Every Current Premier League Manager As Footballers Ranked - Worst To Best

The lifecycle of a footballer is pretty well mapped out at this point.

You get your big break signing for a local professional club as a youth, work your way up to first-team football, enjoy a decade or so of playing the beautiful game as a profession whilst getting your coaching badges, then go into management.

After all, who could be more well equipped to lead a team to glory than someone who has done everything there is to do as a player? At least historically this was the primary formula for success in management, with a number of world-class players eventually embarking on a career in the dugout once their playing days were over.

These days though, the game has changed. The successes of coaches like Avram Grant and Andre Villas-Boas show that an impressive playing résumé isn't always as important as technical nous and management skills, and that playing the game professionally isn't necessarily a prerequisite of serving as the gaffer for some of the world's biggest clubs.

So, out of the current crop of bosses in the Premier League who enjoyed the most decorated career on the pitch?

One of the most acclaimed managers of the modern era of the game, Jose Mourinho has enjoyed almost-universal success as a gaffer since first being appointed head of Porto in 2002. Leading the Portuguese side to Champions League glory made the Special One a wanted man across Europe with his outspoken nature making him one of the most polarising figures in the sport.

Prior to occupying the managerial hot seat, however, Mourinho was a different animal. A wholly unremarkable midfielder, Mourinho bounced around several clubs in the lower-echelons of Portuguese football before ultimately embarking on a career in coaching that would see him realise his footballing potential.