Portugal national teams Sousa began working as a manager by joining the coaching staff of the Portugal national team, taking the helm of
the under-16s, and in the summer of 2008 he was appointed assistant to first-team coach
Carlos Queiroz, his former boss at Sporting and the Portuguese youths.
Queens Park Rangers On 19 November 2008, Sousa was appointed head coach of
Championship team
Queens Park Rangers. However, on 9 April 2009, he was sacked, as the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information without permission from the hierarchy, which included
Dexter Blackstock's loan move to
Nottingham Forest having been agreed without his knowledge.
Swansea City Following
Roberto Martínez's move to
Wigan Athletic, Sousa was offered the role as
Swansea City manager on 18 June 2009. He verbally accepted the deal, signing a three-year contract, and was officially appointed on the 23rd. During the
league campaign, Sousa led Swansea to its highest league finish for 27 years (seventh), just outside the play-offs. On 4 July 2010, he departed by mutual consent, set to take the vacant post at
Leicester City.
Leicester City Sousa became the new manager of Leicester City on 7 July 2010. Owner
Milan Mandarić stated that he was delighted to "acquire a manager of such great calibre", adding he was "the right man to take our club forward". On 1 October 2010, after less than three months in charge, Sousa was fired after a poor start to
the season, with the team having won only once in his first nine league games.
Videoton On 15 May 2011, Sousa signed a three-year contract with Hungarian club
Videoton,
newly crowned champions of the
Nemzeti Bajnokság I. He made his competitive debut in the
Champions League qualifying round to
Sturm Graz in a 2–0 away loss, followed by an insufficient 3–2 home win. His team hosted
Trabzonspor in
the season's Europa League last qualifying round on 30 August 2012, Sousa's 42nd birthday. After the 4–2
penalty shoot-out victory (0–0 after 120 minutes), he stated: "The qualification was the most beautiful birthday of my life". On 7 January 2013, Videoton announced they had agreed to terminate Sousa's contract due to family reasons. That same day, it was reported that he would become the new manager of the
New York Red Bulls, but nothing came of it.
Five clubs in seven years (2013–2020) On 12 June 2013,
Maccabi Tel Aviv officially appointed Sousa as its head coach. He won the
Israeli Premier League in his
only season in charge. Sousa changed clubs and countries again on 28 May 2014, signing a three-year contract with
Basel in the
Swiss Super League. He left on 17 June 2015, having again
won the national championship. On 21 June 2015, Sousa joined
Serie A side
Fiorentina. He left in June 2017 after the appointment of
Stefano Pioli. On 6 November 2017, Sousa signed for
Tianjin Quanjian of the
Chinese Super League, replacing
Fabio Cannavaro. On 4 October of the following year, he left his post. Sousa became
Bordeaux's third coach of
the campaign on 8 March 2019 after
Gus Poyet and
Ricardo Gomes, agreeing to a three-and-a-half-year deal. Having come 12th in his
only full season, disputes with the board led to his resignation on 10 August 2020.
Poland On 21 January 2021,
Polish Football Association (PZPN) president
Zbigniew Boniek announced Sousa as the head coach of the
Poland national team; he replaced
Jerzy Brzęczek, who was dismissed despite
achieving qualification for
Euro 2020. In his first match in charge, on 25 March, his side drew 3–3 against
Hungary in the
2022 World Cup qualification. At the former tournament finals, and despite three goals from star forward
Robert Lewandowski, they exited in the group stage; nonetheless, the manager was assured to remain on the job. Sousa led Poland to second place in their World Cup qualification group, reaching the play-offs but failing to be seeded after losing the last match to Hungary 2–1. The loss caused significant financial losses for the PZPN and the manager was criticised for not fielding several key players, including Lewandowski. Sousa was allowed to leave on 29 December 2021, after agreeing to pay compensation. Following his departure, he was heavily criticised by Polish media and fans alike, one of the main accusations residing in the fact that he left to another employer when he was offered a better salary, in spite of having stated he would stay for years previously; because of this, he earned the nickname "Siwy Bajerant" (Grey Smooth Talker).
Flamengo Hours after leaving the Poland national team, Sousa was announced as the new manager of
Flamengo in the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A on a two-year contract. Having observed the first two games of the
Campeonato Carioca season, he won 3–0 at home to
Boavista on his debut on 2 February 2022; his team lost the final 3–1 on aggregate to
rivals Fluminense. Sousa was dismissed on 9 June 2022, after a 1–0 loss to
Red Bull Bragantino.
Salernitana On 15 February 2023, Sousa returned to the Italian top division as the new head coach of
Salernitana, replacing
Davide Nicola. He achieved a 1–1 draw at neighbours and league leaders
Napoli on 30 April, momentarily denying them a first
Scudetto in 33 years; he was sent off in the final minutes while his team took their unbeaten run to nine games, eventually making it to ten and finally
avoiding relegation as 15th. On 10 October 2023, following a negative start in
the campaign, Sousa was dismissed.
Shabab Al Ahli On 30 June 2024, Sousa was appointed at
UAE Pro League club
Shabab Al Ahli. He won four titles in his
first season, including the national championship. ==Career statistics==