The Manager League is almost done now, with just four seasons to go. Unai Emery is running away with it, leaving the lives of Roberto De Zerbi and Pep Guardiola needing a miracle:
Today we'll do the next three seasons, leaving just one to go. Remember, there is 2,000pts difference between the best and worst scores above, so there is still potential for some big movements.
Season 18
Season 18
On paper it looked like De Zerbi has a real chance to pull points back, as he controls Manchester United and Emery has Nottingham Forest, but generally Man United haven't scored particularly well, whilst Forest's low expectations means it's hard to score badly with them. Meanwhile, David Moyes is in real danger of failing to reach five figures and so needs to make the most of managing Liverpool.
Wolves 'won' the sack race for the second season in a row, as Patrick Vieira had yet another poor performance. The manager they fired last year was Brendan Rodgers, and he only lasted a little longer at Chelsea, departing in October with the side just in the top half. There was a triple sacking in the week after Christmas. Marco Silva, who had won the World Cup last season, left West Ham, along with Julen Lopetegui (Leicester) and Jesse Marsch (Brighton). If all this was inevitable, so was Mikel Arteta losing his job, this time at Brentford. The other job loss of the season came late on as 3rd place wasn't good enough for Gareth Southgate at Man City.
One manager who kept his job was Graham Potter, despite his Everton side suffering an early relegation, along with Lionel Scaloni's Brighton and Bruno Lage's Brentford. It was similarly undramatic at the top, as Moyes' Liverpool cantered to an easy title. The battles for the other European places were more interesting. Chelsea, who had regrouped under Zinedine Zidane to hold second place, lost their final match to Liverpool and slipped all the way to 5th. Roberto De Zerbi's Man United just managed to take 6th spot in the face of a spirited challenge from... you guessed it, Emery's Forest.
That wasn't perhaps the biggest fairytale of the season though, as Gary O'Neil lead his real-life (former) side Bournemouth to their first ever major trophy by defeating his former playing club West Ham in the League Cup final. Former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe's Aston Villa were the underdogs in the final of the FA Cup, but were felled by a Luis Díaz brace as Moyes added a second trophy.
There was to be no European success to add at Anfield though, thanks to a last 16 exit at the hands of Barcelona. Incredibly, all four English teams lost at that stage in the Champions League, as did Arsenal and Man United in the Europa League. This meant the best European performance came from West Ham - now managed by Rafa Benítez, who reached the Conference League semi final before losing to Rennes.
As for Thomas Frank's England, they finished a decent second in their Nations League group, and in the World Cup they got to the semis courtesy of single-goal wins over Ecuador and Mexico, only to lose to Portugal by the same scoreline.
Wolves 'won' the sack race for the second season in a row, as Patrick Vieira had yet another poor performance. The manager they fired last year was Brendan Rodgers, and he only lasted a little longer at Chelsea, departing in October with the side just in the top half. There was a triple sacking in the week after Christmas. Marco Silva, who had won the World Cup last season, left West Ham, along with Julen Lopetegui (Leicester) and Jesse Marsch (Brighton). If all this was inevitable, so was Mikel Arteta losing his job, this time at Brentford. The other job loss of the season came late on as 3rd place wasn't good enough for Gareth Southgate at Man City.
One manager who kept his job was Graham Potter, despite his Everton side suffering an early relegation, along with Lionel Scaloni's Brighton and Bruno Lage's Brentford. It was similarly undramatic at the top, as Moyes' Liverpool cantered to an easy title. The battles for the other European places were more interesting. Chelsea, who had regrouped under Zinedine Zidane to hold second place, lost their final match to Liverpool and slipped all the way to 5th. Roberto De Zerbi's Man United just managed to take 6th spot in the face of a spirited challenge from... you guessed it, Emery's Forest.
That wasn't perhaps the biggest fairytale of the season though, as Gary O'Neil lead his real-life (former) side Bournemouth to their first ever major trophy by defeating his former playing club West Ham in the League Cup final. Former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe's Aston Villa were the underdogs in the final of the FA Cup, but were felled by a Luis Díaz brace as Moyes added a second trophy.
There was to be no European success to add at Anfield though, thanks to a last 16 exit at the hands of Barcelona. Incredibly, all four English teams lost at that stage in the Champions League, as did Arsenal and Man United in the Europa League. This meant the best European performance came from West Ham - now managed by Rafa Benítez, who reached the Conference League semi final before losing to Rennes.
As for Thomas Frank's England, they finished a decent second in their Nations League group, and in the World Cup they got to the semis courtesy of single-goal wins over Ecuador and Mexico, only to lose to Portugal by the same scoreline.
I'm officially calling the title for Emery now, his lead at the top has now passed 3000 with just three rounds to go. It's mathematically possible but... c'mon. If you count how many points higher he has scored than each team's average, the sum of that is more than two of our managers have managed in total. Those bottom two remain Mikel Arteta and David Moyes, but on the back of today's performance the Scotsman has overtaken his rival at the base of the table.
Season 19
Arteta should get back off the bottom as he manages his real-life charges Arsenal whilst Moyes has the banana skin Brentford. It would be interesting to see what reception Frank Lampard would get in real life were he to be the manager of West Ham, and surely Emery will unlock the potential at St James' Park.
It's three in a row for Wolves being the first to sack their manager, and there's big Manager League implications as the man to go is De Zerbi! He was the only one to go before the World Cup break, where Erik ten Hag's men got to the semi final before conceding their first goal of the tournament. Unfortunately, that goal was an 89th-minute Dries Mertens winner for Belgium. When the season resumed on Boxing Day we immediately lost Jesse Marsch (Southampton) and Lampard.
Patrick Vieira (Everton) went in January, followed by poor hapless Mikel Arteta. Arsenal weren't the only big side to change faces, as Marco Silva departed Man City in March, soon followed by Gareth Southgate (Nottingham Forest) and Antonio Conte (Leicester). Wolves actually sacked De Zerbi's replacement Javier Aguirre as well, which tells you the trouble they were in; they got relegated before the end of the season. That completed the drop zone, as Forest and Leeds - for whom Julen Lopetegui somehow remained as manager - were already down.
With Arsenal and City out of the equation, Thomas Frank's Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp's Chelsea battled for the title, going to the final day. As Liverpool were only able to draw with Ralph Hasenhuttl's Spurs, Chelsea would win the title with a victory over Pep Guardiola's Palace. Michael Olise put a fly in the ointment early on, but Enzo Fernández soon levelled. And with 15 minutes remaining youngster Datro Fofana popped up to score the winner to earn Chelsea the title! That was their second trophy of the campaign after earlier beating Newcastle in the final of the League Cup.
Incredibly, Steve Cooper's third place with Man United was the best league position achieved with the Red Devils during the Manager League, and they were tasked with stopping Chelsea from completing a domestic treble in the FA Cup final. Chelsea struck twice in three minutes in the first half, and despite Wout Weghorst pulling one back, the Blues were victorious.
Chelsea couldn't add European glory, losing to Real Madrid in the quarter finals. Spurs also lost at this stage, to City. They were now managed by Diego Simeone, and he lead them all the way to the final to play Barcelona. It looked like a goalless match was going to penalties, but Julián Álvarez scored in the 120th minute to win it for City. Beyond that, English success in Europe was fairly limited.
It's three in a row for Wolves being the first to sack their manager, and there's big Manager League implications as the man to go is De Zerbi! He was the only one to go before the World Cup break, where Erik ten Hag's men got to the semi final before conceding their first goal of the tournament. Unfortunately, that goal was an 89th-minute Dries Mertens winner for Belgium. When the season resumed on Boxing Day we immediately lost Jesse Marsch (Southampton) and Lampard.
Patrick Vieira (Everton) went in January, followed by poor hapless Mikel Arteta. Arsenal weren't the only big side to change faces, as Marco Silva departed Man City in March, soon followed by Gareth Southgate (Nottingham Forest) and Antonio Conte (Leicester). Wolves actually sacked De Zerbi's replacement Javier Aguirre as well, which tells you the trouble they were in; they got relegated before the end of the season. That completed the drop zone, as Forest and Leeds - for whom Julen Lopetegui somehow remained as manager - were already down.
With Arsenal and City out of the equation, Thomas Frank's Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp's Chelsea battled for the title, going to the final day. As Liverpool were only able to draw with Ralph Hasenhuttl's Spurs, Chelsea would win the title with a victory over Pep Guardiola's Palace. Michael Olise put a fly in the ointment early on, but Enzo Fernández soon levelled. And with 15 minutes remaining youngster Datro Fofana popped up to score the winner to earn Chelsea the title! That was their second trophy of the campaign after earlier beating Newcastle in the final of the League Cup.
Incredibly, Steve Cooper's third place with Man United was the best league position achieved with the Red Devils during the Manager League, and they were tasked with stopping Chelsea from completing a domestic treble in the FA Cup final. Chelsea struck twice in three minutes in the first half, and despite Wout Weghorst pulling one back, the Blues were victorious.
Chelsea couldn't add European glory, losing to Real Madrid in the quarter finals. Spurs also lost at this stage, to City. They were now managed by Diego Simeone, and he lead them all the way to the final to play Barcelona. It looked like a goalless match was going to penalties, but Julián Álvarez scored in the 120th minute to win it for City. Beyond that, English success in Europe was fairly limited.
It shouldn't be too surprising that Klopp sets a record points total with Chelsea, and the third-highest points total overall. Cooper also sets a club record for Man United.
Season 20
Graham Potter, currently in lower mid-table, has the chance for a late dart up the table to a good position with two strong teams to finish with. But it will require a much better performance with Chelsea than he managed in real life. It's nice to see Patrick Vieira managing Arsenal, whilst Ralph Hasenhuttl has to end the curse of Molyneux.
And break it, he did! For it was West Ham who pulled the trigger first. The recipient was Pep Guardiola, with the club bottom and too early to get points for cup competitions, it will be a hammer-blow to his Manager League standings. After Eddie Howe's England suffered the same quarter final exit to France as their real-life equivalents we had more managers go, as Gary O'Neil and Marco Silva left Brighton and Man United respectively.
Hasenhuttl hadn't succeeded at Wolves though, and was fired just before new year, with Gareth Southgate (Leeds) and David Moyes (Southampton) going on Hogmanay. The only other sacking was Antonio Conte, who had Man City down in 3rd. They turned to Guardiola, who revived their fortunes and got City to the top of the table, ahead of Julen Lopetegui's Liverpool on goal difference going into the final day. Liverpool beat Steve Cooper's Villa 2-0, but had no chance as City pipped them in familiar style as Erik ten Hag's Brentford were brushed aside 3-0. This left the Bees in relegation trouble, at the mercy of results elsewhere. But they were saved as both Southampton and Jesse Marsch's Bournemouth failed to pick up wins, and joined Leeds in the bottom three.
There was consolation for Liverpool as they had earlier beat Arsenal to win the League Cup. City reached the FA Cup final, where they met another side who had changed manager mid-season, West Ham. Ange Postecoglou was in residency at the Taxpayer Stadium, and it was he who came out on top as Tomás Soucek scored an extra time winning goal.
Big Ange had guided West Ham carefully to safety in the league, and capped a miraculous season by taking the Hammers to the Conference League final. It went all the way to penalties, but they were bested by the team they'd beaten in real life, Fiorentina. It was the best English performance on the continent, with the next-best coming from semi final runs for Man City and Arsenal.
And break it, he did! For it was West Ham who pulled the trigger first. The recipient was Pep Guardiola, with the club bottom and too early to get points for cup competitions, it will be a hammer-blow to his Manager League standings. After Eddie Howe's England suffered the same quarter final exit to France as their real-life equivalents we had more managers go, as Gary O'Neil and Marco Silva left Brighton and Man United respectively.
Hasenhuttl hadn't succeeded at Wolves though, and was fired just before new year, with Gareth Southgate (Leeds) and David Moyes (Southampton) going on Hogmanay. The only other sacking was Antonio Conte, who had Man City down in 3rd. They turned to Guardiola, who revived their fortunes and got City to the top of the table, ahead of Julen Lopetegui's Liverpool on goal difference going into the final day. Liverpool beat Steve Cooper's Villa 2-0, but had no chance as City pipped them in familiar style as Erik ten Hag's Brentford were brushed aside 3-0. This left the Bees in relegation trouble, at the mercy of results elsewhere. But they were saved as both Southampton and Jesse Marsch's Bournemouth failed to pick up wins, and joined Leeds in the bottom three.
There was consolation for Liverpool as they had earlier beat Arsenal to win the League Cup. City reached the FA Cup final, where they met another side who had changed manager mid-season, West Ham. Ange Postecoglou was in residency at the Taxpayer Stadium, and it was he who came out on top as Tomás Soucek scored an extra time winning goal.
Big Ange had guided West Ham carefully to safety in the league, and capped a miraculous season by taking the Hammers to the Conference League final. It went all the way to penalties, but they were bested by the team they'd beaten in real life, Fiorentina. It was the best English performance on the continent, with the next-best coming from semi final runs for Man City and Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola may have won the most trophies of any manager this season, but he was being judged on his performance with West Ham, and his score of -435 is a record low! Incredible!
So this is how things stand with one season to go:
I had missed a couple of scores in the chart above, so there is extra points for Jurgen Klopp and... yeah, Unai Emery. He will be crowned champion next time, but the battle for the places below is very tight. Roberto De Zerbi should take second, especially as he finishes with England who supply predictable points. But who will complete the podium? And we have a close three-way battle to avoid bottom place, as Patrick Vieira pulls himself out of trouble in the most recent season.