6 footballers turned managers you may not know about as Kuyt prepares for Anfield trip

When Liverpool host Fenerbahce in the Champions League next week, there will be a familiar face for fans in the visiting dugout.

Dirk Kuyt, who played 285 games for the Merseyside club, has been named interim boss of Fenerbahce, setting him on course for a trip to Anfield.

But what other former European players have become coaches? Here are six examples you may not have heard about.

Dirk Kuyt

Kuyt’s path to Anfield has been an unusual one and not filled with exactly huge clubs.

His first job was at ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands, but he was sacked just a few months into it.

Almost a year later, he was named manager of Belgian second division side Beerschot and took them to promotion. He could not keep them up though and after guiding them to last, he resigned.

His most recent job as manager came at FC Dordrecht, but he left in June to join Fenerbahce as assistant manager under Ismail Kartal.

Following Kartal’s resignation, Kuyt was named interim boss, which has set him up for a date with Liverpool.

Daniele De Rossi

As soon as his career was over, the Italian midfielder stated that he wanted to become a coach and was immediately linked with a number of Serie A clubs despite not even having the full UEFA badges.

While he studied to get those badges, he was assistant to Roberto Mancini when Italy won Euro 2020.

He then left the national team setup to finish his studies, and his first job as the boss came at Serie B side SPAL.

He could only manage them to 18th, though, and was promptly sacked.

That did look like it could be the end of De Rossi’s managerial career, but he was given the Roma job until the end of the season following Jose Mourinho’s exit.

As an Italian version of Michael Carrick, De Rossi impressed enough to be given the position on a full-time basis, only to then be sacked after failing to win in the first four games of the new season.

He is currently head coach of Serie A side Genoa, who are 16th in the league, and his most impressive scalp was a 2-1 win over his former employers Roma.

Andres Iniesta

The Spanish great seemed to have disappeared from the football landscape after he retired in 2024, but this year he was surprisingly named as head coach of UAE side Gulf United.

Things have not been going overly well, though. The club have played six games under him and lost four of them, putting them 12th in the 15-team league.

That is the only managerial experience on Iniesta’s career to date.

Clarence Seedorf

Seedorf took up the reins at his beloved Milan in 2014 with the club in 11th but lasted until just the summer before being given the boot.

He then moved to China and then to Brazil, and his bizarre managerial career took another twist when he left Deportivo La Coruna to become Cameroon boss after Sven-Goran Eriksson turned the job down.

He won four of his 13 games, though, and lost in the round of 16 of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. That got him the sack, and just this month, his career has taken another weird turn as he has been appointed manager of Corinthians in Brazil.

Depending on when you read this, that may already be out of date, though, with the club just two spots from bottom and in the relegation zone.

Patrick Vieira

You probably remember Vieira’s underwhelming stint at Crystal Palace, but good luck trying to guess where he went after that.

His first stop was Strasbourg, where he lost more games than he won and, having been sacked in July 2024, he got a new gig at Genoa.

The Frenchman lasted just shy of a year before getting the boot once again, and he was off the touchline for almost 12 months before landing his current role.

Vieira is the incumbent Senegal manager, having taken over in August, and he has yet to be beaten. Albeit with the team having only played three games so far.

Nuri Sahin

Dortmund were hoping for their own version of Pep Guardiola when they named former youth product and first-teamer Sahin as manager in 2024.

Unfortunately, it did not work out so well.

He was first assistant boss to Edin Terzic before taking the full-time job in June 2024, but the team started poorly under him.

By Christmas, Dortmund were mid-table, and four consecutive defeats to start 2025 saw him given the sack.

He has since found his feet as a manager, taking over Istanbul Basaksehir in September 2025 and the club finished fifth in his first full season.

They are currently 12th, having lost more games than they have won.