Who Are The Best Performing Managers This Season?

With the 2024/2025 season coming to an end, it is time to take a look at which managers have performed the best across Europe this campaign.

Arne Slot - Liverpool

We have to start with Arne Slot and his Liverpool side. Slot arrived at Anfield last summer, following in the footsteps of club legend Jurgen Klopp, and had fair expectations set on him to build on what Klopp achieved and bring them back to domestic and continental glory in the near future. When it comes to domestic success, Slot wasted no time. Liverpool were recently crowned Premier League champions, winning 25 matches along the way, scoring 80 goals in the process. Elsewhere, Slot’s Liverpool reached the Carabao Cup final, before losing out to Newcastle United in the final.

Luis Enrique - Paris Saint-Germain

Another team that have seen domestic success this season is Paris Saint-Germain, and manager Luis Enrique has been the spearhead for a new era of PSG which may also bring the club continental success. In the league, PSG have been dominant, with Enrique’s side already crowned Ligue 1 champions, and at the time of writing are 20 points clear of Marseille in second place. They have also only lost once in the league this season, which came in their most recent match against Nice. As for the Champions League, this could be the French team’s year. They are 1-0 up after the first leg of their semi-final meeting with Arsenal, and with all of the star players gone, Enrique has been able to build a squad of young, hungry players who have improved the team cohesion and have been able to improve on previous efforts in Europe, including knocking out Arne Slot’s Liverpool.

Okan Buruk - Galatasaray

Let us head over to Türkiye now and speak about Okan Buruk, who has taken Galatasaray a level above eternal rivals Fenerbahce this season. Buruk’s men have been able to one-up Jose Mourinho’s side in terms of domination of the Turkish Super Lig, winning 25 of their 31 league matches so far this season, losing just once which was against Besiktas. Buruk’s side will also compete in the Turkish Cup final against Trabzonspor in a few weeks. As for Europe, Galatasaray made it out of the league phase of the UEFA Europa League but were knocked out in the first playoff round by AZ Alkmaar.

Scott Parker - Burnley

When Burnley were relegated to the Championship last season, it was expected for them to make a swift return to England’s top flight, but I don’t think anyone expected them to earn their promotion in the way they have done. Despite not dominating the league table, Burnley have dominated almost every match they have played, only losing four league matches this season, and most impressively only conceding 21 goals in the 45 matches they have played at the time of writing. Scott Parker’s ideology to be defensively stable have proved more than successful for the Clarets this season and may win them the Championship title if things go their way this weekend. The ability to take a side that were used to attacking football under previous manager Vincent Kompany and transform them into this defensive machine that can win most matches 1-0 is certainly impressive work from Scott Parker, who is a promotion master when it comes to the second tier.

Fabio Gallo - Virtus Entella

Heading over to Italy for our final manager - Fabio Gallo. His Virtus Entella side have taken a leaf out of Burnley’s book, taking draws when they can and simply refusing to lose matches. In their Serie C campaign, they have played 38 matches, winning 23, drawing 14 but only losing once. Entella have won promotion to Serie B with ease as a result of this defensive style of play, finishing the season nine points clear of Ternana in second. Gallo has been a bit of a journeyman when it comes to management, with Entella being his ninth job in Italy since his breakthrough into management back in 2009.