The Top 5 Best Coaches of the 2025/26 Premier League Season.

From leading their sides into Europe to winning their club’s first title in a generation, this season’s Premier League has certainly witnessed some great managerial performances. In a season when Pep Guardiola managed his last game for Manchester City, the standard we have seen from some of the coaches in the league has been top class. Arsenal finally got over the line to claim the title, but is Mikel Arteta on our list of best managers this season?

You can find out below where we have listed some of the Premier League bosses that have shone brightest during the 2025/26 campaign.

The Best Managers This Season

Andoni Iraola

What a coach the former Athletic Bilbao full-back is and what a season he has had with Bournemouth. He led Bournemouth to 6th place in the table, with a record haul of 57 points, despite losing 3 of his starting defenders from the 2024/25 season, as well as losing the club’s prized asset in Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City in the January transfer window.

The club and Iraola quickly set about rebuilding, however, and through canny signings like Adrien Truffert and the coach’s high-energy, attacking brand of football, the loss of those players was quickly forgotten. Talents such as Eli Junior Kroupi, Alex Scott and Rayan have sparkled under Iraola’s guidance to such an extent that Rayan has made the Brazil World Cup squad, and Scott and Kroupi are reported targets for some of the league’s biggest clubs. In what was his final season at the Vitality, Iraola led the club to an eighteen-game unbeaten run that lasted until the end of the season, a remarkable coaching performance unmatched by anyone else.

Mikel Arteta

Now the football Arsenal play may not be to everyone’s liking nor are the antics of Mikel Arteta on the touchline, but after leading his club to their first title since the 2003/04 season, it’s only fair he is included in our list. The fact that he has spent over a billion pounds and has his team playing in such a dull style may take some of the gloss off their title win for some, but there is no getting away from the fact that Arsenal have finally won the league. If Arteta can go on and defeat PSG in this season’s Champions League final, how they will have won the trophies won’t matter; Arteta and his team will go down as Arsenal legends.

Unai Emery

The fact that Emery was left off the official list of Manager of the Season nominees is laughable considering the calibre of coach he is and the job he has done with Aston Villa this season. 4th place in the Premier League and 2026 Europa League champions mark this campaign down as one of Villa’s best for many years, and with Emery at the helm, Villa fans must be wondering what comes next for their club.

Villa actually started the season off in horrendous form, but Emery’s leadership and tactical nous meant that their struggles were never going to last. A sensational turnaround actually had people talking about them as title challengers at one point, but dealing with a midfield injury crisis and the fact that PSR hampered his ability to spend meant that any hopes of a sustained title charge were dashed. Winning the Europa League puts him up there with some greats of the game, like Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, who have each won 5 major European trophies in their managerial careers, and he rightly sits as one of the elite managers in the Premier League.

Keith Andrews

Few could have expected Brentford to have the season they have just had when they replaced legendary boss Thomas Frank with managerial rookie Keith Andrews. Andrews, who was the club’s set-piece coach before taking over, had to deal with losing Bryan Mbeumo, Yoann Wissa, and captain Christian Norgaard, but he has brought a calm and assured presence to the club’s touchline this season. Many expected Brentford to struggle and for Andrews to be under pressure early on, especially after their opening-day defeat to Forest, but the former Irish international quickly recovered and led them to 9th place, the club's joint best ever finish. The only blemish is the fact that a rocky end to the season meant they missed out on European qualification.

Regis Le Bris

Europa League qualification and defeating Newcastle home and away on their Premier League return, it’s safe to say Regis Le Bris is already a legend on Wearside. 7th place for a newly promoted side is a remarkable achievement, but given how Sunderland have played all season, it is no fluke. They spent big on their return, but most importantly, they spent wisely, with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs, Noah Sadiki and Nordi Mukiele all proving to be inspired signings.

Remarkably, a slight blip at the start of 2026 led to some bizarre rumours that the Frenchman was going to be replaced, but he quickly remedied that and finished the season with 17 points from their last 10 matches.

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