27 Sep 2016 23:54:52
CSM says Rikjaard wasn't a top manager.

Ports says Pep isn't a top manager because of what he inherited from Rikjaard.

So in other words the best teams to ever grace the game is in no small part to the coaches?

Shappy this is the thing now you are using the good old 'world class' red herring. I think my point is very clear and that is your statement pigeon holes a lot of folk under the same stigmastised view which is false.

Say Rio Ferdinand and Berbatov decide to become managers which one do you think would push himself to do the best job he possibly could? They were both great players in thier Ken rights but it comes down the individual not 'top players can't be bothered or don't have drive attitude'.

If you were to name say the top 5 or 10 current or all time coaches in terms of achievements I guarantee you will find that a higher percent of those top 5 or 10 more often than not would have been great players.

1.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 09:44:06
Well the top three managers in EPL history are Sir Alex, Wenger and Mourinho. Tell me which one had to top playing career?

The last manager to win the league in England and have a top playing career was probably Kenny Danglish over 20 years ago.

I thinkba fair way to judge it would be if you would have wanted the person in question to play for and manage your club. If the answer is no to either one then its probably fair to say they weren't a top player and manager.

I think people easily get swayed by the arguement that Pep and Zidane are doing well atm. But I would argue that you are talking about a couple of managers managing at clubs which have a huge media focus on them. Is the same focus put on all the top players who fail at managing. How much has been made of Gary Nevilles failed attempt at managing? And he is a person everyone thought would be good at managing.

Also as a side note I don't think Zidane has done anything to show he is a top manager yet. He hasn't done as well as Di Matteo who won the UCL and an FA cup with a far inferior Chelsea team.
Zidane is the right man for Real Madrid atm, they have serious player power issues and the only way to combat those was to have a manager who the fans revered more than those players. What had Zidane done in management to justify him getting one of the top five jobs in world football management? If when he leaves Real and he has success with other clubs such as Pep then he could be considered a top manager. I think he also has to win the league with Real first.

{Ed001's Note - was Guardiola a top player? Maybe I missed something, but he was never any good whenever I saw him.}

2.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 11:11:45
What does it matter what they did before becoming a manager? Nothing guarantees anyone is going to be a good manager no matter what their background. If you are a knowledgeable football man and you know how to motivate then you have a good chance. Some players have that and some coaches have that but not everyone.

Of course it helps to be a legend at the club to get a job because more often than not they know everything about the club. Doesn't matter if you are Jose or Zidane if you can manage then you can manage.

3.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 11:41:59
Ed001, he was a very good player and a key part in a sucfessful team during his Barcelona days.

He probably wouldn't make it into a "100 greatest footballers" list.

{Ed001's Note - hmmmm every time I saw him he did not look like he knew a thing about defending, despite playing in a role that required defensive ability. Maybe it is just me, I hate players that do half a job and are lauded as legends, like Pirlo or Busquets.}

4.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 12:48:24
Ed001, I get what you mean. But its just a different interpretation of one of the roles in midfield.

If your of the opinion that the player deepest in midfield should be a shield infront of the defence then Pep was poor at his job. But if your opinion is that you want your playmaker in that position in order to give them more time and space with the ball then Pep fitted the bill perfectly. Same as Pirlo really.

Effectively they are No.10's who maybe lack some of the agility or pace required to play that far up the pitch in a normally congested area. So you dropped them back which gives them the time and space to play to their strengths.

Personally I prefer a deeper playmaker with a defensive midfielder being given more license to roam and break up play where the danger is.

{Ed001's Note - I want them to do both, ala the great Xabi Alonso.}

5.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 14:21:43
Maze if in a 8-10 year career your only achievements are 2 la liga titles and a cl title with a good team post which you have achieved noting he is not a top manager for me. He might be a good one but you need to do more to be considered a top one.

6.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 14:18:45
Alonso has been a great player, but he has always been more of a playmaker than a destroyer.

I would also say that he has more often than not been paired with a defensive destroyer/ work horse type player so hasn't had to do both roles. At Liverpool he more often than not played with Mascherano along side him.
The times he hasn't had a destroyer alongside him tend to be against opposition which are so inferior that one wasn't needed.

Although I agree he has been a hell of a player, I was gutted when Liverpool signed him and we missed out. One of the few players who could have mitigated the loss of Scholes.

{Ed001's Note - I think you need to take more notice of him, he breaks up play better than anyone in world football. He was just so well positioned he didn't need to run around like the knobbers, such as Mascherano. He covered for their deficiencies. At Madrid, he made a huge difference to the results. http://player-profiles.co.uk/player-profiles/player-profiles-xabi-alonso.php }

7.) 28 Sep 2016
28 Sep 2016 14:24:53
Players like Keane and Alonso are a rarity in the last twenty years. The proliferation of three in midfield has given rise to the idea of players specialising in one aspect of midfield play, even if they don't the get pigeonholed into a more specific role. Take a look at Kante for Chelsea, gone from box-to-box alrounder to the guy that sits in front of the defence.