GOAL runs down the best coaches in the top flight after a season that saw Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's aura of invulnerability slip
For the first time in four seasons, we have new Premier League champions. Liverpool romped to their record-equalling 20th top-flight title in Arne Slot's first season at the helm, finishing well clear of Mikel Arteta's second-placed Arsenal, as well as Manchester City, who surrendered their crown in shockingly weak fashion while Pep Guardiola experienced the first proper failure of his illustrious career.
Slot was by no means the only coach to impress, though. Nuno Espirito Santo has taken Nottingham Forest from relegation-threatened strugglers to European qualification while both Eddie Howe and Unai Emery have continued to impress in charge of Newcastle and Aston Villa, respectively, with both sides in contention for returns to the Champions League heading into the final day.
The question is, who deserves to be crowned the best Premier League manager of the 2024-25 campaign? GOAL ranks the top 10 contenders…
Getty 10Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth)
Bournemouth are still in with a chance of a top-10 finish after another impressive season under Andoni Iraola, who has transformed the Cherries into one of the most aggressive and entertaining sides in the division. For a while, Champions League qualification even looked like a possibility, as they sat just a point outside the top four at the end of January after an 11-game unbeaten run.
Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain that kind of form due to a lack of squad depth, with a string of untimely injuries forcing Iraola to stretch his resources to the limit. The Cherries have only won three league games since beating Southampton 3-1 at St Mary's on February 15, and there has been a dip in overall performance levels as fatigue has set in.
But that doesn't mean their season has been a bust – far from it. Had it not been for bad luck, a place in Europe would have been theirs. Iraola has still made the Cherries a match for anyone on their day with his progressive style of play, while also turning defensive duo Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez into world-beaters and bringing a lot more out of previously unconvincing players like Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouattarra.
AdvertisementGetty9Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)
Enzo Maresca has had to fight an uphill battle to win the faith of Chelsea supporters. Many felt that Mauricio Pochettino deserved more time after guiding the Blues to sixth in the league last term, and Maresca's only previous experience as a head coach had come in the Championship at Leicester City.
But the Italian has largely been able to silence the doubters. Chelsea will return to the Champions League if they beat fellow top-five chasers Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season, and may even finish as high as third in the process, which would represent a huge step forward.
The Blues have looked disjointed at times, but Maresca has made them a more possession-oriented, hard-working team, and that bodes well for the future. He will, however, have to step up his game on the recruitment side of things for Chelsea to become title contenders again, with misfits such as Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all likely to be forced out after just one year at Stamford Bridge.
(C)Getty Images8Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
After coming so close to winning Arsenal's first Premier League title since 2003-04 on two successive occasions, this was supposed to be the year that Mikel Arteta got the Gunners over the line. Alas, it was not to be as Liverpool pulled away early on and injuries decimated Arteta's squad, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz among those forced onto the sidelines for lengthy periods.
Arteta has used that as an excuse for Arsenal falling short again, but it doesn't hold weight. He should have invested in a new No.9 last summer, and has paid the ultimate price for trying to copy his old mentor Guardiola's blueprint too closely, naively believing his tactical acumen would outweigh the absence of a natural goal-scorer. The door was open for Arsenal after City's fall from grace, but they didn't have enough firepower to step through it. That's all on Arteta, whether he admits it or not.
All of that said, the Gunners have still been enthralling to watch at their best, and Arteta has helped several players reach new individual heights, most notably Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes. He's a clever, meticulous coach with bags of self confidence, but we already knew that. Next season Arsenal have to become winners, or Arteta's time will run out.
Getty Images Sport7Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton)
To say eyebrows were raised when Brighton chose to hire 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler as Roberto de Zerbi's replacement last summer would be an understatement. Not only would the new head coach be younger than number of his players, but he would also arrive at the Amex Stadium having only previously managed in the German second tier.
And yet, despite a decent turnover of players in his first transfer window on the south coast, Hurzerler has been able to get the Seagulls back on track after their disappointing second half of last season all while continuing the progressive style of play that fans became accustomed to during Graham Potter and De Zerbi's respective tenures.
Brighton can cap off a fine debut season for Hurzerler on the final day of the season when, if they can avoid defeat at Tottenham, they will hope to secure an eighth-placed finish that could yet be enough to earn them a return to European competition. Given the doubts that surrounded his arrival, that would be quite the achievement by Hurzerler first time around.
