20 Cockiest Footballers and Coaches of All Time

Muhammad Ali famously once said, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."

He might as well have been a footballer.

Throughout the history of the game, football has had more than its share of cocky players and coaches. And maybe that's not so hard to understand.

Football is the world's most popular game. So if you're a great player, there's a good chance you'll be adored by millions of fans around the world.

Who wouldn't feel cocky after that?

With that in mind, here's our list of the 20 cockiest players and managers in football history.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!

Whatevs, Crissy. We dislike you because you're so danged cocky. And it's not just fans, either. Your fellow players are just as tired of your antics.

Still, you're a heck of a player.

Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry isn't cocky. He's just French, and he farts in your general direction.

Actually, on second thought, he's definitely cocky. And we're not just talking about his amazingly successful stint with Arsenal.

He's pulling the same stuff over here in America.

Arsene Wenger

So is it cocky to make a prediction that comes true?

Early in the 2002-03 season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his squad could go undefeated. He was one season too early, but he was right.

So is that cocky?

Yeah, we still think it is. Just because you can go undefeated, that doesn't mean you should tell the media all about it.

Nicklas Bendtner

We're not railing on Arsenal, honest. They just have some arrogant characters.

One of the most laughably cocky players in recent memory has to be Nicklas Bendtner, who literally scored off the charts for self-confidence in a test conducted by Arsenal.

We're not sure why he's so full of himself, though.

Roy Keane

Angry can be cocky too.

Just look at this face!

That's Roy Keane getting ready to knock out Patrick Vieira. It's also the picture that appears in the dictionary next to "cocky."

It's not just the anger. It's everything, really.

Didier Drogba

We'll look to Piers once more for a verdict on Didier Droga.

Cocky or not cocky?

Definitely cocky.

Our favorite part of Piers' rant:

"

We've heard all this nonsense, in endless different varieties, from Drogba many times before. He's like one of those ghastly office nerds who never stop complaining about the size and quality of the paperclips or the performance of the coffee machine.

"

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Everyone thinks Zlatan Ibrahimovic is cocky.

His teammates. Fans. Pundits.

Kevin-Prince Boateng might have changed his mind, but we haven't. Just watch Ibra play for a couple minutes and you'll agree.

Brian Clough

You've got to love Brian Clough.

Sure, he was cocky, but he was the funny kind of cocky.

Alex Ferguson thinks Clough was rude. NPR apparently thinks he's brilliant.

We think he was the master of a quote. And that he kinda sorta looked like the lovechild of Bill Murray and John Cusack.

Ahem, in his own words:

"I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one."

Sir Alex Ferguson

Speaking of Sir Alex Ferguson, he's really cocky too.

He'd have us think his opponents are the arrogant ones, but we know better than that.

This Dude

Check out those moves!

Yeah, um, that's what you do in training. You don't do that on the pitch while a game is going on.

How did he think the other team would react?

Again, though: nice skills.

Jens Lehmann

Insults can be cocky too!

During his career, Jens Lehmann was the king of insulting quotes. Most of them came from his inflated sense of self.

On Manuel Almunia, when the two were teammates at Arsenal:

“To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny.”

And:

"He does not have my class.”

Jose Mourinho

When he arrived at Chelsea in 2004, here's what Jose Mourinho said of himself:

"

I'm not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones, those that achieve success and those that don't. Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one.

"

The worst part about it is that it's hard to argue with him.

Joey Barton

How does one explain how Joey Barton is cocky? How does one describe the color blue?

Blue is just blue. Barton is just cocky.

Here's an example: After being left out of an England squad earlier this year, Barton said he's the best.

And here's another example, just in case you're not convinced.

John Terry

So, yeah, if you have an affair with your teammate's girl, and then you try to get the government to stop the media from reporting it—that's kind of cocky.

Just sayin'.

We're not the only ones who are saying so, either.

Mido

Mido was thrown off the Egyptian team during the 2006 African Cup of Nations after a heated argument with his manager.

Afterwards, Mido slammed both his teammates and his country's entire football system.

"

"In Egypt they are amateurs. The manager is an amateur, the team are amateurs, the association are amateurs," Mido told the Daily Express.

"They think they know everything. People can call me an arrogant Premiership player. The fact is that I am a Premiership player and they are amateurs.

"I have not spoken to Shehata since the incident. I don't care about him. He is a local guy. Before he was in charge of the national team, he managed a second division side."

"

Yikes. But that's not all. In 2010, he showed up at a Turkish club without an invitation.

Who's the amateur now, Mido?

Stefan Effenberg

How cocky must one be to earn the label "arrogant" by FIFA?

Apparently, it's as cocky as Stefan Effenberg.

Nicolas Anelka

First Nicolas Anelka decided he was too good for Arsenal. At the age of 20. After Arsenal had made him a star.

Then Nicolas Anelka decided he was too good for France.

Eric Cantona

To understand the cockiness—and genius—of Eric Cantona, the only thing you have to do is follow the quotes.

Here's a great compilation.

And here are a few highlights:

"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much."

(Cantona, of course, is the trawler. All the people who, back in the day, were drinking the haterade—those were the seagulls.)

And the best:

"I am not a man, I am Cantona"

Ashley Cole

Ashley Cole wrote an autobiography at the age of 25. Jens Lehmann, of all people, criticized Cole for being so presumptuous to write a memoir at such a young age.

Ashley Cole also cheated on this woman. Repeatedly. Because he's clearly a cocky idiot.

Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona loves to call other people arrogant.

But if you know anything about the man they call D10S, it's that he's probably even more arrogant than Cristiano Ronaldo.