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 six was a good player who turned into a magnificient manager, spearheading Barcelona to the top of European and Spanish football on a regular basis, Pep Guardiola.
6. Pep Guardiola
TEAMS MANAGED: Barcelona B (2007-2008), Barcelona (2008-2012)
HONOURS: UEFA Champions League 2009, 2011, La Liga 2009, 2010, 2011, Copa del Rey 2009, 2012, UEFA Super Cup 2009, 2011, FIFA Club World Championship 2009, 2011, Supercopa de Espana 2009, 2010, 2011, Tercera Division 2008
Compared to some in this list, Pep Guardiola is a young manager, who has already achieved so much in the game.
On a break from football following his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of last season, he has won a staggering 14 trophies in just four seasons, turning the Catalans into the greatest superpower in the world.
He succeeded Frank Rijkaard in 2008, after a stint in charge of the B team. The former Catalan hero made his players focus on possession and press more, changing their style and turning them into champions.
In his very first season in charge, they won the treble, dismantling Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu on the way to a La Liga title, along with the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, beating Manchester United 2-0 in the Rome showpiece.
With the likes of Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o, all pivotal figures in the Rijkaard reign gone, in came a new breed of talent and stars.
The likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Busquets and Lionel Messi became the spine of this glorious team.
2010 brought another La Liga title with 99 points recorded but Inter Milan dumped Barca out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, starting a new feud with Jose Mourinho.
The Madrid rivalry intensifies
Mourinho moved to manage Real Madrid that summer and Guardiola’s response was to do the talking on the pitch.
Barca ripped Madrid apart in the Nou Camp in November 2010, winning 5-0 in one of the greatest performances from a team ever seen.
They won another championship and although Mourinho’s Madrid did beat them in the Copa del Rey final, Barcelona triumphed in a bad-tempered Champions League semi-final, lit up by Messi’s sensational skill with two memorable goals in the first leg.
Once again, it was Manchester United in the final at Wembley. Strikes from Pedro, Messi and David Villa, sealed a 3-1 victory, cementing Barcelona’s place as one of the greatest teams to have played the game and Guardiola, as one of the great bosses of his generation.
Last season, Real did end the more successful, with La Liga glory and a rigid Chelsea outfit, stopped them retaining the Champions League.
Showing some tiredness, Guardiola elected to step down but not before overseeing another triumph in the Copa del Rey final, ending his reign in glorious fashion.
Wherever he goes next, it will be a difficult act to follow.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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