Premier League new managers
The new Premier League season is now just over a month away and although the gap between the World Cup and the 2018-19 campaign has led to limited transfer activity there are still new faces.
There will be four new managers in the dugout in the English top flight, with Chelsea and Arsenal taking the plunge with successful European coaches, as they look to get back into the top four, while Everton and West Ham have turned to a more familiar duo to provide some stability.
Sarri could be sensational
Chelsea have never been shy when it comes to hiring and firing managers and Maurizio Sarri is the 10th full-time coach to have been appointed by Roman Abramovich. He is the fourth Italian to hold the position under the reclusive Russian and will be hoping to emulate both Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte by winning the title in his first season in charge.
While Conte’s style was at times derided, Sarri has himself admitted he would quit football if he saw his team playing defensively, and his aversion to press interviews and his lack of top-level playing career has seen him garner a cult following.
Emulating Ancelotti and his immediate predecessor by winning the title in his first season is 13.00 and Sarri will need to implement his methods soon as he looks to change from Conte’s 3-4-3 to his favoured flexible 4-3-3. The 59-year-old was kept waiting after leaving Napoli but his passion and fire could see him make a similar early impact to his compatriot.
Winning Sunday’s Community Shield would start things off nicely but the calculated approach he developed in his previous life as a banker means he is sure to have everything mapped out.
Sarri’s combustible nature and sharp turn of phrase, in what it has to be said is his immaculate English, will also make him just as, and maybe even more entertaining, than Conte was.
Emery looking to emulate early Wenger
When Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, his approach to matters both on and off the field revolutionised English football. Him methods brought the Premier League up to standard with the rest of Europe but the tepid nature of his side’s play in the second half of his 22 years in north London somewhat tainted his legacy.
Finally, the board made their move last season and eventually plumped for Unai Emery, an energetic character with a habit of crouching low in his technical area as he surveys all before him. The Spaniard won three straight Europa Leagues with Sevilla but has a point to prove after being let go by Paris Saint-Germain after a pair of Champions League failures.
The 46-year-old could well prove to be the Second Coming of Wenger. For a famously thrifty board, he seems the right man for the role having shown during his time with Los Rojiblancos that he knows how to build a squad.
Emery and those above him have also targeted areas in their squad that needed improving and made decisions Wenger could not in his final years. Sokratis Papastathopoulos will attack the ball like no Arsenal player since Sol Campbell, while Bernd Leno is an upgrade in goal and Stephan Lichtsteiner will provide the competition required to shake Hector Bellerin out of his recent funk. However, the star of the new arrivals could be Lucas Torreira who can provide both craft and resilience in midfield.
A top-four finish at 3.00 is the minimum expected, while Emery says his goal is to win the title at 23.00.
After stagnation under Wenger, the intensity of the Basque brought in to replace him could be what is needed to reinvigorate the Gunners.
Marco the man to provide Silva lining at Goodison?
May 31 saw the culmination of one of the sagas of the previous season as Marco Silva finally became Everton manager. Last year’s expensive experiment in squad building put pay to Ronald Koeman, while Sam Allardyce did little to endear himself to fans in L4.
Silva was always the hierarchy’s first choice and after an initial approach in November, his focus drifted at Watford and his second spell at a Premier League club came to another premature end.
Everton will hope it is a case of third time lucky and he has already spent big by singing Richarlison from the Hornets and has seen the likes of Davy Klaassen and Wayne Rooney depart.
The Portuguese will be looking at a top six place at 4.50 and will need to find a mix between his team’s talented youngsters and experienced campaigners.
An opening win at Wolves would not go amiss at 3.10, with Nuno Santo’s men 2.40 and the draw 3.25 and Silva is a man with a point to prove.
The 41-year-old is a coach that has started brightly with both Watford and Hull before tailing off and after waiting so long for him to become available, the board will be desperate to get at least a season out of their chosen one.
Pellegrini poise to keep the Hammers under control
It has undoubtedly been a chaotic couple of years at West Ham but new boss Manuel Pellegrini has already demanded that the club can no longer use the London Stadium as an excuse.
The Chilean has been there and done it all, winning the Premier League with Manchester City in 2014 and has spent big, with Felipe Anderson a record signing at £50m. Upgrades have also been made in goal, defence and the wide areas.
All the signs are good but a tough start which includes both Liverpool and Arsenal away in the opening three games means the Hammers could lack momentum early on.
Pellegrini is a patient man though, and will also be given time by the majority of fans who remain unhappy with the board, whose recent investment in the squad is viewed as being well overdue.
A second win at Anfield since 1963 is a valuable 11.25 but the early home games against Bournemouth and Wolves are more likely to show Pellegrini where his side sit in the pecking order.
Finally making the London Stadium feel at home is crucial to any hopes of West Ham enjoying a degree of success in the future.
However, after the demise of fan favourite Slaven Bilic and the departure of the popular but perhaps overly conservative David Moyes, the ‘Engineer’ looks a cut above when it comes to placing the team in a safe pair of hands.
