7 bosses with 200+ top-ten league games
©TM/IMAGO
There’s not many jobs in football that face more pressure than that of a Premier League manager. With the world watching on, it’s the man in the dugout that often has to take all the criticism when things aren’t going well, yet seldom receives the same share of praise when results are positive. It’s also the boss that has to face up to the media and answer probing questions week-in week-out about all sorts of topics. But of course put the violins away, these men are paid very well and not much can feel better than leading a team of talent to a Premier League win or even a major trophy.
When we look at the background of managers, the majority of bosses at the top level were professional players themselves. There are others that take more unorthodox routes, but the lion’s share have played professional football at some level or another. Often players that suffered serious injuries earlier in their careers get into coaching promptly and blossom as managers instead. Others are in the dugout straight after hanging up their boots after long playing careers. Many of the most successful managers were also extremely triumphant players too. Most avid Premier League fans will know all about the managerial records of the majority of those currently in the dugout of English top-flight clubs, but would they know as much about the playing days of these bosses?
The positions they played as players is illustrated above of all current Premier League managers, and here at Transfermarkt, we have also calculated the number of appearances each of the current 20 Premier League managers made in the current top-ten leagues during their playing career. The top-ten leagues are as follows: Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Liga Portugal, Eredivisie, Turkish Super Lig, Belgian Jupiler Pro League, and the Czech Chance Liga. Fans may be surprised to see the impact and longevity some current managers had as top level players. They may also be shocked by the lack of appearances for others.
How many top-ten league games did each Premier League manager play as a player?
The current manager who made the most first-team appearances in the top-ten leagues as a player is none other than Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola. The Spaniard played as a right back and accumulated as many as 406 games – all of them coming in LaLiga with Athletic Club. The next Premier League boss on the list is Leicester’s Ruud van Nistelrooy. The prolific forward played 380 matches in the top-ten leagues – those games came in the Premier League with Manchester United, the Bundesliga with HSV, LaLiga with Real Madrid and Malaga, and the Eredivisie with PSV and Heerenveen. In third is Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta – the Spanish midfielder played 330 times across the Premier League, Ligue 1 and LaLiga, with Everton, Arsenal, PSG, and Real Sociedad.
In fourth is Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca. The Italian played 302 matches in LaLiga and Serie A for numerous clubs. Fifth place goes to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola who was a top player as well as an elite manager, amassing 291 top-ten league matches for Barcelona and Roma in LaLiga and Serie A. Sixth goes to Man United’s Ruben Amorim, who played 221 games in Liga Portugal. In seventh is Liverpool Arne Slot, who accumulated 208 games in the Eredivisie. Next up with the eighth most top-ten league appearances is Southampton manager Ivan Juric, who played 98 times in LaLiga and Serie A. In ninth is Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo – the former goalkeeper made 76 appearances across LaLiga and Liga Portugal.
West Ham manager Graham Potter made just eight Premier League appearances for Southampton, whilst Aston Villa’s Unai Emery made only five LaLiga appearances, with that particular pair playing the majority of their games in the lower leagues of English and Spanish football respectively. It was the same case with Fulham boss Marco Silva in Portugal, with just two Liga Portugal games to his name. Then come the eight managers who didn’t make a single appearance in what are now the top-ten leagues during their playing careers.
Everton boss David Moyes played for Celtic and Preston among other British clubs, but never managed a single appearance in the divisions that would have made up the current top-ten leagues. Wolves manager Vitor Pereira spent most of his playing career in the lower leagues of Portuguese football, whilst Brighton’s Fabian Hürzeler came through at Bayern Munich, but never made a first-team appearance, spending most of his career in the lower divisions of German football before retiring early due to injury. Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner actually made over 400 appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga, but despite being one of the top 15 leagues, the Austrian top-flight is not one of the current top-ten leagues.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou spent his entire playing career playing for South Melbourne in Australia. For Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna and Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, injury issues denied them the opportunity of ever making it to the Premier League. McKenna retired aged 23, having came through at Spurs’ academy, whilst Howe hung up his boots at 30 having played in the lower divisions with south-coast clubs Portsmouth and Bournemouth. Brentford’s Thomas Frank may be the most remarkable story yet. The Dane was not even a professional footballer, and studied Physical Education, before working his way through youth coaching and being given his break by Brondby. Each Premier League manager has taken a very different path to the top.