Argentinian coach Diego Maradona may have taken Argentina to the World Cup but he isn’t about to win any plaudits. His bizarre press conference after a tight 1-0 win over Uruguay ensured qualification has raised further questions about his mental stability. Pele, for one, believes Maradona should not be coaching Argentina (an opinion that Maradona believes casts significant doubt on the Brazilian legend’s sexuality).

That Argentina struggled so mightily to qualify when they have one of the best teams in the world is an indictment of Maradona as a coach. Even more, it shows that the Argentinians have fallen prey to a long-standing sporting myth: that great players will automatically make for superb coaches.

The best coaches, far from being innately gifted, are usually those who rose above their limited abilities to compete in their sport. The most famous example of this may be Brad Gilbert, a journeyman tennis player who hung around the margins of the top twenty for many years despite his unimposing physique. He was able to survive as a pro by out-thinking players who either had a natural talent for the game or stood six-an-a-half-feet tall. As the most celebrated coach in the history of tennis, Gilbert was able to reinvent Andre Agassi’s career by making him a smarter player. Similarly, fourth-ranked player Andy Murray prefers to keep Miles Maclagan, who never broke the top 100 as his main coach, while using grand-slam winner Alex Corretja only to help him out on clay. Maclagan at 5 foot 9 inches, is diminutive by tennis standards but was able to eke out a living as a pro through his wits.

Great players are used accustomed to being the centre of attention, not willing to recede into the background even when they have a supporting role. Witness Maradona’s meltdown again to see how ego is coming in the way of his job. Compare also the records of John Wright (batting average 37.82) and Greg Chappell (batting average 53.86) as coach of India. India enjoyed great success under Wright, in part because he was not constantly hogging the limelight, leaving the trappings of success to be enjoyed by captain Saurav Ganguly. Chappell, meanwhile, managed to pick fights with everyone, was a habitual leaker to the media and eventually had to leave the job in disgrace.

Anyone who still thinks that a ledgendary player is an automatic choice as coach should ask themselves: who would you rather have coaching the Pakistan cricket team, Bob Woolmer or Javed Miandad?