The Premier League announced five candidates are in contention to be named Manager of the Season and there are two clear front-runners to claim the accolade.
Last week the nominees were named as Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp, Patrick Vieira, Thomas Frank and Eddie Howe. The prize has been awarded to the league-winning manager in each of the last eight years, so this season’s winner may hinge on the outcome of the final day on Sunday.
The last time the league’s victorious manager was NOT given the award came back in 2014 when Manchester City won the title but Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis won the Manager award.
2021/22 Manager of the Season nominees:
Patrick Vieira
Eight years down the line, Palace’s current manager Patrick Vieira is also nominated for the award. The ex-Arsenal captain and France midfielder took over the reigns at Selhurst Park following the retirement of Roy Hodgson (who has since unretired) after four years as Palace manager.
Due to Vieira’s lack of experience in elite-level coaching, there were widespread concerns whether Palace had appointed the best candidate for the position. Despite a tough start start to the season which saw the Eagles take two wins from their opening 10 games, Vieira has since flipped his fortunes and hushed a handful of critics with a commendable first season managing in the English top-flight.
Palace have won 10 and drawn 15 league games this term, with one-third of their total points stemming from stalemates. Vieira also guided Palace to the FA Cup semifinals, only the second time this century the Eagles have flown into the final four of the Cup, where they were beat by Chelsea.
Palace visit Everton on Tuesday evening before they host Manchester Utd on the final day of the season. Vieira’s men previously thumped Everton, 4-0, in the FA Cup quarters and the Frenchman has pre-existing personal history with Man Utd, particularly from his playing days. At least four points from them two remaining matches could suffice for Palace to secure its first top-half finish since 2015.
Eddie Howe
Newcastle Utd are safe from relegation after they sat inside the drop zone for the entire first half of the season. At the turn of the year the Magpies were 19th on 11 points from 19 matches, with 10 losses and just a single victory. Now they have the chance to secure a top-half finish if results go in their favour on the final day.
Howe was appointed Newcastle manager on November 8, three weeks after Steve Bruce was sacked following more than two years in the job, and it took just five league games in 2022 for Newcastle to match their points tally from the first half of the season.
In the second half of the campaign Howe’s Toon army have tasted half the amount of defeats, recorded 11 wins and kept seven clean sheets, a sharp upturn following an early-season relegation scare. Admittedly, Howe has received significant financial backing from Newcastle’s new hierarchy who laid out north of £100million in their first transfer window following their takeover last October.
Howe and Newcastle travel to relegation-threatened Burnley on the final day of the season, and currently with 46 points the Magpies cannot finish below 14th in the final standings.
Thomas Frank
Brentford are on the verge of completing its first season of top-flight football for 75 years, and they have manager Thomas Frank to thank for their meteoric rise up the English football pyramid. Frank took over at the Brentford Community Stadium in October 2018, and the Danish coach has taken the Bees from floating around mid-table in the Championship to floating around mid-table in the Premier League, which is a considerable achievement in itself.
Brentford had been in the second tier for four years before Frank succeeded Dean Smith, and the London-based club gained promotion in Frank’s second full season in charge. This term Brentford have taken 13 wins – the same amount Leicester City have and more than the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Southampton.
40 points represents the traditional benchmark to avoid relegation from the Premier League, and Frank’s side had collected 40 points with four matches remaining. The Bees will be buzzing after a highly respectable first season in the Premier League, however they should be wary of the well-known condition that is second-season syndrome.
Now looking at the two leading contenders to scoop the prize for MOTS…
Pep Guardiola
Man City have collected 90+ points for a third time under Guardiola and they are one win away from getting their hands on a fourth league title under the Spaniard. Guardiola has claimed this award three times in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and the Citizens’ boss will be desperate to add a fourth MOTS title to his embellished mantelpiece.
Under Guardiola this league season Man City have lost just thrice – half the amount of defeats they suffered last year and one-third of the tally from the 2019/20 season. The Sky Blues have also netted 96 league goals (their third-highest under Guardiola) and conceded 24 (second-fewest under Guardiola).
Standing in between City and the Premier League crown are Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard, whose hands will be housing the hopes of all Liverpool fans alike.
Jürgen Klopp
Without the ingenious Klopp, the Premier League would be a cakewalk for Man City year in and year out. Klopp has built a world-class squad of players whose qualities perfectly reflect his brand of football. With one crucial league encounter remaining, the Reds have already netted their most goals of any PL season under Klopp with 91* this term. Liverpool’s previous goalscoring record stood at 89 goals scored in 2018/19.
Liverpool have conceded 25 goals, eight fewer than during their 2019/20 championship-winning campaign, and this is their second-fewest total under Klopp’s tutelage. In the personal opinion of this writer, Klopp has extracted more from his group of players than Guardiola has with his own – not to mention with substantially fewer resources at his aide.
Klopp has acquired 22 players since 2016 and has kept hold of seven players – Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner, Divock Origi, Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino and Caoimhin Kelleher – all of whom were already at the club when Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers in October 2015.
In comparison five players – Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer – in Man City’s current squad were inherited by Guardiola at his appointment in summer 2016. Guardiola has brought in 29 different players, including City’s most recent two recruits Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland, over the course of the past six years.
Under Klopp, Liverpool have eclipsed a £50million deal on three occasions; all of them in 2018 when the club forked out a combined £140million for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson – who at the time were the most expensive defender and goalkeeper in history – as well as an additional £55million on Naby Keita.
On the other hand Man City have bought 10 players costing £50million or more. In 2017, Guardiola made eight signings to the value of £275million, including three defenders each valued at least £50million. The following year Klopp splashed £215million on five new players.
Klopp was nine months into his job at Anfield when Guardiola landed in Manchester, however the Man City boss has spent approximately £400million more than his Liverpool counterpart during their time in England. Guardiola’s net spend since 2016 is in the region of £900million, while Klopp has spent an estimated £500million in the same time frame.
The winner of the MOTS will be declared shortly after the final weekend of the season. These same managers may also be nominated for the LMA Manager of the Year, to be announced at the season’s conclusion.
