playing in the Sky Bet Championship. Out of 575 appearances, he has 185 appearances for Crystal Palace. After retiring he became Manager for Notts County (2013-15) and Cambridge (2015-18) before eventually coming to Crystal Palace to work as Under-23 assistant manager after a short stint as Oxford coach.
Shaun Derry could be regarded as the perfect General Coach. Even though he’s capable of taking part in all three training categories: Possession, Attacking and Defending, he might be best suited as a Defending – Tactical coach due to his 13 in Defending coaching.
Personality: Driven
Potential Rating:
Matthias Kaltenbach / 36 / 1899 Hoffenheim
Do you enjoy building a squad full of wonderkids and under-23 talents? Matthias Kaltenbach is definitely one to target then! A Wonderkid Coach for your Youth Development Save!
His Working with Youngsters (18) is a perfect coach to handle the development of your youngsters. He’s strict discipline will ensure he will demand lots from his players regardless of whether they are unambitious unprofessional or fairly determined. While this might have a negative effect, I believe Level of Discipline is necessary for better youth development.
Matthias Kaltenbach is a decent General Coach who can reduce the workload of lead Coaches in multiple training categories. He can even be a great Assistant Manager, especially if you favour a Gegenpressing tactical style.
Judging player ability (14), Judging Player Potential (15), Motivation (13) and Tactical Knowledge (12) is why I would look to sign him as Assistant Manager, or as anUnder-23 Manager / B-Team Manager.
Potential Rating:
Jan Hoepner / 40 / Bayer 04 Leverkusen
If you are managing in Germany, or favours Matthias Kaltenbach in the Assistant Manager role and want to build a coaching team of German coaches, then do consider Jan Hoepner for your youth development save as well.
With Working with Youngsters at 17 and far better coaching attributes, the Under-19s coach at Bayer 04 Leverkusen could be the ideal Possession – Tactical or Attacking – Tactical coach you’re searching for.
Having Continental Pro Licence he will provide expertise on the training ground that will be useful when teaching your players how to behave in possession of the ball.
His current wage of €1K per week and on a contract until 30.06.2023 will make him into a fairly cheap signing. In fact, you can get him for a compensation fee of €100K at the start of a new save.
Potential Rating:
Vítor Matos / 33 / Liverpool
England have really managed to attach some of the most promising coaches in football Europe despite Germany and Italy have long been the ones educating the best coaches and managers on the globe.
Jürgen Klopp have really managed to bring together a fierce coaching team – featuring a mix of 5 star backroom staff and coaches with potential. Portuguese coach, Vítor Matos, is one of them.
He started off his coaching career as a youth coach at Trofense and FC Porto before working as head of youth deveopment at the Chinese club Shandong for 2 years.
Vítor Matos stands out for his excellent abilities to Work with youngsters (19) and got the judging player ability (15) and judging player potential (17) to fit as HoYD. Nevertheless, he’s a great Technical Possession coach suited for any clubs playing with a Tiki-Taka tactic or systems favouring a possession game.
Potential Rating:
Xisco Nadal / 35 / Villarreal
Xisco Nadal is a former forward who came through the Villarreal Academy in 2003. The young coach entered the coaching team of Villarreal B after retiring in 2017 and has for the last 5 years worked together with Unai Emery at El Madrigal to bring the club back amongst the top 5 clubs in Spain.
Standing out for his abilities to Work with Youngsters (15), Xisco Nadal is a coach that can be responsible for Attacking – Technical or Possession – Technical coaching. Even though his past playing experience was mostly in regional divisions in the lower leagues of Spain, Xisco Nadal has far better potential as a coach.
NB! Don’t forget Pablo Villa who’s in Villarreal’s coaching staff as well. He’s a true 5-star coach with similar potential as Nadal.
Personality: Fairly Ambitious
Potential Rating:
Bastian Reinhardt / 45 / HSV
Hamburger SV is one of the fallen giants perfect for a restore the glory save in Football Manager 2022. In the club’s youth coaching staff we find the former HSV player Bastian Reinhardt working as a coach for HSV Under-19s.
The former centre-back who amounted 131 appearances for HSV is one of the German coaches with highest potential. His FM22 staff profile is rather well-rounded. 14 in Motivation, Determination, Level of Discipline and Working with Youngsters makes him into a cheap coaching gem. With a contract running until 30.06.2022 you can Approach to Sign him for a compensation of €24K. He won’t demand much wages either (€1.0-1.5K per week).
On top of that, he has a Continental B licence which means that he will improve lots by taking coaching courses. He’s perfect in the Defending – Technical coaching category.
He’s really one to try to sign!
Personality: Professional
Potential Rating:
Dino Toppmöller / 40 / Bayern Münich
Dino Toppmöller is the son of the former football coach of the year 2002, Klaus Toppmöller, who was the manager of Bayer 04 Leverkusen when they reached the Champions League 2001-02 final. Perhaps Dino has learned a lot from his father and is ready to surpass his achievements in the future.
At the moment, Dino Toppmöller is part of Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich staff and will gain a lot of experience under the wings of probably the best young manager in the world today.
Potential Rating:
Francesco Sarlo / 43 / Fiorentina
Italy has some of the best coaches in Football Manager 2022, no doubt! One of the best coaches in FM22 is Francesco Sarlo a coach perfect to handle Possession – Tactical coaching. His Tactical Knowledge of 16 and Tactical Coaching (16) reveals a coach with the ability to provide accurate feedbacks about your tactics and could provide feedback about opposition instructions.
What’s important to notice is that Francesco Sarlo got Continental B Licence which means he can improve a great number in current abilities.
He’s one I would target if I’m going to play possession football in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system.
Potential Rating:
Sebastian Kehl / 41 / Borussia Dortmund
Sebastian Kehl is a true Der BVB legend! The former holding midfielder ranked up 274 appearances for Borussia Dortmund and helped the club to win the Bundesliga Championship on three occassions.
Three years after his retirement from professional football, Sebastian Kehl was appointed within the Borussia Dortmund backroom staff. Last year, it was announced that Sebastian Kehl would become Borussia Dortmund sporting director iin the latter stages of 2021-22 season – replacing Michael Zorc.
In FM22, he’s part of the coaching staff with a Continental B licence working as a coach. His role within the club is therefore subject to change once Winter Transfer update arrives. He stands out for people management and Determination.
Sebastian Kehl is in fact more suited to the Director of football role or Head of youth Development in FM22. His Working with Youngsters at 19 and 11 in Judging player Ability and Judging player potential will make him a suitable Head of youth Development, while his Negotiation (12) will make him suitable to handle ingoing and outgoing transfers and contract negotiations.
Which staff role would you use Sebastian Kehl for in FM22?
Potential Rating: 
Marco Ianni / 39 / Lazio
Italy has some of the best 5-star coaches in Football Manager 2022. In fact, it’s been like that for years! One of my favorite coaches I look to sign in my saves is Marco Ianni – a coach perfect to be assigned on the Defending Tactical training category due to his Defending (15) and Tactical (14) Coaching.
Marco Ianni stands out for his great Determination and Motivation but also got the Judging Player Ability and Tactical Knowledge to provide you feedback about opposition instructions or other tactical advices for the upcoming fixtures.
Despite not yet turning 40, the Italian coach has huge experience both as player and a coach. He’s been part of the Chelsea -, Juventus and Napoli’s coaching staff before coming to Lazio. Unfortunately each tenure hasn’t lasted longer than a season. Regardless, in FM22 he’s one of the best coaches you can find for Defending coaching, since he got both great current abilities as well as 5 star potential.
Potential Rating:
Have you purchased any of these coaches in your Football Manager save? Perhaps you’ve come across some other 5-star coaches in the future you would recommend. Let us know by adding your comments!
