Can Gerrard Become One Of The Great Players-Turned Managers?

Steven Gerrard began his managerial career with Rangers immediately after ending his outstanding playing profession at Liverpool. In 2020-21, Gerrard led Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade, and he is now returning to England with Aston Villa. With a 2-0 win in his first game over in-form Brighton, things are certainly going Gerrard’s way as a manager. You could certainly back Aston Villa for some strong Premier League finishes and potential domestic success in the coming seasons.

With the Liverpool giant showing great promise, could he become one of the rarely seen iconic players-turned managers? Here we take a look at some of the greatest players that went on to become incredibly successful managers.

Johan Cruyff

Without Cruyff, it’s doubtful that Guardiola would have achieved everything he has. He was a great player, a tremendously successful manager, and a figure of global significance throughout the decades. He is unquestionably one of the most important people in football history. As a player, he was pivotal in Ajax’s revolutionary ‘Total Football‘ style, which helped the Dutch club win three European Cups in the early 1970s.

Cruyff made the move to Barcelona as a player in 1973, leading the club to their first Spanish league title in 14 years before returning home to win the Dutch league with Feyenoord and take charge at Ajax, where he won the 1987 Cup Winners’ Cup. After that, Barca came calling, and Cruyff revolutionised the club’s style of play, not just winning numerous cups but also impressing with his innovative approach.

Pep Guardiola

Guardiola was a Barça player who won the European Cup with the ‘Dream Team,’ then created his own dream team. Now regarded as the greatest coach in world football, Guardiola wasn’t that bad as a player. In the 1991/92 season, he broke into Barcelona’s first team and went on to win the Spanish league title as well as a European Cup hero by assisting the club in winning their first long-overdue success in the competition. In 1993 and 1994, he reclaimed the La Liga title for Barcelona. In 1997, he won the Cup Winners Cup, as well as the Spanish Cup in 1998. Two more championships followed in 1998 and 1999, but ten years later, under his management at Barcelona, the club won six trophies in a single calendar year.

Since that incredible six-trophy year, he’s continued his illustrious career as a manager. He’s won another Champions League, added two Spanish championships and cups, three Bundesligas, two German Cups, four League Cups, and much more silverware.

Zinedine Zidane

A World Cup and European Championship winner, as well as a league winner in both Italy and Spain with Juventus and Real Madrid, where he also won the Champions League as a player. He scored one of the most unforgettable volleys in history during that 2003 final. It’s not luck, as others claim, and no, it isn’t true that anybody can do what he did with Real Madrid. It has been 53 years since a Real side won a league and European Cup double. Zidane accomplished the feat in just his second year as manager of Madrid. He left Real Madrid manager with eleven trophies, including three Champions Leagues and two Fifa Club World Cups.

Carlo Ancelotti

As a player who was the second person to win three European Cups as a manager, Ancelotti was also a midfielder in the dominant Milan side in the late 80s and early 90s. He won the Italian Cup four times as a player at Roma and once as a manager in 2016. There he helped the team to three European Cups and two Serie A crowns, as well as a memorable long-range goal in the 1989 5-0 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the European Cup final.

He was also a member of the Italian national team that finished third at the 1990 World Cup and went on to have an incredible post-playing profession as a coach. His first significant award was the 2003 Italian Cup, which he won shortly after with Juventus. Ancelotti then became only the second man to serve three European Cup-winning teams, winning with Milan in 2007 and Real Madrid in 2014. You’re looking at a CV that includes an English, French, Italian and Spanish League title.