In an exclusive wide-ranging interview to be screened on Sunday's The World Game show, at 1pm on SBS, Kewell, who was voted Australia's greatest ever player in 2012, hailed Guus Hiddink as Australia's most accomplished coach.
The 37 year-old also explained how his first few weeks in charge of Watford’s U-21 side gave him migraines and dubbed former England and Manchester United right-back Gary Neville as his most difficult and demanding opponent.
Kewell, who won 56 caps for his country and featured in three FIFA World Cups, said he had no regrets when looking back on a career that promised more than it ultimately delivered due to the curse of countless injuries.
The former Liverpool and Leeds winger, brimming with gusto in his new incarnation as an up-and-coming coach, said Dutchman Frank Rijkaard was the mentor who brought the best out of him, while also giving honourable mentions to Gerrard Houllier, Rafael Benitez and George Graham.
Kewell wasn't as complimentary to David O’Leary though, who once branded the Australian “a big head”.
When Kewell unveiled his top Socceroos team in August, there were gasps of astonishment from some that Cahill, Australia’s all-time leading scorer, didn’t make the cut.
But an unapologetic Kewell stood by his decision.
"People say why Tim wasn’t in my team? Yes, he is our all-time leading scorer and that’s an achievement to be proud of," Kewell said.
"But this is a team made up of players I played with during the majority of my career and I played the majority of my career with Vidukes expecially playing up front. So it was a no brainer for me. You can’t please everybody.”
While they may not have been so warm and fuzzy off the field, Kewell’s admiration for Viduka, who captained Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, runs deep.
“I loved playing with Vidukes at Leeds; he brought out the best in me," he said.
"He had the power and strength, the ability to take on two centre halves, and his feet were quick and tricky. The majority of my goals came through him."
Currently bedding in at Vicarage Road as the king of the Hornets kids, Kewell said when the newly-promoted Premier League club offered him the role, he thought it was a wind-up.
“I thought Watford was pulling my leg. But from the first moment I met the manger (Quique Sanchez Flores) it was fantastic," Kewell said.
“I am working with a great bunch of young men ... I feel young again and I have to start from the bottom and work my way up.
“My first week I had migraines, all the information I had to take in on and off the park. It blew me away and gave me more respect for my coaches straight away, just the amount they do behind the scenes.
"I am not going sit here and say I will only coach under-21's … I am aiming for the highest level and want to be a manager and see what it’s like to have the pressure on you.”
With Australia's so-called 'golden generation' to be feted at a gala night in Sydney next month, while celebrating the 10-year anniversary of qualifying for Germany 2006, former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink will also be in attendance as a guest of honour.
Kewell's appreciation of the Dutch master is unabashed, even if some of his ex-teammates have been less than complimentary in their assessment of Hiddink's brief reign.
“I loved Guus… he got the best out of us. He got us defensively right but he knew we could also express ourselves, could destroy teams and that we knew how to play," he said.
“He had that confidence and power in himself to control every situation. No manager will make 20 players happy, you are lucky if you make six happy.
“As much as people want to criticise managers they have to realise it’s a tough job. People say a lot of things but you do as your boss says, it’s a simple as that.”
