Just looking down a list, and there didn't seem to be many that had played at a decent level. There seemed to be a fair few that got injured early, and others that just weren't good enough.
Fair shout. I can understand someone not good enough or injured early wanting to stay in the game, but it struck me the better players don't tend to go to management, but some will go on to be pundits. It can't just be the money?
I was talking about this to a mate at the last home game. Why a lot of top players now aren't managers. We came to the conclusion that because of the money top players get they have no need or desire to be a manager. You look 20 years ago and you had Keegan, Dalgish and Souness,
A few more in Italy - Pippo Inzaghi, Antonio Conte, Sinisha Mihalovic, Vincenzo Montella, Roberto Donadoni. And before anyone mentions Guardiola, he was a decent player but he was never world class. He played for Brescia....
Was Hughes better than Koeman? Not so sure about that, hard to make a fair comparison as Hughes didn't get the opportunity to play internationally and missed a massive whack of European Club football because of the post heysel ban, but Koeman was part of the Barca dream team of the early 90s and won the 88 euros and a pretty bloody good player
Yep, scored the only goal direct from a free kick in extra time in the European Cup vs Sampdoria at Wembley. Was the last European Cup before it became the CL. In my opinion Koeman > Hughes.
People who rave on about Barcelona being this ultimate club do seem to ignore their lack of success in the biggest club competition pre very late 80s.
Yeah, in terms of the European Cup, they did bugger all between the early 60s and late 80s. They did alright in the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup though, but as you say that is a different level to the top.
Maradonna ... I can't stand the greasy little **** but he is rated up there with Cruyf and Pele as one of the world's best. When i hear people refer to the "hand of god," I remind them it was the hand of a cheating ****!
