GERRARD AND LAMPARD AT THE CROSSROADS

ROBERT J WILSON EXAMINES THE STATE OF PLAY FOR TWO ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEGENDS AS THEY SEEK TO OVERCOME MANAGERIAL SETBACKS...

- ROBERT J WILSON

WHEN a top name loses his job, the old adage that ‘great players don’t make great managers’ always seems to resurface. It has happened most recently with two of the Premier League’s legendary performers, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

It is a bit of a myth that former top players struggle to carve out a second successful career from the sidelines.

True, the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho all experienced mediocre playing careers for small or amateur clubs before establishing their names in football history as successful managers. In addition, the Italian mastermind Arrigo Sacchi sold shoes before transforming AC Milan into one of the finest club sides of all time.

However, Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, to name just four, were serial winners as players as well as managers.

That quartet alone won six European Cups and 17 major league titles between them in their playing days. That level of success has continued in their managerial roles. The numbers stand at nine European Cups and 17 league titles.

Deschamps was also in charge when France won the World Cup in Russia in 2018. Both he and Zidane were also key players in France’s first ever World Cup triumph in 1998.

Yes, there are always going to be examples of talented footballers who found it difficult to transform into top managers. Sir Bobby Charlton was deemed ‘too nice of a gentleman’ and failed miserably at Preston North End in the mid-70s. England’s World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore was only given the chance to manage at Oxford City and Southend without much success.

Diego Maradona was humiliated as coach of Argentina at the 2010 World Cup and ended up managing in the Middle East, Mexico and, before his death in late 2020, back in his native country with Gimnasia.