From anonymous footballers to famous managers

CAIRO – 1 July 2017: They earned their fame through their achievements as managers; they coached big teams, produced great talents and won important titles. However, once upon a time these legendary managers enjoyed a career as a player, but unlike their managerial one, their reputation as a footballer did not shine. Let’s take a look at 5 of the best examples.

1 - Arsene Wenger
He enjoyed an average football career playing for Mutzig, Mulhouse and Strasbourg, the teams he always supported. But as a coach we are talking about the only man who to win the Premier League without a single loss in 2004 with Arsenal. He has managed Arsenal since 1996 and continues to do so up till now.

It is fair to say that these managers gave their greatest contribution to football through their minds, far more so than their feet.


2 -Jurgen Klopp
He played 11 years for German team Mainz, but never entered the first division until he became their coach in 2003. Klopp also managed Borussia Dortmund and took them to the Champions League final in 2013 when they lost in the last minute against Bayern Munich. He is now the Liverpool manager.


3 - Joachim Low
Low spent his football career between the German first and second divisions, playing for big teams in Germany like Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart in the first division and Freiburg and Karlsruherin the second. As a coach, it is fair enough to say he won the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, humiliating the Brazilian side 7-1 in front of their fans in the semi-final.


4 - Louis Van Gaal
No one noticed him when he played football; he was an average player in the Belgian club Royal Antwerp for four years. Even when he played in his native Netherlands he did not achieve any notoriety and never got a call for the national team. However as a manager he built the legendary Ajax dream team who won the Champions League title in 1995, fielding a squad full of promising youngsters like Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert. He has also managed Barcelona, Manchester United and the Dutch national team.



5 - Luciano Spaletti
The current Internazionale manager started his football career in the lower Italian divisions, playing for third division teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli. However as a coach he managed some of the biggest clubs in Italy like Sampdoria, Udinese, Roma and now Internazionale have put their trust in him to regain their glory.