Trevor Steven: Why Pep Guardiola is my Premier League manager of the season
Trevor Steven on why Pep Guardiola pips Ten Hag, Emery, De Zerbi, Howe, Arteta and O’Neil to his Premier League manager of the year award.
So many different storylines emerged during the Premier League season that finished on Sunday, one of the most volatile campaigns that I can remember.
Some big clubs and managers badly lost their way over the last year, particularly at Chelsea and across London at Tottenham Hotspur.
Equally, there were some fantastic performances which have shaped my shortlist for Premier League manager of the year 2022-23.
I came up with nine contenders, and all of those on my shortlist – including Julen Lopetegui at Wolves and Brentford’s Thomas Frank – did brilliantly well.
Narrowing it down further, I found myself left with Gary O’Neil, Mikel Arteta, Eddie Howe, Erik ten Hag, Roberto de Zerbi, Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola.
I’ll admit that I didn’t think Bournemouth’s promotion of coach O’Neil following the sacking of Scott Parker in August would last very long, but I’ve been really impressed.
O’Neil has shown assuredness, football intelligence and authenticity to dial into something that his players just seemed to get – and got the best out of them.
He didn’t let it change him one bit. Ruben Selles seemed to take on a whole new persona at Southampton but O’Neil just got on with the job under the radar.
He made good signings in January and got Bournemouth safe long before the last weekend, and it looks like he will be around for a long time.
At Arsenal, Arteta clearly overachieved by rivalling Manchester City for the title but was probably undone by asking the same players to go to the well too many times.
The Gunners dropped off towards the end of the season because they didn’t have sufficient numbers of first-team ready players in the squad; that’s where the division has gone now.
Arteta, then, didn’t quite tick the box for recruiting at the right time and that took the wind out of his and Arsenal’s sails.
It’s easy to dismiss what Howe has achieved at Newcastle because of the owners’ riches, but the example of Chelsea shows that money is no guarantee of anything.
In his first full season Howe has continued transforming Newcastle from a dysfunctional, disconnected club into one in which everyone is aligned.
Rather than spending wildly, he has turned the likes of Joelinton, Dan Burn, Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy into Champions League qualifiers.
And because he has improved almost everyone in the squad, Howe can now sell them for a better price as Newcastle look to upgrade for their return to Europe.
Ten Hag, De Zerbi and Emery all deserve special praise because they have each been responsible for fantastic achievements.
At Manchester United, Ten Hag has shouldered the weight of the club and resurrected them by winning the Carabao Cup, finishing third and reaching the FA Cup final.
Equally impressive is the way he cleared the decks, making up his mind early about Harry Maguire and putting his foot down over Cristiano Ronaldo. That is management.
If he can beat City and win a second trophy in his first season then I might have to reconsider and make the Dutchman my Premier League manager of the year.
De Zerbi’s impact at Brighton has also been amazing, taking the club into Europe for the first time and earning plaudits from none other than Guardiola in the process.
Nobody expected him to improve on Graham Potter’s work; instead he gave them new levels of self-belief and results – and entertainment – followed.
Emery was brave to return to England with Aston Villa, having suffered at post-Wenger Arsenal much like David Moyes did at post-Ferguson United.
But he backed himself and, with pretty much the same squad that he inherited, he took Villa on a run that deservedly finished with European qualification.
Why Pep Guardiola is my Premier League manager of the year
There can only be one Premier League manager of the year, however, and that man is the incomparable genius Guardiola.
Management is like a golf swing: you think you’ve got it until suddenly you’ve lost it and you can’t understand why. Just ask Jurgen Klopp.
Guardiola, though, has kept himself and City at the top, this time winning an arm-wrestle with Arsenal to claim their fourth title in five years.
He is still innovating, turning John Stones into Franz Beckenbauer and remodelling his team to accommodate Erling Haaland rather than asking the striker to change.
His man-management has been brilliant, from teasing Kyle Walker into some of his best ever performances to taking Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish to new levels.
Some may question City’s spending and its legality, but he never let the Premier League investigation derail his team and that has been vital too.
City’s demolition of Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League convinced me of the greatness of this team – and Guardiola’s genius.
He has kept them within five per cent of their best level for the second half of the season and we’d all be surprised if they didn’t win Europe’s top prize now.
Like United and Liverpool did before them, City are becoming an institution and they could not have done it without Pep’s brilliance.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.