Though both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo haven’t indicated any intentions of becoming soccer coaches after ending their playing career, a closer look at them will show who will make a better coach.
Though we can’t predict exactly, its likely Cristiano Ronaldo won’t venture into soccer coaching. Messi on the other looks like someone who might try his luck with coaching probably in his forties.
Lionel Messi’s case:
His biggest advantage here is that he is a proud product of La Masia academy. He is part and parcel of Barcelona F.C.
He has the DNA of Barça inbuilt in his own DNA.
Should he venture into soccer coaching, it would be easier for him, albeit coaching Barca would be easier for him than coaching other teams.
Messi knows all the philosophy of Barça, he was part of the glorious squad of players of the 2008–2012 generation led by another La Masia academy coach, Pep Guardiola.
So for a start, the Barca U-18 team will be a good place for him to start and test the many turbulent glasses of water in the world of soccer coaching.
If he succeeds there, he can also coach the Barca senior team in the future just as Xavi and Iniesta are expected to come back and coach their beloved boyhood club.
The only negative is that he might not coach any other team, as a one-club man player, he will also be a one-club man coach.
His positive; he will be respected by players a lot and his instructions will be golden; he can advise players on how to win everything.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Case:
Imagine if he stops playing football at 40 years, when will he have time to go for UEFA license, before trying his hands at small teams.
Most coaches have started in their mid-thirties so as to gather all experience needed; in their forties, they are already excelling.
But it seems CR7 has other plans; he is absolutely never gonna be a coach.
But should he venture into coaching, he has the charisma, the personality and charms to attract attention to his team.
He might not be so technically gifted like Messi as a La Masia academy graduate,
He might not have the deep insights as a midfielder as Messi possesses…
But he showed some glimpses of a great coach when he was sidelined due to injury in the Euro 2016 finals against France.
His constant motivations of his own players, standing in the touchlines and screaming until the winning goal came, made a lot of pundits tagged him as a future super coach.
His negatives: he probably lacks the technicality to read a game and make effective changes.
Positives: what he lacks in technical aspects, he will make up by motivating the players psychologically and helping them to achieve success on the pitch.
