A New Year offers individuals the chance to better themselves, so here’s one resolution for each Premier League Big Six manager as Arne Slot frees one of his players and Ruben Amorim sanctions a cut-throat rebuild…
Mikel Arteta – Learn from past January mistakes
Arteta’s gradual build of Arsenal appeared to place the North London outfit as the next in line to win the Premier League after Man City, but Liverpool’s extraordinary start under Arne Slot means that may not be the case.
While Liverpool have been near-faultless, Arsenal have been impacted by Arteta resembling David Moyes rather than Pep Guardiola as they have settled for draws in moments of adversity.
Arsenal’s brilliance from set-pieces last season has carried over into this campaign, but they have become overly reliant on goals from dead-ball situations.
Their lack of creative spark was exposed during Martin Odegaard’s absence. Also, the overwhelming importance of the gifted midfielder and right-hand man Bukayo Saka means the Gunners are severely weakened when either player is unavailable.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they have been dealt a huge blow with Saka, who is set to be out of action for a couple of months.
Their narrow win against lowly Ipswich Town provided an alarming insight into the potentially serious consequences of Saka’s injury as a lack of goal threat could further hinder their already weakened title hopes.
After previously failing to act in January to give them an edge on Man City, Saka’s injury should spark a long-overdue move for a top-class striker. This is most likely to come in the summer, but these plans should be brought forward if Arsenal want to avoid losing grasp of the title sooner than in the past two seasons.
READ: Premier League winners and losers: Slot, Everton, Forest, Son, McAtee, Lopetegui
Enzo Maresca – Become proactive regarding transfers
While frustration has clouded Arsenal’s season, Chelsea have surpassed expectations despite a recent drop-off.
Maresca has made the job of steadying the choppiest of ships look miles simpler than it was, having been written off by the majority before a ball was kicked this season.
The former Leicester City boss is clearly a brilliant coach as he’s breathed new life into an oversized squad of overvalued assets which – barring the ludicrous exception of Cole Palmer – flattered to deceive under previous bosses.
Under Maresca, Chelsea have shown they are finally headed in the right direction, but a couple of changes are still required for the rebuilding giant to return to the top.
Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has been one of the leading naysayers rejecting Chelsea’s title chances, insisting they need a new goalkeeper and centre-back to win the Premier League and/or Champions League. It’s tough to argue against this point of view, but club chiefs have their blinkers on in the belief that Maresca’s current squad is enough to get over the line.
The Blues hierarchy’s bold transfer approach has largely been proven right, but they need to be proactive and open to recognising when replacements are required because upgrades on Robert Sanchez and their centre-back options are needed if they want to win big.
Arne Slot – Realise that saying goodbye is sometimes for the best
It was unsurprisingly tougher to pick a resolution for Liverpool than their rivals with everything coming up roses for Slot’s side as they march towards winning the Premier League at a canter.
The Reds do have the small matter of retaining their three best assets to contend with, but looking further ahead, there also needs to be a resolution for Caoimhin Kelleher.
The Republic of Ireland international has gone above and beyond to prove he deserves to be a Premier League No.1, but he’s currently stuck as one of the league’s best No.2s.
Kelleher’s superb performances warranted a sustained run in Liverpool’s team, but he has been put in his box since Alisson Becker’s return from injury and this was always going to happen.
It’s not even the case of Kelleher playing the waiting game as Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili is lined up to replace Alisson.
Slot would presumably prefer to keep Kelleher so he can eventually compete with Mamardashvili, but it is best for everyone involved that Liverpool’s academy product is freed to spread his wings elsewhere via a big-money pure profit sale next year before his contract expires in 2026.
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Pep Guardiola – Make new friends
Everyone associated with Man City will have breathed a huge sigh of relief after Guardiola’s spent squad crawled to a victory at Leicester City on Sunday, which still did not cover up the gaping cracks in need of repair from January onwards.
It remains to be seen whether Guardiola has the required energy to oversee the long process of Man City’s upcoming facelift as the worn-out head coach has added to the feeling that he could resign before the rebuild is complete.
The supposed best club in the world have been uncharacteristically erratic in the transfer market in recent windows as Guardiola and Co. have naively stood by as the squad has become full of players either tired, aged or simply past it.
Guardiola is fond of his team and has shown them love during their sudden slump into a crisis, but he needs to say some sad goodbyes in 2025.
Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish are among the players who need to be shown the door as a £166m raid for two of Europe’s best young players should only be the beginning as the Man City boss opens himself up to make some new friends.
READ: Two Arsenal targets in Premier League team of the season so far in 2024/25
Ruben Amorim – Take up the hobby of ruthlessly axing flops
Man City will be glad they are not the only Manchester club in despair as the Red Devils are also in dire straits following Amorim’s painful month from hell.
Amorim knew he had to ride out a “storm” after being appointed to replace Erik ten Hag, but he would not have suspected the situation at Old Trafford to be this bad.
Early indications suggest Amorim – unlike Ten Hag – has the necessary gravitas to be a success at Man Utd. Though this is partly out of his hands; he has to trust Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s supposed ‘best in class’ to get their recruitment right, which is far from a guarantee as they have no credit in the bank after a failed summer.
A recent report claiming Amorim is ‘desperate’ to keep Harry Maguire sparked concerns at F365 HQ as the England international is a perfect example of a player the head coach should ruthlessly sack off.
Wholesale changes are a must as the dead wood – who are desperately hanging onto their undeserved lavish salary – need to be axed for Man Utd to avoid a repeat of the half-arsed overhaul guided by Ten Hag a couple of years ago.
Ange Postecoglou – Make personal growth by becoming less stubborn
When good, few teams are a match for Spurs under Postecoglou as one of the Premier League’s Entertainers, though the troughs have been more regular than the peaks as the pressure increases on the head coach.
The loveable Aussie has become the irritable Aussie as he’s been dragged down by Tottenham’s unrelenting insistence on doing Spursy things.
As mentioned, Postecoglou’s free-flowing tactics are brilliant when they work, but his refusal to adapt leaves them open to embarrassing results and this is especially the case when his best players are unavailable.
Even as a neutral, you find yourself either pulling your hair out or laughing hysterically at Postecoglou’s naivety, which has been particularly exposed by Brighton, Chelsea and Man Utd this season.
Losses like these have contributed to Postecoglou becoming the favourite to be the next manager sacked and he’ll remain under immense scrutiny unless he shows a willingness to be less stubborn and adapt when in-game changes negatively impact his side.
