WORLD-CLASS FOOTBALLERS WHO BECAME BAD MANAGERS

IT’S regularly said that average footballers generally make the best managers. For the most part, bar a few exceptions like Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane, this is true.

The reason that the best footballers don’t make good managers is because things come so naturally to them that they don’t even think about it. Average footballers have to put in extra work to make up for their lack of natural ability and this leads to them developing more analytical and tactically astute minds.

The following are brilliant footballers who found it tough to dazzle as managers.

Diego Maradona

The legendary Argentine may have won Argentina a World Cup as a player, but he cost them one of their best chances to win it in recent history through woeful tactics.

The Argentina team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was arguably the most naturally gifted in the tournament but did not progress beyond the last 16 due to Maradona’s hasty tactics.

Notably, he opted to leave out

Juan Riquelme and Javier Zanetti from that squad. Few players had more chemistry with Lionel Messi than Riquelme. Had Riquelme been selected, Argentina may have progressed deeper in South Africa.

Alan Shearer

The legendary Premier League striker had a spell as manager of Newcastle. Due to Mike Ashley’s early mismanagement of the club, they found itself in the relegation zone in the 2008/09 season and roped in Shearer to help them avoid the drop.

He was unable to do so and never managed again. He, too, may have realised that he was just not cut out for it.

Thierry Henry

Fans always love it when club legends return to manage their beloved side. However, many Arsenal fans will be hoping that Henry never manages them. The 1998 World Cup winner started his senior managerial career with boyhood club Monaco in Ligue 1 in 2018, lasting just three months.

He managed Monaco for 20 games, winning four and losing 11. In that time, Monaco scored 15 goals and conceded 36.

It is not too late for Henry to return as a stronger manager. He has been working as assistant manager of Belgium alongside Roberto Martinez since 2021.

Gianfranco Zola

The Chelsea and Parma legend is not the worst manager around but he tends to end his stints on bitter notes and loses changerooms. He was appointed West Ham boss in 2008 and led the Hammers to a decent ninth place finish in his first season with them. The following season, they narrowly escaped relegation and he was fired.

The same happened in his next job with Watford where he had a solid first season before the club started playing horribly in his second season at the helm.

Zola most recently worked as assistant manager to Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. He has not been active in management since Sarri left the Blues in 2019.