Top 5 managers who were better as footballers

#1 Franz Beckenbauer

Beckenbauer was a legend for both club and country

Unlike Maradona, Beckenbauer was able to translate his world-class footballing talent into management and is fondly remembered for his time as both. He remains one of only two men to win the World Cup as both a player and manager (alongside Brazil's Mario Zagallo), after triumphing as team captain in 1974 and head coach in 1990.

He had taken West Germany to the 1986 final, too, but Maradona and his teammates ensured he ended up as losing manager. Revenge would come in that final in 1990, however, as they beat Argentina 1-0.

Beckenbauer moved into club management, with Marseille, but would leave after only 25 games, although the team would go on to win the Ligue 1 title.

Further brief spells with Bayern Munich in 1994 and 1996 reaped a Bundesliga and UEFA Cup win respectively. Beckenbauer never took another management role after this year, and 51 was a relatively young age for a manager to retire; the sense is that he had the ability to find great success in coaching if he had continued.

What's not debatable is Beckenbauer's standing in football overall, for he is definitively one of the greatest ever to play the game, perhaps even the best defender of all time. Indeed, he even pioneered the modern sweeper role of the central defender, or 'libero', such was his style and dominance during his era.

He won four Bundesliga titles and three European Cups with Bayern, transforming them from a relatively small team into European powerhouses.

After helping make 'soccer' popular in the United States with Pele, Beckenbauer returned to Germany and played his part in Hamburg winning the league, all at the age of 36. Alongside that World Cup win in 1974, he was instrumental in West Germany triumphing in the European Championships two years before.

One of the few defenders to win the Ballon d'Or (in 1972 and 1976), Beckenbauer can boast one of the best careers football has ever witnessed. An innovator, an icon, a national hero, the German legend will always be remembered for his incredible playing achievements over his managerial ones.