Players often have the sensational skill and will normally take the plaudits from the press for a major success.
However, to have a world class player and a team that is a winning success, you need to have a tactical genius, an approachable man-manger and a controlling influence within the dressing room.
There have been some fantastic managers in the last 50 years and Total Football’s Simon Wright has chosen his top ten.
At number nine is a manager, who has done a fair bit of travelling and changed the fortunes of many clubs and countries at international level and in the club game, Guus Hiddink.
9. Guus Hiddink
TEAMS MANAGED: PSV Eindhoven (1987-1990, 2002-2006), Fenerbahce (1990-1991), Valencia (1991-1994), Holland (1995-1998), Real Madrid (1998-1999), Real Betis (2000), South Korea (2000-2002), Australia (2005-2006), Russia (2006-2010), Chelsea (2009), Turkey (2010-2012), Anzhi Makhachkala (2012-PRESENT)
HONOURS: European Cup 1988, FA Cup 2009, Eredivisie 1987, 1988, 1989, 2003, 2005, 2006, Intercontinental Cup 1998, KNVB Cup 1988, 1989, 1990, 2005, Dutch Supercup 1993
Guus Hiddink has had a remarkable career, having a vast degree of success with international nations and club teams.
He has won the European Cup, a host of Dutch League titles, the FA Cup and guided Holland, South Korea and Russia to magnificent runs at major international tournaments.
Now in charge of Anzhi in Russia, Hiddink has plenty more years ahead of him and is only likely to increase his reputation, as one of the best in the game.
He served his coaching apprentice at PSV Eindhoven as assistant manager and took the managerial post in March 1987.
A year later, he led them to the treble of Eredivisie champions, the KNVB Cup and European Cup winners, as PSV defeated Benfica in a tense penalty shootout.
More honours followed in the next two years in Eindhoven, leaving in 1990 to be succeeded by Bobby Robson.
Spells with Fenerbahce, Valencia and Real Madrid only brought modest success in the next decade but it was an international pedigree that Hiddink was forging out a burdening reputation.
He took over as team manager of Holland in January 1995, at a time where the playing squad often played as individuals, rather than a team.
Korean hero
He showed strict discipline too. Sending Edgar Davids home from Euro 96 would be shown as a prime example.
Penalties were the bugbear of his Dutch reign, with France ending Euro 96 hopes in the quarter-finals and Brazil doing likewise at the 1998 World Cup semi-finals.
Issues with finances and the board led to a quick dismissal from Real Betis in 2000, so it was back to national management, this time with co-hosts of the 2002 World Cup, South Korea.
What he did with the Koreans was remarkable to say the least. Before World Cup 2002, they had never won a competitive match at five previous tournaments.
That changed rapidly, with victories over Poland and highly-fancied Portugal, which took them into the last 16, for the first time in their history.
A dramatic extra-time triumph over Italy was followed by penalty shootout success against Spain in the last eight.
Only a stern German side ended the dream for the co-hosts in the semi-finals, as for the second successive World Cup, Hiddink guided a side to fourth place.
Considered a national hero for his success, Hiddink was given honorary Korean citizenship, free aeroplane flights for life from Korean national airlines and the stadium at Gwangju was renamed the Guus Hiddink Stadium.
The Australian adventure
A return to PSV Eindhoven brought another three Dutch titles in four years and a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2005, where he side only narrowly lost out, on the away goals rule to AC Milan.
Whilst back at PSV, Guus took charge of the Australian national team, guiding them to the 2006 World Cup, after penalty shootout success over Uruguay in a South America/Oceania playoff.
At the finals, the Socceroos came from behind to score three times in the last eight minutes and defeat Japan 3-1 in Kaiserslautern. An expected 2-0 loss to Brazil followed, meaning a draw was required in the final group match to qualify.
They got it on a bad-tempered night in Stuttgart against Croatia, made more famous for Graham Poll showing three yellow cards to Josip Simunic.
Australia returned to Kaiserslautern for a meeting with Italy in the second round. The match was evenly balanced, until Fabio Grosso fell over Lucas Neill’s prostrate body with eight seconds of normal time remaining.
Francesco Totti dispatched the penalty, as the Azzuri scraped through 1-0, ending Hiddink’s Australian adventure.
Next stop was Russia, where he guided them to Euro 2008, at the expense of Steve McLaren’s England side in the qualification stage.
A talented Russian side, containing the likes of Andrey Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Aleksandr Anyukov, beat Greece, Sweden and favourites Holland on the way to the semi-finals, where Spain got the better of them in the Vienna rain.
Helping out Abramovich
Hiddink stayed on with Russia for World Cup qualification, with the plan to step down after South Africa 2010. He never made it after Russia's surprising playoff defeat to Slovenia.
Whilst still with Russia, Hiddink took over as caretaker boss of Chelsea in February 2009, after the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari.
A good friend of Roman Abramovich, Hiddink guided the Blues to FA Cup success, beating Everton 2-1 in the final and the semi-finals of the Champions League.
He lost only once during his tenure at Stamford Bridge and despite pleas from players including John Terry and Petr Cech to stay, he left to concentrate on the Russian team, allowing Carlo Ancelotti to take over.
He took over as national manager of Turkey during 2010 but received media criticism for failing to understand the players and not doing the required job on a high salary.
Some of this might have been down to his ill-fated spell with Fenerbahce in the 1990s but whatever the outcome, this marriage turned into a disaster.
Defeat in the playoffs to Croatia, meant Turkey failed to qualify for Euro 2012 and Hiddink resigned shortly afterwards.
In February 2012, he took his first permanent club coaching role in six years, by taking over at oil-rich Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia.
With an impressive win ratio of 56 per cent of his matches in charge, Guus Hiddink is a talismanic, strong and capable manager and there is plenty more left of him to come, especially in the new Russian revolution with Anzhi.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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