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If you take a look at the prominent football managers in Europe, you'll see that some of the best managers in the world weren't outstanding players. In fact, only a handful of excellent players have had excellent coaching careers.
Managing a team requires a wide array of skills ranging from tactical astuteness all the way to man-management. As the leader of a group, a manager has to balance the egos in his team and also be able to read the goings-on in the pitch and make decisions that benefit the team as a whole.
The debate over the best managers in the world is an eternal one. Here today, we are looking at something different. We rank the top 5 managers in Europe right now based on their playing ability.
#5 Ronald Koeman
The current Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman had an excellent playing career and was a part of the Barcelona 'Dream Team' assembled under Johan Cruyff. The Dutchman had triumphant stints at both Ajax and PSV and had won the league championships at both clubs before moving to Catalonia.
Koeman won 4 back to back La Liga titles with Barcelona and also netted the winner in Barcelona's 1991-92 European Cup triumph. Koeman also won the European Championship with Netherlands in 1988. He also became the Dutch footballer of the year in 1987 and 1988.
Koeman was a versatile player who could slot in as a defender just as well as he could as a midfielder. This is testament to his understanding of the game from a very young age. Koeman's best position was perhaps as the sweeper providing extra cover for his backline while doubling as a deep-lying playmaker thanks to his vision.
Koeman is one of the most prolific defensive players in the history of football when it comes to goalscoring and he was just as good at finding the back of the net from long-range as he was at picking out teammates with his excellent long-range passing. Koeman was an excellent set-piece taker as well and used to maintain a habit of scoring scorchers from a long way out.
#4 Frank Lampard
The Chelsea manager is also the greatest goalscoring midfielder in the Premier League and is also the all-time top scorer for the Blues. He scored 211 goal for Chelsea and he did that playing in midfield.
Frank Lampard had an illustrious career as a player and he spent the great majority of it at Stamford Bridge after joining from West Ham United in 2001 for £11 million. By the time he left 13 years later, the Englishman had won three Premier League titles, one Champions League, one Europe League, five FA Cups and three League Cups.
One of the most powerful strikers of the football in the modern era, Frank Lampard just like the rest of the players on the list had an incredible long-range strike in him and never shied away from testing goalkeepers from distance in his entire career.
Though he has been deployed in various positions across midfield, Lampard was more of an attack-minded box-to-box hustler who was excellent at building attacks with his incredible passing and movement.
Not only did he have great vision and passing ability, his keen eye for goal and late runs into the box made him a ridiculously good goalscorer. Frank Lampard, like his contemporaries on the list, was excellent from set-piece situations as well.
He was also an excellent leader both on and off the pitch and he looks to have kicked on in the same vein in his career as a manager.
#3 Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard, the manager of Scottish club Rangers, would have perhaps found himself higher up the list of the greatest midfielders ever had his excellent footballing abilities translated to a better trophy haul.
The Liverpool legend is easily one of the best midfielders of his generation and though he was largely deployed as a central midfielder, he has nearly taken up every position in attack at some point thanks to his incredible ability on the ball.
Gerrard was a marauding box-to-box midfielder in his heyday after evolving from a ball winner to a deep-lying playmaker during his early years at Anfield. Stevie G is also widely held in high regard for his proclivity for scoring absolute screamers and he has scored more than his fair share of worldies in his playing career.
Gerrard rallied his Liverpool side to the UEFA Champions League title in 2005 after finding themselves 3-0 down in the first-half to AC Milan and that's perhaps the greatest night of his career. However, for all that talent, Gerrard failed to win the Premier League in the 17 years he spent at Merseyside.
He has had to content with two FA Cups, three League Cups and a UEFA Champions League title.
#2 Andrea Pirlo
"I don't feel pressure. I don't give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup."
That quote from Andrea Pirlo summarizes one of the coolest footballers to have graced the game. Pirlo has taken over at helm at Juventus and the world is waiting with bated breath to see how he goes about it.
One of the finest technicians on the ball and an absolute wizard from a deep midfield position, Pirlo's vision, passing range and technical ability were on a level that's seldom matched. One of the distinguished players who have played for Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, Pirlo also tasted World Cup success with Italy in 2006.
Pirlo's abilities enabled managers to field him any of the midfield positions but he was mostly deployed as a deep-lying playmaker. He could often pick out passes that most players wouldn't have the vision to see and is widely regarded as one of the greatest deep-lying playmakers of all time.
Not only was Pirlo excellent at long-range passing, he is also one of the greatest free-kick takers of the modern era. An embodiment of elegance, Pirlo made up for his lack of physicality with his composure and ability to create space out of nowhere.
#1 Zinedine Zidane
Well, Zinedine Zidane is the closest we have come to seeing magic on a football field. Arguably the greatest midfielder of a generation that did not have any shortage of quality, Zidane played like a dream and was a treat to watch every time he got on the ball.
He won the FIFA Player of the Year Award in 1998, 2000 and 2003 and won the World Cup with France in 1998 and then won the Euros in 2000. Zidane is also one of Real Madrid's greatest ever Galactico signing and he made football look so easy when the reality is far from it.
Zinedine Zidane was one of those players who could improve the entire team by just being on the pitch. He also had a big bag of tricks replete with roulettes and stepovers and was nearly impossible to contain once he got into his stride.
Zidane called it a day on his footballing career while he was still on top of his game and though he left the game in distasteful fashion (headbutting Materazzi in the World Cup final and getting a red card for it), no football fan who has watched him play will ever hold it against him. Zizou was just that darn good.
