Ranking all 20 Premier League Managers by Their Playing Careers

For every Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti, there’s a Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger. The most successful managers in the history of football are a volatile mix of legendary former players and those who failed to make it at any level of the professional game.

In some cases, the players that are less technically gifted are forced into thinking about the game in more detail and thus, become very good coaches and managers in their later years. The English top flight does have a couple of bosses who lifted the Champions League trophy as players, and several former Premier League stalwarts.

Here we rank the 20 Premier League managers this season based on just their playing careers. Taking into consideration longevity, the level they reached and the quality of their individual performances, there are a couple of surprises along the way.

20 Thomas Frank

Brentford

Out of all the managers in the Premier League, Thomas Frank arguably comes in with the least experience playing at any level, let alone a high one. The 50-year-old was a midfielder by trade but only had a short career playing amateur football at his local club, Frederiksvaerk BK, and never made it to the professional stage.

It was perhaps why Frank quickly moved on to his real dream of coaching, spending a good 18 years or so with youth teams. It was only in 2011 that the now Brentford boss caught the eye of his country, and he was named Denmark’s U16 and U17 manager in 2008. For any of those people who wish to become a football manager but have never gotten further than a kickabout with mates, Frank is the ultimate inspiration.

19 Kieran McKenna

Ipswich Town

Kieran McKenna’s playing career was over before it had even really begun. After establishing himself as a Northern Ireland under-21 international, the energetic midfielder had worked his way to the peripheries of Tottenham Hotspur’s senior side by his late teens. Ballinamallard United’s development coach, Ray Sanderson, described McKenna’s infectious style:

Perennially on the verge of breaking into the Premier League side’s first team, McKenna’s hopes were quashed after going under the knife for a second hip surgery. At the tender age of 22, he pivoted towards a career in coaching. Less than 16 years later, on the back of consecutive promotions, McKenna has finally earned his first taste of Premier League football – even if it is from the dugout.

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18 Fabian Hurzeler

Brighton & Hove Albion

Taking charge of Brighton as a 31-year-old, one of the youngest Premier League managers in the competition’s history is several years younger than several members of his squad. Fabian Hurzeler turned away from the pitch to the dugout while he was still in his early 20s, joining amateur side FC Pipinsried as a player-coach.

Most of Hurzeler’s fleeting time on the pitch came at Bayern Munich’s prestigious academy. Lining up alongside the likes of future Germany international Emre Can – who predicted that his fellow central midfielder would have a “great career as a coach” – Hurzeler’s time with the Bavarian giants informed his preferred style of play. “I spent 10 years at Bayern,” the son of a Swiss dentist explained, “so it’s in my DNA to want possession and to dictate the game.”

17 Steve Cooper

Leicester City

Steve Cooper’s father Keith graced many Premier League pitches, but only in his capacity as a referee. Cooper Jr never got anywhere near the top flight during his short-lived playing days. An eager right-back who signed for Wrexham long before they were taken over by any Hollywood actors, Cooper realised that his future in football would not be as a player by the age of 20.

Wrexham boss Brian Flynn remembers telling his energetic, if ineffective, defender that coaching would be the way forward. By the time Cooper was 27, he had already secured the highest qualifications available, setting himself up for an impressive managerial career that attracted the interest of Leicester City in the summer of 2024.

16 Unai Emery

Aston Villa

A left-sided midfielder who came through the academy at Real Sociedad, Unai Emery’s playing career was nothing to write home about. The Aston Villa boss ended up making just five appearances for the first team at La Real, before embarking on a new adventure with Toledo, where he played the majority of his games.

Emery mostly featured in the second division of Spanish football and retired after one season with Lorca Deportiva CF at the age of 32. He did, however, sign for Burgos CF, but due to a lack of funds within the club, Emery was released without even making a single competitive appearance.

15 ​​​​Ange Postecoglou

Tottenham Hotspur

To fans who live in the bubble of the Premier League and all things Europe, Ange Postecoglou’s name probably would not have come on the radar until his move to Celtic as manager. The grizzled coach spent his entire playing career in his native Australia, predominantly featuring for South Melbourne. Despite the fact he was a defender by trade, Postecoglou bagged a pretty impressive 27 goals.

Postecoglou spent nine years at the club, winning the league title on two occasions, with the latter of them being done with him as captain. To add a little bit of extra trivia, the now Tottenham boss was actually coached by Hungarian icon Ferenc Puskas, while the 4-3-3 formation that was used by the former Real Madrid striker shaped Postecoglou’s way of thinking for his managerial career later on.

14 Oliver Glasner

Crystal Palace

Oliver Glasner is a new name to the majority of Premier League fans. The Austrian took over in the Selhurst Park dugout from Roy Hodgson in February 2024 after the Palace favourite stepped down from his boyhood club. Glasner’s appointment came after he caught the eye during his time with Eintracht Frankfurt, in which he lifted a Europa League trophy.

This surpasses any achievements he managed as a player, however. Playing as a defender, his entire career was spent with SV Reid in his native Austria. A season-long loan to LASK was the only interruption to his 19-year stint with the club where he won two Austrian Cups before a brain haemorrhage ended his career.

13 Marco Silva

Fulham

A right-back during his playing days, Marco Silva endured a journeyman career. The Portuguese schemer spent 15 years playing across his home country, rarely settling down for more than a season until he eventually landed at Estoril, where he spent six campaigns.

Silva’s time at the club was all spent in the second tier of Portuguese football, and after going into early retirement at the age of just 34, he would be appointed immediately as Estoril’s director of football. That was then followed up by his appointment as the club’s manager, carving out a name for himself before one of Portugal’s traditional giants, Sporting CP, came calling.

12 Eddie Howe

Newcastle United

Injuries robbed Eddie Howe from going on to enjoy a long and successful career, and for the current Newcastle boss, his playing days will surely be thought of as a “massive what if?”. Having started at Bournemouth – where of course he enjoyed a superb spell as manager – the Englishman moved to Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth back in March 2002.

However, a serious knee injury suffered shortly after his arrival presented an immediate obstacle before eventually making his return on the opening day of the 2002/03 season. Such was his luck though, Howe ended up getting another major knee injury just nine minutes into the game, and it cost him the entire year. Whilst he may look back on his playing career with a bit of regret, he has made the most out of being a young, up-and-coming manager.

11 Sean Dyche

Everton

Sean Dyche, the manager, comes across as hard-nosed, takes no prisoners and is willing to leave it all on the line. Sean Dyche the player? Along the same lines. The current Everton boss started off his career with Nottingham Forest, but a broken leg set him back some way and forced him to work harder than ever to come back.

The rest of his career saw him play for several Football League clubs, while arguably the biggest match he played in was the FA Cup semi-final with Chesterfield, where his side sadly lost in a replay against Middlesbrough. Dyche did forge a pretty successful time of it by leading teams to promotion, with the likes of Bristol City, Millwall and Northampton Town all going up with him in the team.

10 Arne Slot

Liverpool

Arne Slot’s mind was much faster than his legs. A cerebral midfielder who split his time between the top two divisions of Dutch football was let down by his cumbersome body. This didn’t prevent Slot from holding himself in high regard. According to his former manager at FC Zwolle, Jan Everse: “He had no doubts about his own qualities.”

Everse was keen to dispel the idea that Slot was “lazy” but warned: “You just shouldn’t expect sliding tackles from Arne.” In place of energy, Slot offered ingenuity. A bizarre kick-off routine that he developed at FC Zwolle was typical of his lateral thinking. Slot would launch the ball into the sky at each restart, prompting widespread confusion among the opposition which his colleagues took advantage of – Zwolle scored seven goals within the first 30 seconds of matches that year.

9 Julen Lopetegui

West Ham United

The headlines of Julen Lopetegui’s playing CV make for more impressive reading than the details that lie beneath. The Spanish goalkeeper played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, two of the biggest clubs in world football, while also representing his nation. In reality, much of Lopetegui’s career was spent on the bench.

The Real Madrid academy product only made one competitive appearance for the senior team, conceding three first-half goals in a chaotic draw against Atletico Madrid after the league title had already been secured. Lopetegui racked up as many as 10 appearances during four years at Barcelona but conspired to earn more red cards (two) than clean sheets. The one-cap international retired after 208 senior appearances – fewer than Jude Bellingham had earned before turning 21.

8 Russell Martin

Southampton

When Russell Martin reluctantly left Norwich City after almost a decade, waves of adulation flooded his way. Labelled the ‘Norfolk Cafu’ by some optimistic fans and dubbed a “club legend” by Norwich’s official website, the majority shareholder Delia Smith hailed Martin as “an all-round lovely person” and predicted: “He will be a manager one day because he’s just the right person to be a manager.”

Martin left Norwich as the player with the most Premier League appearances (125) in the club’s history. A robust defender comfortable on the right or in the middle of the backline, the Scotland international was promoted as often as he was relegated (twice), but did help the Canaries finish inside the top 12 in consecutive seasons.

7 ​​​Gary O’Neil

Wolverhampton Wanderers

A familiar face to those who watched Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth side in the 2000s, Gary O’Neil came through the youth ranks at the club before going on to feature 174 times, scoring 16 goals in the process. After a total of seven years on the south coast, O’Neil moved on to Middlesbrough, where he became a regular fixture in the middle of the park.

Those four years at the Riverside followed a series of spells across the Premier League and lower divisions, with appearances for the likes of West Ham, QPR, Norwich City, Bristol City and Bolton Wanderers. Perhaps an underrated player, O’Neil certainly isn’t the worst manager on this list in terms of ability, and that’s why he finds himself near the middle of the pack.

6 ​​​​Nuno Espirito Santo

Nottingham Forest

Many may be unaware that Nuno Espirito Santo was part of the Porto squad that famously lifted the Champions League under Jose Mourinho in 2004. He was an unused substitute for the final, but this is an honour that very few others on this list can boast.

Santo spent the majority of his career moving around different clubs in Portugal and Spain, as well as a brief spell in Russian football with Dynamo Moscow. The former Portugal youth international was a goalkeeper who made just over 200 career appearances. His playing days came to an end in 2010 after he returned to Estadio do Dragao. Four Portuguese league titles were the biggest accomplishments of the shot-stopper’s career, alongside the Champions League.

5 Ruben Amorim

Manchester United

Admired by Liverpool in the summer and earmarked by Manchester City as the eventual Pep Guardiola replacement, Manchester United managed to get their hands on one of the hottest managerial prospects in the game, Ruben Amorim. During his playing days, the Lisboa-born chief played for the likes of CF Os Belenenses, Braga, Benfica and Al-Wakrah SC.

A midfield workhorse, the 39-year-old picked up 14 caps for the Portuguese national team during the peak of his powers and spent the majority of his career on the pitch at Benfica, accruing 153 appearances. In that time, he won a plethora of silverware, becoming a three-time Portuguese champion and a seven-time Portuguese League Cup winner.

4 Andoni Iraola

Bournemouth

A product of Athletic Club’s prolific academy, Andoni Iraola was virtually a one-club man, staying loyal to his Basque roots. The right-back made his first-team debut for the club in the 2003/04 season, appearing in his first La Liga game against Barcelona. Iraola’s ability to take penalties and free-kicks meant he scored more goals than most defenders did, netting 33 times in his 406 appearances for the club.

Iraola never managed to lift a trophy with his club, finishing runner-up on three occasions in the Copa del Rey. The hard-working full-back was part of Marcelo Bielsa’s all-action iteration of Athletic, captaining the club to a famous 3-2 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on the way to the 2012 Europa League final.

3 Enzo Maresca

Chelsea

Former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi grew up with Enzo Maresca in AC Milan’s academy and hailed his friend’s ability. “He was a great player,” the Italian admitted, better than me.” Described admiringly as a “street footballer” by his West Bromwich Albion teammate James Quinn, Maresca established himself as a cult figure during his two years in the Midlands, impressing enough as an all-action attacking midfielder to earn a £4.5m move to Juventus.

Maresca was never a regular for the Old Lady. Although there is no shame in losing the battle for a midfield berth to the likes of Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero and Edgar Davids. Another ex-West Brom teammate of Maresca’s, Daryl Burgess, insists: “If he’d had an extra yard of pace he’d have been a world-beater.” Even without that quick step, the Italian playmaker managed to win two UEFA Cup titles during his four-year stay at Sevilla.

2 Mikel Arteta

Arsenal

Given his quick rise as manager of Arsenal, it seems crazy to think of Mikel Arteta as a player not so long ago. The Spaniard, of course, came to prominence when he made the move from Rangers to Everton. After several successful years with the Toffees, the midfielder earned a high-profile move to the Gunners.

Arteta arrived at the Emirates in a period of turbulence under Arsene Wenger, with the summer of 2011 living long in the memory of Arsenal fans who had witnessed the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri depart in search of trophies. The midfield maestro helped steady the ship with his leadership and poise in the middle of the park, and clearly, was building the knowledge and experience to one day return as manager.

1 Pep Guardiola

Manchester City

A man with not just an incredible record as a manager, but one as a player too, Pep Guardiola’s time as a footballer was an illustrious one, to say the least. Coming through Barcelona’s academy system, La Masia, the Spaniard won six La Liga titles, including four on the bounce from the start of the 1990s. Add to that two Copa del Reys and a European Cup, and Guardiola’s trophy-winning record as a player is unmatched by his Premier League peers.

It perhaps explains just how brilliant a manager he has also become. Having been the heartbeat of a Barcelona side under Johan Cruyff, Guardiola couldn’t help but be a thinker in the middle of the pitch and see the game differently to anybody else. It’s no surprise that he features right at the top of this list, and unless we see a Premier League return from the likes of Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard, then that’s where he will stay.

Stats via Transfermarkt – correct as of 01/11/24