Which manager will steer their team to Premier League glory in 2024-25?

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The 2024-25 English Premier League season kicks off on Friday 16 August with Manchester United facing Fulham at Old Trafford.

Following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, we have witnessed some managerial changes among the ‘big boys.’ How positively, or negatively, the changes will affect the teams is left to be seen.

Apart from focus on players across the 20 clubs, there are definitely questions and opinions about the managers as well.

Although fans are already reveling in the actions of the ongoing Euro 2024 tournament, it is pretty clear everyone cannot wait to embrace the excitement that comes with the kick off of a new Premier League season.

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Will Pep Guardiola continue his dominance in England? To what extent do we expect to see Enzo Maresca and Arne Slot progress with their new teams? Will Unai Emery collapse with much more responsibilities to take on in the coming season?

NRTC takes a look at the top managers ahead of the new 2024-25 Premier League season and how they could fair with their respective clubs.

Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

After winning four consecutive league titles with Manchester City – a competition record – Pep Guardiola will be targeting yet another crown. The Spaniard has dominated the English topflight since his arrival from Germany and has proven so difficult to usurp.

He has a squad that is tough to beat as they are brilliant in all departments, parading some of the finest players in Europe.

Guardiola hasn’t only prospered with City in England, he has also succeeded with them on the European front. He guided the Cityzens to the UEFA Champions League title in 2023.

With the likes of Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden in City’s ranks, it will not be a surprise if the club wins another Premier League title.

Arne Slot (Liverpool)

At the Merseyside, Liverpool confirmed the acquisition of Arne Slot as replacement for German manager Jurgen Klopp. 45-year-old Slot was manager of Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord before he joined the Reds.

Slot may not be a well-known name among the followers of the EPL but he was under close observation by Liverpool ever since Klopp announced he’d be leaving Anfield.

As a player, his playing style has been described as “silky” and “cultured” and he has translated that into some of his players too. He emphasises strong work ethic and discipline.

Leading Feyenoord to last season’s Champions League campaign, the Dutch beat Celtic 2-0. Sadly, they were undone by two losses to Atlético Madrid as they conclude Group E in third position.

His tactical awareness and technical know-how will surely be tested during his time with Liverpool.

Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)

Chelsea traded former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino for Enzo Maresca who led Leicester to last term’s Championship title.

The Italian manager’s most notable honour in football management before the Championship was his Premier League 2 triumph with Manchester City. He was also assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Pochettino was axed despite Chelsea making a run of impressive outings towards the end of the campaign. A run that included five victories in their last five matches of the season.

Maresca’s style of play has been admired by the Chelsea hierarchy and the 44-year-old gaffer will have at his disposal an array of talented youngsters who can go all the way.

Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Despite his best approaches with Arsenal, Mikel Arteta has failed to win the league, finishing directly behind his ‘master’ in the past two seasons.

The manager is another of those who grew in management under Guardiola. He was assistant to the former Barcelona boss before joining Arsenal in December 2019.

Arteta has organised a set of talented, savvy and exciting young players that have light up the league. Their attacking prowess is one only Manchester City have surpassed over the last two seasons.

Captain Martin Odegaard – missing with Norway at the Euro tournament – has been pulling the strings from a midfield that also has one of Europe’s best holding midfielders in Declan Rice.

Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and sometimes Gabriel Jesus led the line for Arsenal. Going into the new 2024-25 Premier League campaign, they need one or two fresh infusions.

If they have a fully fit Thomas Partey and Jesus for majority of the season with some other quality additions, then maybe we could be talking about the Gunners‘ league victory come next May.

Unai Emery (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa gave a good account of themselves by finishing in the Champions League places ahead of the next campaign.

Former Gunners boss, Unai Emery has instilled his philosophy into his players and it is obvious how much that has translated into their overall play on the pitch.

Emery is a proven winner whose track record resonates excellence. He is a four-time Europa League winner, once with Villarreal and three successive times (2014-2016) with Sevilla. He also won the French Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain as well as other Cup titles in France.

His experience at the European stage will be crucial in helping Aston Villa navigate their way in the UCL.

Villa will need further reinforcements ahead of the new season as they are set to participate in more competitions.

Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham)

Ange Postecoglou will once again lead Tottenham out in the 2024-25 campaign. His side started last season like a house on fire but were watered-down as the season progressed. The north Londoners showed a lot of promise and were dubbed strong favourites to win the league early on.

Injuries played its part in their campaign but that also affected other clubs. Most painful of the injuries was that of James Maddison, one of the league’s most creative players.

Harry Kane or not, Tottenham look like they do not have much to offer than we have already seen. However, Spurs fans will continue to hope and anticipate a better season than the previous one.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou will have to do a lot of work to get the players – chief amongst which are Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-Min, Brennan Johnson, Maddison, Richarlison, and Pedro Porro – at their best if they are to challenge for the league title.

Erik ten Hag (Manchester United)

The Dutch saved his season with a cup win – a vital 2-1 FA Cup final victory against rivals Manchester City.

Holistically, Manchester United‘s season was not what the fans wanted to see. Unbelievable losses and a bad run of form at crucial times saw them eventually finish eighth on the table.

Rumours persisted throughout the season of an imminent sack for Ten Hag but somehow he managed to escape being shown the exit door.

However, just last week, United confirmed the former Ajax manager will remain at the club. United fans will wait to see how this ‘second chance’ will pan out.

As it stands, almost all departments of the Red Devils team are in crisis. From the defense to the midfield and then the attack, United were largely poor last season. It was so bad Casemiro had to be deployed in the centre-back role for multiple matches due to injury problems.

The Brazilian former Real Madrid player struggled to adapt in this new role. The midfielders also failed to live up to expectation and could not connect properly with the attackers. Even when they did, the end product usually ended in disappointment.

This has cost some of the players places at the national team level. For example, Brazil failed to invite Casemiro for the Copa América while Marcus Rashford was not called up by England for the Euro Championship.