10 managerial geniuses who didn't have great playing careers

Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the greatest managers in the history of footballFootball isn't just a sport about 11 men on the field trying to get that all-important victory. There is more to it than just goals and incredible saves, there is someone who is coaching the players, ensuring that they can exploit even the slightest weakness in the opposition. Football is not a game, it is a battle where the smartest often win.Managers and coaches have taken up important roles for clubs as they are the men behind the magic taking place. Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson are just some of the great managers who have transformed clubs with their philosophy and thinking. Guardiola did have a great playing career as well, winning quite a lot both as a manager and player. We look back at some of the great managers in the sport of football that didn't really cut it as players but have ended up being incredible managers for their respective clubs:

#1 Andre Villas-Boas

Tottenham and Chelsea fans might not remember the Portuguese manager too fondly but Villas-Boas can be remembered for some rather drastic thinking in the way his teams played. Villas-Boas didn't really have a great playing career, in fact, he was already picking up his coaching badges under the tutelage of the legendary English manager, Sir Bobby Robson.

Villas-Boas picked up his UEFA A License at the tender age of 19. the Portuguese then left FC Porto and Jose Mourinho to start coaching Academica in 2009. He transformed the side that was bottom of the league at the time he took the position and guided them to safety in 11th place.

He was then recruited by Porto in 2010 and Villas-Boas won the Portuguese League, Cup and Europa League with the club during the 2010-11 season. His time in England was not fruitful for both Tottenham and Chelsea but he has found his magic with Zenit St. Petersburg, leading them to the Russian Premier League in the 2014-15 season.

Oh and he is only 38 at the moment.

#2 Jurgen Klopp

The mad and energetic German is now trying to spin his magic at a rather desolute looking Liverpool team but there have been flashes where the Reds have looked like world-beaters. Klopp will always be known for the turnaround of Borussia Dortmund.

That Bundesliga side decimated teams with their Gegenpressing style of play and even won a couple of Bundesliga titles ahead of the powerhouse that is Bayern Munich. For all his ability in coaching, Klopp didn't have a great playing career.

The defender - during his playing days - took up the role in the heart of the backline with Mainz 05 and played mostly in the second division of the Bundesliga. funnily enough, he started as a striker but ended his career with 52 goals for Mainz, while playing at the back.

His first managerial role was also with Mainz, whom he led to the Bundesliga for their first time in their history and even qualified for the now defunct UEFA Cup in the 2005-06 season.

#3 Rafael Benitez

Rafa Benitez — Benitez was sacked by Real Madrid earlier this season

Benitez might have been sacked by Real Madrid earlier in the season but the Spanish manager has had a great history of doing well with other teams. Benitez won a couple of La Liga titles with Valencia, a huge feat considering the financial power of Barcelona and Real Madrid though his greatest achievement would be lifting the 2005 UEFA Champions League with a Liverpool side featuring Djimi Traore.

Benitez is known for his tactical acumen and even as an interim manager he picked up the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea in 2012-13, a notable feat but as a player, Benitez just couldn't cut it.

Rafa played mostly for Castilla CF in the second division in Spain. He was chosen to play in the Spain youth U19 games but a bad tackle during the tournament ended his chances of becoming a top level player.

Benitez did play for a few other sides such as Parla and Linares, both lower division clubs but his injuries got the better of him and that led to Rafa the manager taking form. It did work out for him in the end though.

#4 Arsene Wenger

The Professor has been one of the longest serving managers in the English game and should complete 20 years in charge at Arsenal pretty soon. Wenger has been incredibly successful during his time at the Gunners, even though many question his lack of trophies in recent years. He did win Ligue 1 with Monaco and a couple of trophies with Nagoya Grampus in Japan.

Wenger though is a visionary and has been attributed to changing the way football clubs are run, there even was a change in diet brought in by the French manager when he took up the reins at the English club. Arsene also has a keen eye for developing young players into world beaters but managing seemed to be part of Wenger's upbringing.

Even when he was playing for smaller regional clubs, it seemed that Wenger was the person who was the leader in the team. He joined Mutzig in the third division but was considered too old to make a name for himself in the world of football as a player.

Management though seemed to be his calling and even in his early 20's, Wenger was picking up coaching licenses and even started taking English classes. He did play for French side Strasbourg but made only 13 appearances for them in three years.

Playing didn't work out all too well for him but Arsenal fans will vouch that management has been good for him. Now if only he can win that Champions League title.

#5 Guus Hiddink

The current Chelsea interim manager was another player who didn't achieve many top honours during his playing career. Hiddink spent the majority of his career playing in the Netherlands though he did represent PSV Eindhoven for two seasons, most of his appearances were for De Graafschap and NEC Nijmegen.

He even spent a few seasons playing in the United States of America before retiring with De Graafschap, the only thing he won was second division in his homeland. Hiddink though is well-traveled and has had coaching spells in the Netherlands, Spain, England, Turkey, Australia, South Korea and Russia, and has had various degrees of success.

The 69-year-old Dutch manager has won six Eredivisie titles and an FA Cup, just some of his major landmarks in club football but he is an astute manager in the international version of the game as well.

Hiddink's greatest achievement would be the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he led South Korea to the semi-finals. It was such a remarkable achievement that the stadium at Gwangju in South Korea is called the Guus Hiddink Stadium in his honour.

#6 Luis Felipe Scolari

Being born in Brazil makes you a footballer, there is no doubt about it but Luis Felipe Scolari was not a typical Brazilian footballer. He played as a proper defender and often called, "perna-de-pau", “wooden leg”, a term to describe poor players.

Scolari played mostly in the regional league in Brazil and represented sides such as Caxias, Juventude, Novo Hamburgo and CSA. The only thing he won during his playign career? The Alagoano state championship.

He did take up the reins at CSA and won the championship in his first season and then started the success for a player that couldn't even make it to the top league in his native country.

The Brazilian has managed in Kuwait, England, Portugal, Uzbekistan and now coaches in the Chinese Super League. While many will remember him for his rather short stint at Chelsea, it was on the international stage that Scolari did make his name.

He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Brazil and was named as the best national coach in the same year. If people are doubting his coaching ability now, he might be in the Chinese Super League but he led Guangzhou Evergrande to the league title and a win in the AFC Champions League as well in 2015, not bad for someone who wasn't expected to do much on the playing field in his career.

#7 Marcello Lippi

A legend in Italian football, Marcello Lippi is known for his time with the national squad and with Juventus but the stern manager did not have the greatest of playing careers. Lippi was a central defender, as expected from an Italian, and he started his career playing for Sampdoria and then retiring at Lucchese.

He was a regular for Sampdoria for a few years but was never able to make it to the Italian senior side. Management started at the age of 34 for Lippi and he took charge of a slew of small clubs before making the jump to Serie A with Cesena.

His earliest achievement was taking Napoli to the UEFA Cup competition in the 1993-94 season. He then moved to Juventus where he hit the big time winning five Serie A titles over two stints with the Old Lady and also won the UEFA Champions League with them in 1996.

He wasn't just going to be a Serie A person though, Lippi took over the national side and led them to the title in 2006 at the World Cup where they infamously defeated France, thus becoming the first manager to win the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

Lippi also tried his luck in China and coached Guangzhou Evergrande to three Chinese Super League titles and an AFC Champions League win in 2013.

#8 Jose Mourinho

It has been quite a few months for the Portuguese manager but even after getting the boot for the second time from Chelsea, his stock is still as high as ever with Manchester United leading the way to sign the manager.

Jose's rise in the footballing world is certainly a story worth telling but he wasn't as good a footballer as the manager he is today. He took up the game following in his father's footsteps but didn't play at the highest level in Portugal. He played for Rio Ave, Belenenses and Sesimbra but moved towards coaching since he didn't have the pace or ability to be a top player.

Instead of going to business school like his mother wanted him to, Mourinho started studying sports science in Lisbon. He would even teach physical education at schools while earning his diploma.

His break came under Bobby Robson, who appointed Mourinho as a translator during the English legend's time in Portugal. Mourinho discussed tactics with the then Sporting and later FC Porto manager. He followed Robson when he joined Barcelona and stayed when a certain Louis van Gaal took over at the Catalan club.

Mourinho did learn a lot from the two managers and joined Benfica in 2000. His time to shine came with Porto whom he led to the 2003-04 Champions League. He then joined Chelsea and led them to success while also enjoying fruitful spells in Italy and Spain. No one knows what would have happened had Mourinho gone to the business school like his mother wanted but the footballing world is pretty happy with what they got in the end.

#9 Arrigo Sacchi

Possibly one of the greatest managers to ever take up the sport, Arrigo Sacchi will be forever known for his Milan, which is the last team to have won back-to-back European Cups (UEFA Champions League) and was instrumental in changing how football was played.

Sacchi led Milan to their first title in nine years in his first season as the manager of the club. Milan also won two European Supercups and two Intercontinental Cups in his first spell.

Many had reservations about the ability of Sacchi taking up such a big job in Italian football. Sacchi had never played professional football and mostly dwelled in the amateur leagues in Italy while spending a lot of time as a shoe salesman but he proved everyone wrong with his success.

He even took charge of the Italian national team and led them to the World Cup final in 1994 where they eventually lost out on penalties to Brazil.

Arrigo Sacchi retired from management a while back but he did leave us with a great quote when he was asked about the fact that only former players make great managers.

“I never realised that to be a jockey you had to be a horse first.”

#10 Udo Lattek

Lattek is one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. The German won multiple titles with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona. Udo Lattek was preparing for life as a teacher and played football for a few clubs.

VfL Osnabruck was the club where he achieved some success but he played mostly in the second division with the team since they could not make it into the newly formed Bundesliga in 1963.

He took over as the manager of Bayern Munich in 1970 but many questioned this signing since Lattek had no previous experience of coaching at a club. He was recommended by Franz Beckenbauer and thus he lled Bayern to utter dominance.

He won three consecutive league titles with Bayern and the European Cup in 1974. He later took over the job at Borussia Moenchengladbach and lead them to consecutive German titles and a UEFA Cup as well.

Barcelona was his next target where he lifted the Cup Winners Cup and the League Cup before returning to Munich and leading the Bayern side to another three championships. Not bad for someone with no experience of playing at the highest levels.

Edited by Staff Editor