6 great players who failed as managers

#2 Marco Van Basten

Van Basten as coach of Netherlands

The man responsible for the goal which won the Netherlands her first and till date only European Championship, Van Basten immortalized himself in the annals of football forever with his wonder goal in the EURO 1988 final.

An elegant player in his day, 'The Flying Dutchman' was the true definition of class, possessing world-class abilities and was undoubtedly the premier striker of his generation, as well as one of the greatest players of all time.

Van Basten won numerous titles with Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam before going on to international renown with AC Milan with whom he won two consecutive European Cups while also dominating Italian football under the management of the legendary Ariggo Sacchi.

He scored over 300 goals in a glittering playing career and was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992 in addition to winning three Ballon d'Ors, while also winning the European Golden Boot and was the first player in history to score four goals in a single UCL match. All these despite the fact that his career was ended at the tender age of 28 due to a serious injury.

Van Basten was appointed coach of the Netherlands national team in 2004 which led to a lot of public outcry due to his relative inexperience and his tenure as boss of the Oranje was problematic as he constantly clashed with numerous established internationals including Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert among others, with the most high profile being with Ruud Van Nistelrooy who stated that he would never represent the Netherlands while Van Basten was coach.

He then accepted the post of Ajax manager at the start of the 2008/2009 Eredivisie season, but was relieved off his duties less than a year later as the Amsterdam club failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Further managerial spells with Henreeven and AZ Alkmaar proved to also be unsuccessful.