Rating the job of the new coaches across Europe’s top clubs so far
There were so many managerial changes in Europe at the end of last season as clubs looked to bolster their squad with the best available managers.
The Italian Serie A led the way in managerial changes, a move by the clubs that makes the championship arguably the most exciting to follow this season.
Juventus, AC Milan, and Napoli all have new managers on their bench for the 2024/2025 season.
Some clubs in the Premier League also changed managers, with the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea all naming a new coach on their bench.
In Spain, Barcelona had convinced Xavi Hernandez to stay on as their manager, but they changed their minds and fired him.
He was replaced by the former Bayern Munich coach, Hansi Flick, and the German has done a fantastic job at the helm so far.
Roberto de Zerbi swapped his job at Brighton to become the manager of Olympique Marseille in France, where he is now competing with PSG to win the league.
In response to Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga title last season, Bayern Munich has taken a huge gamble by making Vincent Kompany their manager and the Belgian has began his spell in fine fashion.
These are some of the top managers in Europe, and in this article, we will rate how well the managers who got new jobs in the top clubs on the continent have started their spells.
The ratings will range between bad, good, better and excellent, depending on how well their beginning have been so far.
Antonio Conte, Napoli
One of the big reasons Napoli tickets have sold well this season is because they made Antonio Conte their manager.
The Italian gaffer has won the Serie A with Juventus and Inter Milan and he has also won the Premier League title at Chelsea.
He managed Tottenham also, although he failed to win a trophy at the North London club, but he arrives in Napoli as the perfect man for the job.
They endured one of the worst title defence in Serie A history and they needed a top coach to help them get back to their feet.
Napoli made some interesting transfers this summer and positioned themselves to help Conte deliver in his first season on their bench.
The former Chelsea manager has not started his spell badly. After losing their first league game of the season against Verona, they won three consecutive games in the next three matches.
Ratings: Better
Thiago Motta, Juventus
Motta is one of the highly rated young managers in European football and his stunning spell as the gaffer of Bologna last term earned him his current role at Juventus.
The Old Lady of Italian football opted for him after they fired Max Allegri and Motta immediately made some players redundant, a decision we think he mightl regret.
However, Juventus ticket buyers have seen been treated to much better football from their team under Motta as he plays a different and much more exciting style of play.
Juve is one of the clubs that we expect to stop Inter Milan from dominating Serie A for a long time under Simone Inzaghi and Motta has started well.
After five league games, his team has won two and is yet to concede a goal in the league, so he seems to have them on the right track to success.
Ratings: Better
Arne Slot, Liverpool
One of the biggest shoes to fill in Europe are those of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and the German has been replaced by Slot at the Anfield hot seat.
The Dutchman was not one of the top contenders to replace the German manager at Anfield and most people had expected Liverpool to appoint the likes of Xabi Alonso and Rubem Amorim, among others.
However, they found Slot to be far more ideal for their group following his work at Feyenoord where he has won the league and Dutch Cup titles.
He may not have been one of the favourites, but he has made a fantastic start to his spell on Liverpool’s bench, winning over many supporters who invest in Liverpool tickets.
After five games in Europe and the Premier League, his team has won all but one of their matches and remains close to the top of the league and Champions League tables.
Slot is not Klopp and he insists he does not want to be the German manager, but he has started his time on the Liverpool bench in fine fashion and fans can trust him to get the job done.
Ratings: Excellent.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea
Maresca was chosen to replace Mauricio Pochettino on the Chelsea bench at the end of last season and and he walked into a tough job.
The Blues continue to change their squad and seemed to set him up for failure as they go after every exciting player on the market.
However, he has made Chelsea tickets appealing to buy again after seeming to find a solution to using the top talents at his disposal,
His start has been far better than most people would have expected and Chelsea is making steady progress.
Ratings: Good
Hansi Flick, Barcelona
Flick’s spell as the manager of the Germany national team was an embarrassing one as his team failed to reach the heights most people expected it to.
However, he got that job because of his stunning performance as the manager of Bayern Munich as his team dominated domestic and European football, winning the Champions League in 2020.
He became the Barcelona manager this summer following the sacking of Xavi Hernandez and his team has been in fantastic form.
Fans who buy Barcelona tickets have been treated to some fine attacking football as the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are enjoying life under the new coach.
Flick seems to know what he can do to achieve success at Barcelona and we expect his team to continue performing well.
Rating: Excellent
Vincent Kompany, Bayern Munich
Kompany was one of the most courageous footballers in the world when he was a player and he was the manager of Burnley last season.
His team played fine football, but they were relegated at the end of the campaign despite dominating the Championship in the previous season.
After it seemed like everyone rejected the Bayern job, they surprisingly made Kompany their manager, so the Belgian moved from being a relegated manager to coaching one of the world’s biggest clubs.
His spell so far has been fantastic as his team has been the highest scorers in Europe, including that 9-2 win in their first Champions League game.
Bayern Munich tickets is one of the best selling in Europe now, thanks to the fantastic spell-binding football they have been playing.
Rating: Excellent
Roberto de Zerbi, Olympique Marseille
Most Premier League fans were surprised when Brighton parted ways with De Zerbi at the end of last season.
The Italian had led them to their best finish to a season and returned to Europe in the previous campaign, living up to his reputation as one of the best managers in the continent.
However, their participation in Europe affected them last season and they struggled in the league, which probably is the reason De Zerbi was let go.
He was quickly snapped up by Olympique Marseille who want to end PSG’s dominance of Ligue 1 and his team are considered one of the clubs who can genuinely win the title.
OM has some fine players and they added the likes of Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to their squad, which has made fans buy more Olympique Marseille tickets this season.
They have started the season strongly, and after five league games, they have the same points as PSG and are topping the Ligue 1 standings.
Rating: Excellent
Conclusion
Most of the top managers who changed clubs at the start of this season have been doing well at their present clubs. It will be interesting to see how many will win trophies.