Premier League managers of 2025 as Mikel Arteta nudged up one place | OneFootball

There’s only one winner in the Premier League managers of 2025 battle, and it’s not the winner of the actual or the calendar year title.

Last year Nuno Espirito Santo was top and he’s now in danger of losing his second job of 2025. Life comes at you fast.

10) Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)

Are we convinced? Are we balls. Better than Pep? Clearly not – especially as City might actually be the best Premier League side of 2025 – but it’s hard to argue with two actual trophies. You can argue that being the fifth-best team in the Premier League is not really good enough for the outlay, mind. But he would probably point to the ongoing mediocrity (at best) at Manchester United, and argue that they have a higher net spend.

9) Daniel Farke (Leeds United)

It’s literally a month since the man looked doomed but since then the Whites have been unbeaten in five games as Farke has changed system, personnel and the survival prospects of a club now ahead of the point-per-game curve for a promoted team that a) puts you on the path to avoiding relegation and more importantly b) get you on this list.

Viktor Gyokeres being advised to ‘be more Dominic Calvert-Lewin’ was absolutely not on our bingo card for 2025. Well done, Mr Farke.

8) Keith Andrews (Brentford)

We absolutely weren’t alone in thinking that the summer that Brentford lost Christian Norgaard, Yoann Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and long-time over-achieving (or so we thought) manager Thomas Frank should not be the summer they took a chance on a rookie manager, but we were really very, very wrong.

It turns out that continuity was king: Andrews would seamlessly replace Frank, Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade would seamlessly replace two goalscorers and Jordan Henderson would seamlessly do all of the pointing.

Pretty much matching 2024 Brentford stride for stride in 2025 having lost three first-team players is really quite phenomenal work from Andrews. We could not be happier to be wrong.

7) David Moyes (Everton)

It has not been showy, but only three ever-present Premier League teams have conceded fewer goals in 2025 than Everton, who have established themselves firmly as a mid-table side with no drama in a brand-new stadium. If you think that’s underwhelming, take a look at West Ham.

There was a three-month spell between January and April when Everton lost only one game (to Liverpool, but you can’t have everything), which took them well clear of any lingering relegation worries, while a three-match winning run at the end of the season gave them a chance of an optimistic summer that brought Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Moyes returned to a broken club in early 2025 but ends the year with the pieces glued back together. This season has been a little ‘one step forward, one step back’ but they will take that after a disastrous 2024 that ended with them only a point above Wolves.

6) Eddie Howe (Newcastle)

We usually have a rule that a trophy earns you a place on this list, but we have made an exception for Ange Postecoglou for very obvious reasons. We cannot make the same exception for Howe, despite a pretty disastrous start to 2025/26 that has seen them record the pathetic low of abject defeat to Sunderland.

There is some mitigation for that 25/26 start in the summer sh*tshow that was their transfer window – though Howe is not blameless on that front – and obviously a great deal of goodwill from a trophy claimed in February and Champions League football claimed in May.

Astonishingly, they emerged as the sixth-best Premier League team of 2025, making them only marginally worse than 2024.

5) Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Moving up a place from the 2024 list despite Arsenal retaining their calendar year title (whoop) with fewer points, more defeats and a whole lot fewer goals in 2025. But last year it was all about Nuno and the ingenues of Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner; this year it’s about Arsenal still fighting for silverware, which is more impressive than many would have you believe.

This is the position occupied last year by Arne Slot, so that could be a brilliant omen. Prediction: He will either be first or nowhere on the 2026 list.

4) Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace)

As 2024 became 2025, Palace were in 15th place in the Premier League, somehow behind the pricks of West Ham, Manchester United and Tottenham.

As 2025 becomes 2026, Palace are mid-table, but only because the demands of European football – earned with a famous FA Cup win – have stretched their small squad. Across 2025 they have been the best of the rest outside of Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle United. That is some kind of extraordinary feat that will surely earn him a big-club move in 2026.

3) Arne Slot (Liverpool)

He did win the Premier League. Which feels important. But Liverpool have been pretty rotten since. Which also feels important.

It’s not ideal that Liverpool have been only the fourth best team across 2025 in the Premier League, but only one manager ended the year with a brand new Premier League winner’s medal. Basically, 2026 needs to be better after that ludicrous summer outlay but Slot has certainly earned some goodwill with that debut season.

2) Regis Le Bris (Sunderland)

Sunderland started 2025 seven points behind Leeds United in the Championship; they end it eight points ahead in the Premier League.

There was some extraordinary summer business – a whole new spine, basically – but it’s not easy to knit together a 34-man squad. For Le Bris, it’s been a breeze.

And for that 1-0 win over Newcastle, he will forever be a Sunderland hero. Only one man can keep him off the top of this list…

1) Unai Emery (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa began 2025 in ninth and end it in a bona fide title race, even after being humbled by Arsenal. And that comes after a summer when Villa made a transfer profit after a PSR-threatened summer.

The magic Emery has pulled off with basically the same squad is extraordinary, with Morgan Rogers being pulled out of his early-season funk to be a match-winner, Emiliano Buendia reintegrated and reignited and Matty Cash defying summer talk of an upgrade.

There is nagging talk of Villa over-achieving against their standard of football, but that’s surely the job of a manager. And what a manager Emery is…