Jamie Carragher: You can make an argument that Unai Emery is the third best manager in this Premier League. If you back over the last 12 months since he came in at Villa, if you are talking about Man Utd, Aston Villa are a better coached team than United. There is no doubt about that.
Managers have levels they are suited to. I put them into four buckets:
The Artist - Takes a world class group to a whole nother level. Revolutionise how the game is played- Pep is the current man. Cruyff at Ajax, Sacchi at Milan, Wenger at Arsenal. Other honourable mentions include Ancelotti, maybe Zidane at Madrid.
Disruptor - Takes top teams and players and gets them challenging for major honours. Not always the prettiest stylistically but usually very effective. Klopp, Mourinho, Tuchel, Conte, Simeone
The up and comer - can take a midtable or lower midtable team and get them able to match the big boys from time to time and perhaps nick a European spot or one of the minor cups. Struggle in bigger jobs.
De Zerbi, Moyes (at Everton), Potter (Brighton)
The Fire Fighter - the one to turn to in a relegation scrap, to unite the team, make them tough to beat - Allardyce, Dyche, Tony Pulis
For me Emery is a great example of a manager falling into category 3.
Now just to be clear, no one type is necessarily “better” than the others. It’s very dependent on the situation. Would Pep be able to keep Everton up or be able to do the job Pulis did back in the day at Stoke? No. Likewise would Pulis be able to surpass Pep if he was given the same resources? Doubt it.
Managers have levels they are suited to. I put them into four buckets:
The Artist - Takes a world class group to a whole nother level. Revolutionise how the game is played- Pep is the current man. Cruyff at Ajax, Sacchi at Milan, Wenger at Arsenal. Other honourable mentions include Ancelotti, maybe Zidane at Madrid.
Disruptor - Takes top teams and players and gets them challenging for major honours. Not always the prettiest stylistically but usually very effective. Klopp, Mourinho, Tuchel, Conte, Simeone
The up and comer - can take a midtable or lower midtable team and get them able to match the big boys from time to time and perhaps nick a European spot or one of the minor cups. Struggle in bigger jobs. De Zerbi, Moyes (at Everton), Potter (Brighton)
The Fire Fighter - the one to turn to in a relegation scrap, to unite the team, make them tough to beat - Allardyce, Dyche, Tony Pulis
For me Emery is a great example of a manager falling into category 3.
Now just to be clear, no one type is necessarily “better” than the others. It’s very dependent on the situation. Would Pep be able to keep Everton up or be able to do the job Pulis did back in the day at Stoke? No. Likewise would Pulis be able to surpass Pep if he was given the same resources? Doubt it.
Those names made me cringe honestly. How have you put Klopp in the same category as Mourinho, Conte and Simeone lol