Every top-six Premier League manager’s most annoying habit? Views from fans, experts and social media

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The Premier League’s top six clubs each possess a highly-rated manager renowned for a specific philosophy.

Whether that’s the Jurgen Klopp’s high-speed counter-attacking, Pep Guardiola’s dominance in possession or Jose Mourinho’s controversially pragmatic outlook, all six managers have an established approach that brings varying degrees of success.

Despite those credentials, every coach inevitably has bad habits that tend to grind on supporters when things aren’t going well in terms of results.

So we decided to pick the brains of fans and experts for examples of such habits, be they go-to tactics or behavioural faux pas.

Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Most annoying habit?

For fans of rivals clubs, you can see how Klopp’s touchline celebrations would, at best, annoy and, at worst, gross people out.

For his supporters, his most annoying habit has to do with a reluctance to make changes mid-game.

“Over the last two years, Jurgen Klopp has slowly but surely transformed Liverpool into one of the best teams in England but what still grinds my gears is how he always makes really late substitutions.

“For example, against Crystal Palace, he brought Daniel Sturridge on in the 93rd minute.”

– @RousingTheKop

Across every defeat suffered by Liverpool in 2018, only one substitution was made by Klopp earlier than the 62nd minute – excluding Mohamed Salah’s forced removal upon dislocating his shoulder in the Champions League final. It seems this Klopp custom has not gone unnoticed on social media…

The Twitter verdict:

Mauricio Pochettino (Spurs)

Most annoying habit?

Pochettino tends to value work-rate and attitude over perceived quality, which is probably why he continues to persist with Moussa Sissoko despite his mostly below-par displays.

It would be understandable if Sissoko offered more than he does. The Frenchman gives the ball away far too often and slows down Tottenham’s counter-attacks with his poor first touch.

Regardless, Pochettino isn’t afraid of throwing Sissoko in when needed – he started on the opening weekend against Newcastle United – instead of changing the system and opting for a better player.

Most annoying habit when losing?

Pochettino introduced Fernando Llorente from the bench 15 times in the Premier League last season, often when Tottenham were losing, but the Spaniard didn’t score a single goal as a substitute.

However, a lack of goals from the bench can only partly be blamed on Llorente himself; Pochettino must take some of the flak.

Llorente is often introduced as a last resort, but Pochettino very rarely changes his side’s approach to accommodate Llorente’s strengths.

More long balls and crosses would make sense, but that hasn’t been the case. As a result, bringing Llorente on almost always makes Tottenham less effective rather than more dangerous.

Pep Guardiola (Man City)

Most annoying habit?

“When you’ve just seen your team play the best football they ever have and break near-enough every record in the book, there’s not too many things you can lambast your manager for.

“So with Pep, my gripes are the most minor possible: his overuse of the phrase, ‘so, so happy’ after any particularly average or below par display, his reluctance to wear anything but a Stone Island jumper and jeans on the touchline.

“Tactically, he is so rarely outwitted; he is seldom involved in any form of a spat with a rival boss and, other than his Claudio Bravo > Joe Hart nonsense, his team and squad selection is normally always the correct one. The handsome, bald man can seemingly do no wrong!”

– James Iberson-Hurst (@jibersonh), Man City supporter, AskFans

From a neutral’s point of view, Guardiola is an awkward guy, in such that sometimes puts post-match interviewers in a difficult spot.

After a 2-1 win during his debut Premier League campaign, the City manager produced this masterwork of bristling and unnecessary tension.

He also did this to Klopp in the summer.

Jose Mourinho (Man Utd)

Most annoying habit?

“For me, it’s always shifting blame onto someone or something else. Manchester United are not playing well and I think it’s clear that Jose’s philosophy is probably one of the biggest factors.

“But by constantly blaming transfers, referees and his own players in public, he loses the respect of a lot of fans. Either that or when he shrugs his shoulders and does the weird Elvis lip thing.”

– Alex Leggate, Man United supporter, AskFans

Most annoying habit when losing?

If Pochettino only uses Llorente as a last resort, Mourinho seems to revel in the opportunity to use his main weapon from the bench, Marouane Fellaini.

The Belgian appeared to be on the verge of leaving Manchester United over the summer until Mourinho urged the club to tie him down to a new two-year deal, which they duly did.

In the Premier League, 41 of Fellaini’s 66 appearances for United have been as a substitute. Despite his usual position being that of a central midfielder, his height and power are often utilised in a more attacking role.

And in fairness to Mourinho, Fellaini’s introduction has had the desired effect in the past. The 30-year-old came off the bench to score the winner against Arsenal back in April.

But while those tactics can bear fruit, they are not the best thing for United’s image, something that has been picked apart and often ridiculed during Mourinho’s tenure.

Unai Emery (Arsenal)

Most annoying habit?

Emery’s tactics at Arsenal have already been criticised – notably by Sam Allardyce – but it’s difficult to judge his methods from two games against Manchester City and Chelsea.

That said, a couple of regrettable traits have already carried over from his spells at Paris-Saint Germain and Sevilla.

“Unai Emery’s most annoying habit is ALWAYS sending his full-backs flying forward, regardless of the situation in a game,” says Squawka’s chief writer, Muhammad Butt.

Emery clearly wants his full-backs to get forward whenever possible, but he could perhaps be more conservative with his wide options depending on the situation.

In Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the full-backs both helped and hindered the team’s progress throughout the game. As a result, Hector Bellerin was heavily criticised for an apparent lack of defensive focus.

The Twitter verdict:

Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea)

Most annoying habit?

Like Emery, any annoying habits Sarri possesses are yet to properly emerge at his new club. But the Chelsea manager could eventually be caught out if he replicates something he did at Napoli.

Sarri retained his 4-3-3 formation in just about every game in Italy. A refusal to change things when they weren’t working may have been part of the reason Napoli were never able to catch Juventus in the Serie A title race.

On top of that, Sarri very rarely rotated his side. If he doesn’t rotate often at Chelsea, he risks alienating a number of squad players who could be useful down the line – the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud, for example.

There is one habit Sarri himself is keen to drop: smoking. After all, he isn’t allowed to do it in English stadiums.

After Chelsea’s win over Arsenal, according to the Mirror the Italian said: “I am going to stop. Just for one or two years, then I will start again.”

The post Every top-six Premier League manager’s most annoying habit? Views from fans, experts and social media appeared first on Squawka News.



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