Hundreds of managers have managed in the Premier League. A few stand out as the greatest. We’ve had our say on the 10 best Premier League managers ever.
For many, there is no better domestic football competition than the Premier League. Over its rich history, the English top flight has produced countless historic moments; great teams, great goals, great players and great moments.
At the heart of it all are the men on the sidelines, the managers tasked with organising their side and wrangling egos into line with a sole goal: success. Hundreds of men have prowled Premier League touchlines over the years, but only a select few have risen to the top, cementing themselves as the division’s finest.
Making an arbitrary list such as this one will is never a crowed pleaser. Put simply, it’s an impossible feat akin to swimming in space. In theory, the greatest Premier League managers should all have league titles to their names. Most do. But, to simply view the league’s decades of history through a lens solely focused on titles and titles only disregards the managerial feats of those men dragging sides into league positions they’d only dared to dream about.
Of course, the ultimate goal of the Premier League is winning league titles. Only one team can do that each year, and football is about so much more than winning; it’s about emotion, the highs and lows, and teams defying expectations to overachieve.
Our ranking of the greatest Premier League manager tries its best to balance title victories with other great feats, such as dragging sides up the ladder or improving many sides over many years.
Editors note: * denotes the manager is still active.
The 10 best Premier League managers ever, according to us
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10. Claudio Ranieri
Clubs managed: Chelsea, Leicester City, Fulham
Games: 238
Wins: 109
Losses: 70
Draws: 59
Honours: 1x Premier League title
There will be no greater achievement in sports history than Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City winning the 2015-16 Premier League title. From nearly relegated the previous season, this oddly assembled squad of misfits achieved the inconceivable, winning the Premier League by 10 points.
Suddenly, a squad of relative nobodies became household sensations and, in the case of N’Golo Kante, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, international superstars. Ranieri’s side were compact, well-drilled and devastating on the break.
For that title alone, his place on the list is deserved.
9. Harry Redknapp
Clubs managed: West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, QPR
Games: 641
Wins: 236
Losses: 238
Draws: 167
Honours: N/A
Harry Redknapp is a Premier League icon. He mightn’t have won a league title but along the way, he’s managed some iconic teams, produced some big results and developed some of the Premier League’s finest.
At West Ham, he was key to the development of Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and his nephew, Frank Lampard. At Spurs, he was pivotal in Gareth Bale’s development. Redknapp’s brilliance extends beyond the sidelines, would the Premier League be the same without him in it?
8. Rafael Benitez
Clubs managed: Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Everton
Games: 359
Wins: 173
Losses: 100
Draws: 86
Honours: N/A
Rafa Benitez mightn’t be football’s most tactically innovative or free-flowing tactical genius. His sides may air on the side of pragmatism and prioritise defensive solidity over everything. That shouldn’t detract from his brilliance.
No, he never won a Premier League title. But, when you look at the Liverpool sides he was dealt with, ones that lack star power like the sides they face in the league, it’s amazing he was able to drag them so close to the Premier League summit so often.
7. Sam Allardyce
Clubs managed: Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Brom, Leeds
Games: 541
Wins: 178
Losses: 217
Draws: 146
Honours: N/A
Another in the Harry Redknapp of an iconic figure who’s not won the league title but has been the godfather of some of the division’s most iconic sides. A classic English football Mr Fix It shoehorned into a struggling side at the 11th hour with the modus operandi of rescuing them from the clutches of certain relegation.
However, in his heyday, Big Sam was somewhat of a revolutionary, who emphasised statistics and analysis in order to increase his side’s chances of winning, if ever so slightly. This included an emphasis on set pieces as a method to create and score goals, a tactic that is commonplace now, particularly in under-resourced sides, but less a few decades back.
6. David Moyes*
Clubs managed: Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland, West Ham
Games: 691
Wins: 268
Losses: 242
Draws: 181
Honours: N/A
Ignore the Manchester United spell. Write that off. Wipe that from your memory. That was an abject failure for Moyes. He was never going to succeed there, no one would’ve under those conditions.
At Everton, he guided Everton to the Champions League and developed the likes of Wayne Rooney, Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman and Marouane Fellaini amongst others. As managers of mid-table sides go, there aren’t many better than Moyes.
While his tactics are rather pragmatic, with an emphasis on a solid defensive structure above all else, there can be no doubt Moyes has worked wonders with minimal resources. He doesn’t have the third-most Premier League wins by a manager ever for no reason.
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5. Jurgen Klopp*
Clubs managed: Liverpool
Games: 327
Wins: 206
Losses: 45
Draws: 76
Honours: 1x Premier League title
It’s crazy that a manager as good as Jurgen Klopp doesn’t even crack the podium, such is the strength of the field. The German arrived at a Liverpool side struggling for results and identity and transformed them into one of Europe’s best outfits.
Without spending exorbitant fees on players, Klopp has developed more stars than just about any modern Premier League manager. Mohamed Salah came from AS Roma as a good winger but became great under the German’s guidance. Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were half the players they were before they walked into Liverpool’s doors. The list goes on.
Had it not been for the financially unrivalled Manchester City’s dominance each year, Klopp’s Liverpool would have more than a single title. The fact they even have one is remarkable.
4. Jose Mourinho
Clubs managed: Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur
Games: 363
Wins: 217
Losses: 62
Draws: 84
Honours: 3x Premier League titles
“I think I’m a special one.” Jose Mourinho’s first words as Chelsea manager have gone down in footballing infamy. As far as proving his opening statement correct, Mourinho did just that. His first season at the London club, 2004-05, wielded a first Premier League title,
That season, Mourinho’s Chelsea conceded a ludicrous 15 goals in 38 league games. A record that will simply remain unbroken for as long as the Premier League exists. Mourinho organised a defence with Petr Cech and John Terry expertly, while the side’s attacking talent was classy enough to create and score for themselves.
Years later, Mourinho’s second spell would reap the 2014-15 title, with a side that lost just three games all season. Undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s greatest managers ever.
3. Arsene Wenger
Clubs managed: Arsenal
Games: 828
Wins: 476
Losses: 153
Draws: 199
Honours: 3x Premier League titles
In years gone by Arsene Wenger was the consensus second-greatest Premier League manager ever. But this isn’t years gone by, this is now. Wenger’s early Premier League career is one of greatness, of invincibility, of on-field fluidity and off-field revolution, of changing the English game and globalising the Premier League.
The latter half of his Arsenal tenure is marred by underachievement and stagnation, of allowing something to continue well beyond its best before date. Yet, those late-era Wenger sides played truly beautiful football. They were simply swallowed by a gulf in financial capacity between Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League’s top sides.
His early seasons, on the other hand, were simply remarkable. The good football was there, with an added layer of toughness fortified by the presence of Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams and Martin Keown. Those late 1990s and early 2000s Arsenal sides were full of artists and henchmen, that’s why they, and their manager, were so great.
2. Pep Guardiola*
Clubs managed: Manchester City
Games: 297
Wins: 218
Losses: 38
Draws: 41
Honours: 5x Premier League titles
Since Pep Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City, there’s been no better side in the Premier League. Pep’s City has flowed through variations, going from strikerless at one point to boasting the best number nine in world football, Erling Haaland, and going from a back four to a fluid back three formation.
Pep is the greatest thinker in football history, much to Manchester City’s benefit. Yes, we understand the financial behemoth backing him. Yes, we understand the financial charges levelled against Manchester City. Those are relevant contextual pieces in any analysis of Pep’s City tenure.
But give Pep West Ham and they win the Premier League title. He’s that good of a coach and man motivator.
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1. Sir Alex Ferguson
Clubs managed: Manchester United
Games: 810
Wins: 528
Losses: 114
Draws: 168
Honours: 13x Premier League titles
Did you expect anyone other than Fergie to be top? If you did, you’re a fool. 13 Premier League titles is an incredible haul that will be hard to beat for a single manager in the competition’s history. Not only is the volume of success impressive, but the manner with which it was achieved, Fergie guiding various sides through births and rebirths over his two decade reign.
