5 Managers who could lead Lionel Messi to World Cup glory

4. Mauricio Pochettino

The tough-as-nails Newell’s Old Boys and Espanyol legend has been a revelation at Tottenham and has helped the North London club punch above their weight every season he’s been there – this despite Daniel Levy’s conservative ownership pulling down successive managers before him.

He seems to have found the perfect mix of Bielsa, Menotti and Bilardo (having a high pressing style, playing flowing footballing and being defensively sound, respectively) at Spurs and has had great success with the development of youth and the sustenance of form through the long, arduous, Premier League season. All this points at a technically sound manager who has the personality to mould a team into a unit and succeed.

While this is the most unlikely name on this list, given just how heavily he is involved with the Tottenham Hotspur “project” , he may be just what the doctor ordered in terms of what his national team need.

Oh and that Rosario, Newell’s Old Boys and Catalan connection would surely stand him in good stead, wouldn’t it?

Club honours – nil, but that’s not to be held against a man who’s managed Espanyol, Southampton and Spurs, is it?