The upcoming season of the Premier League might not just be a battle of great players but also a battle of equally great footballing minds. After several changes made to managerial positions of the top teams, the Premier League now boasts of having the best managers in the game, fighting it out for the highly-coveted trophy.
The highly-skilled tacticians will also be looking to use the transfer market to strengthen their squads according to their strategic needs. Largely aware of the competition their rivals have to offer, these managers have got 38 games to make a difference; to rise above each other and win the league for their club.
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The Premier League is said to be the best football league in the world.
And it just got better.
Josep "Pep" Guardiola (Manchester city)
Hailed as the man who revolutionized football in Catalonia, Pep Guardiola is held in high regard by many and considered one of the best minds in modern day football. His statistics speak for itself as he boasts of an incredible 74.3% wins in his 408 games as manager. He has won a total of 21 trophies and averages 2.38 points per game (a game won is three points earned).
His move to Manchester City from Bayern Munich has raised quite a few eyebrows but the 45-year-old is confident of making his presence felt in the Premier League.
Popularly known as the pioneer of Tiki-Taka football in Barcelona, Guardiola has been consistent in using holding formations with a great emphasis on maintaining possession of the ball. His basic game-play revolves around the simple technique of passing. His technique involves switching between the 3-4-3 and 4-1-4-1 formations based on the run of play and the players at his disposal.
However, whether his holding style of play will fetch him trophies in the Premier League, only time will tell. But with a number of extremely talented players like David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in his side, Guardiola might just end up creating yet another formidable midfield force.
Since his appointment at Manchester City, Guardiola has signed Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund) for £21million and Nolito (Celta Vigo) for £13.8 million.
José Mourinho (Manchester United)
On the 27th of May, Manchester United, the club with the largest fan base in the world, appointed Jose ‘The Special One’ Mourinho as the head coach of the celebrated football club. Mourinho is hailed as one of the best tacticians of the game and rightly so. He has a win ratio of 65.5 % in 765 games as a manager.
A total silverware count of 30 trophies to his name and an average of 2.16 points per game add to his credentials, making him one of the most successful managers in the history of football.
With the likes of Martial, Memphis and Rashford, Mourinho might try to build a team similar to the one he had in Inter Milan with a 4-2-3-1 formation, which has always been his preferred formation. In Rooney, Mourinho has got the perfect player to switch between the role of an attacking midfielder and a striker alongside recently acquired Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Mourinho takes an interest in player positioning and movement both on and off the ball. His team’s quick in-game reactions pose a huge threat to the opposition as very few can read the game quicker than Mourinho. He incorporates cunningly-crafted offensive gameplay in his methods, laying special stress on counter-attacking football.
Mourinho might just prove to be the perfect manager to bring the Red Devils back on track after their poor run of form in past seasons. His attacking style of play may just be the very change which has to be implemented in United’s game-play and that just might make the difference this season.
Eric Bailly(Villareal), Henrikh Mkhitaryan(Borussia Dortmund) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic(PSG) are the three key players Mourinho has signed since taking over from Louis Van Gaal this summer.
Arsène Wenger (Arsenal)
Undoubtedly the most experienced football manager in the Premier League as of now, Arsene Wenger has been the manager of Arsenal since 1996. He is easily the most criticized person in Arsenal at present (with perhaps Oliver Giroud being an exception) and has been subjected to criticism from the fans many a times in recent seasons.
A win ratio of 57.1 % in a mammoth 1556 games speaks of his experience at the top-tier managerial level of the game. He has 17 trophies to show for it and an average of 1.94 points per game. His lack of silverware in the recent seasons has been a major concern for the 66-year-old but he is known to absorb criticism like no other and even thousands of fans hurling abuses at him do not seem to unnerve him.
Wenger has experimented with all sorts of attacking formations which proved to be efficient in short spells in his career. His recent shuffling between the 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 formations yielded mixed results for Arsenal. In Wenger’s defence, the French manager has always been unlucky with injuries to his main in-form players, with the likes of Ramsay and Walcott missing entire seasons on more than one occasion.
Wenger’s tactical ability of correctly recognizing a player’s skill set was showcased again recently with his signings of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid and Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona.
Wenger has often been widely criticized for his limited activity in the transfer market. The French manager had previously stated that he takes more interest in discovering young talents across the globe and grooming these players but this strategy was not very well-received among the fans who have not seen Arsenal win a Premier league trophy since their 2003-04 Invincible season.
Wenger has made two additions to his squad till now this season, Swiss player Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach (£30 million) and Japanese international Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Antonio Conte (Chelsea)
With Italy crashing out of the Euros, Antonio Conte’s only concern will be his upcoming season as the Chelsea boss. A master tactician, Conte is known for the defensive style of play he implements in his teams. A comparatively less-experienced manager than his compatriots in England, Conte has already proclaimed himself a force to be reckoned with.
With a win ratio of 55 % in 310 games, he has won 5 trophies as manager in his career which includes winning three successive Serie A titles with Juventus.
Antonio Conte is known for implementing a 3-5-2 formation in his team. This formation has proved effective for him in the past and efficiently regulates the work rate of the players within the team. With Chelsea, he might be looking to implement a similar approach.
His use of quick wingbacks overlapping in each of the flanks give additional support to his forwards and prove lethal in counter attacks. Conte is known to implicate high and aggressive pressing and a very direct attacking approach. His ability of utilizing both the centre and the width of the pitch in creating chances, makes his style of play much distributed and difficult to break.
He has a tremendous amount of tactical versatility and experiments with different formations before settling for the optimal one. His team is known for the solidarity they show in defence and quick counter attacks.
Conte completed the signing of Marseille forward Michy Batshuayi on a five-year contract for a fee of £33m. He is also said to be closing in on a £30 million deal to sign Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool)
In October 2015, Jürgen Klopp was appointed the manager of Liverpool with hopes that he will help the Reds to recover from a dismal run of trophy-less seasons for four years. In Klopp’s first season at Liverpool, he took them to the finals of the Capital One cup and the UEFA Europa cup, losing in the finals on both the occasions.
Klopp’s style of play and player requirements were said to be different from the set of players Liverpool had when Brendan Rodger’s was sacked, but the German manager was quoted saying that he would be happy to work with the players he inherits.
Klopp has managed around 640 games in his career having a win ratio of 49.1%. He has a 1.71 point average per game and 5 trophies to his name.
Klopp is known for his rigorous training programmes and belief of not depending on technical ability alone. His gameplay involves increasing the work rate of players both in defence and in attack with fitness being the key component. Liverpool seemed to adopt a more direct approach with Klopp last season.
He likes to play a high energy game and press very early, to turn the ball over in the opponent’s half if possible within only 20 or 30 yards of the opposition’s goal. This approach makes their gameplay faster and more attack-minded than in previous seasons.
After debuting in a 4-3-2-1 and even trying a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, Klopp has settled on the standard 4-2-3-1. His withdrawal from a one-forward formation usually coincides with him having more than one striker available, in which case two will play ahead of a withdrawn playmaker and a narrow midfield.
Klopp focuses on winning the ball back quickly and going straight to the opponent's goal. The strategy is to capitalise on opposition errors, but rather than patiently waiting for them to develop, Klopp’s Liverpool seeks to cause them by creating chaos as the other team tries to build its attack. This is achieved with the help of players who are quick on their feet and have very high defensive work rates along with pressing abilities.
Jurgen Klopp has successfully signed Senegalese forward Sadio Mane( Southampton) for a transfer fee of £30 million. Another addition to Liverpool this season is defender Joel Matip from Schalke.
