da premier bet： The Premier League is amid an era in which the managers are the real superstars. Although some may argue that’s a consequence of the quality of players declining in recent years, it also relates to the sheer quantity of top-class managers now working in the English game.
da aviator aposta： Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola boast 24 European top flight titles and five European cups between them, whilst Mauricio Pochettino will have an endless list of suitors at the game’s elite level should the Tottenham boss make himself available.
Indeed, we’ve become obsessed with dissecting gaffers, their ideas and their philosophies to an unprecedented level. Whereas players once took up all of the pantomime roles in any given game, managers are now the real heroes and villains of the post-match analytical narratives.
Win and they’re deemed tactical masterminds; lose and they’re instantly labelled as past it, overrated or even set for the chop in the summer – a relentless hyperbole that highlights the intrinsic importance currently attached to them.
Rather tellingly, Sky Sports News’ Premier League table now includes a small picture of each manager next to their respective clubs. Times have certainly changed from the days when managers were simply the men who picked the team and answered a few questions to journalists after the match.
That trend has trickled down to the second division too. It’s rather incredible to think the Championship has witnessed two former Champions League winners and an ex-England manager in three of its 24 dugouts this season. Accordingly, the focus during this season’s Playoffs isn’t on those who’ll be scoring, creating or stopping goals – rather, the four men who’ve built the sides and will be making the big tactical calls.
No doubt, certain players will be watched by potential Premier League suitors. Fulham duo Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney seem destined for the top flight one way or another next season, Fernando Forestieri has been one of the best attacking players in the division for some time, Chelsea will naturally be checking on the progress of their Huddersfield loanee Izzy Brown and their former youngster Jon Swift, now with Reading, will probably receive a few flirtatious glances from Premier League clubs too.
Yet the managers remain the real commodities and perhaps understandably. In a league that has seen 16 sackings since the start of last season, including the last two managers to win the title, there is always a demand for fresh blood and fresh ideas. The four managers involved in this season’s Playoffs, David Wagner, Carlos Carvalhal, Slavisa Jokanovic and Jaap Stam, certainly have their fair share of those.
Jokanovic, who also took Watford to the top flight two summers ago, has become synonymous with exciting, attacking football at Fulham that many claim is the best in the Championship. Stam’s ideas, meanwhile, come straight out of the Louis van Gaal school of thought, with his Reading ranking second throughout the division for possession yet top for long passes per match.
Wagner, the Huddersfield boss who worked as Jurgen Klopp’s reserves manager at Dortmund, shares a high-press philosophy with his former colleague and Carlos Carvalhal’s Sheffield Wednesday side reflect his own image – attacking yet aggressive in playing style.
West Ham have already been linked with three of the four (Sky Sports, The Telegraph, Mirror Football) the only exception being Carvalhal, and rather ironically, it seems missing out on promotion could go on to secure them a Premier League career with a more established club next season. Indeed, whichever chairman pulls the trigger first will most likely look back at the Playoff cohort first – probably far quicker than Premier League clubs will look at the players involved during the summer – and those who don’t make it to the top flight this term will inevitably be the more available.
Make no mistake, the Premier League has become a manager’s division. We’re now analysing their strengths and weaknesses to the extent we’re subconsciously deeming the quality of player at their disposal almost inconsequential. So when Fulham face Reading and Sheffield Wednesday take on Huddersfield in the semi-final second legs this week, the real action won’t be on the pitch – it’ll be in the dugouts. West Ham’s board, certainly, will be keeping their eyes firmly fixed.
[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]