Sports
Wayne Rooney Names Two Premier League Managers Better Than Mikel Arteta
Wayne Rooney, by virtue of his lengthy spell as a player in the Premier League for Manchester United, played under one of the greatest managers of all time in Sir Alex Ferguson – and so it’s fair to say that he knows what a top-tier boss looks like. That said, he still believes there are two managers better than Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta currently in the English top flight.
We all remember Rooney‘s turgid stint in management, first taking over at Derby County as caretaker manager before taking on the role full-time in early 2021. A mixed bag of managerial stints at D.C. United, Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle beckoned before turning his hand to the world of punditry.
Rooney, widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in football history, became one of the many former players from Ferguson‘s reign who failed on the other side of the white line – but he believes that midfielder-turned-tactician Arteta, who was appointed as Arsenal boss in December 2019, is the third-best manager of those currently plying their trade in the Premier League.
Rooney Believes Arteta is the Third-Best Manager Currently in the Premier League
Arsenal, under the stewardship of Arteta, are running the risk of becoming England’s nearlymen: they’ve picked up three successive second-place finishes and their last major silverware came during the Spaniard’s first season in the hotseat. He retains the full backing of the Emirates Stadium higher-ups, but trophies will cement his safety further.
Speaking on his BBC podcast, 40-year-old Rooney did insist the former Everton and Paris Saint-Germain star has done a ‘fantastic’ job since assuming his role in the Emirates Stadium dugout. That said, he believes that Aston Villa’s Unai Emery – who crumbled under the pressure of replacing Arsene Wenger – is the superior manager.
“Unai Emery was the first over to come in after Arsene Wenger, and we saw with David Moyes and Sir Alex [Ferguson] how difficult that can be. That’s a huge pressure. That was a difficult one, but the Arsenal job isn’t a true reflection of him,” he said before adding:
“In my opinion, he’s probably the second-best manager in the Premier League, after [Pep] Guardiola, when you look at what he’s doing. You can’t judge Emery on what happened at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta is doing fantastic as well.”
Predictably at the top of the list is Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, given that he has won six Premier League titles since moving from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2016, but he still believes that Emery’s managerial credentials are much better than those of Arteta, who will be looking to end his side’s long-term trophy drought sooner rather than later.
Arsenal’s transformation under the 43-year-old has, of course, been impressive. Before his appointment, the north Londoners were struggling to assert themselves as regular top four contenders – but they are now persistently there or thereabouts at the top of the league.
|
Mikel Arteta – Arsenal Statistics |
|
|---|---|
|
Appointment Date |
22/12/2019 |
|
Contract Expiry |
30/06/2027 |
|
Matches |
313 |
|
Wins |
191 |
|
Draws |
53 |
|
Loses |
69 |
|
Points per Match |
2.00 |
The fact they’ve spent millions and millions of pounds on new recruits, from Viktor Gyokeres to Declan Rice to Nicolas Pepe, is more than enough to suggest that Arteta should have achieved plenty more success than he has since replacing Emery in north London six years ago. Should he win the title this season, he could eclipse the Villa Park boss in Rooney’s rankings.
Rooney Names Surprise Frontrunner for Premier League Manager of the Year Award
None of the aforementioned triumvirate, however, were mentioned when Rooney named who he believes is the current frontrunner in the Premier League Manager of the Year award. There is still plenty of football to be played before the season concludes, of course, but Sunderland‘s Regis Le Bris has impressed the former Old Trafford talisman.
“I got one of my few wins [as Plymouth Argyle manager] against Le Bris and Sunderland I think,” he said following their 1-0 win over Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby recently. “It’s a different squad and a different group of players at Sunderland now.
“They’ve changed tactically as well. I think he was an analyst coach at his previous job and he’s gone and got Sunderland promoted, which was incredible. If you’re choosing manager of the season right now, he would have to be up there. I would probably choose him over any other manager at the minute.”
Ranking all 20 Premier League Managers by Their Playing Careers
Arteta, Slot, Guardiola… all are managing in the top flight now, but how good were they on the pitch?
Sunderland recruited well in the summer transfer window – including the respective arrivals of Nordi Mukiele, Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki, Omar Alderete and Robin Roefs – in an attempt to stay afloat in England’s top tier, but they were still widely tipped to face the drop. At the time of writing, they are eighth in the table and have picked up 24 points from 16 outings.
All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 16/12/2025
