Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger & the 25 best Premier League managers of the 21st century so far - ranked

There is a sense that Sean Dyche will be the modern-day manager clubs turn to when they are in crisis, given he is seen as an expert at getting results with limited resources at his disposal.

After getting Burnley promoted, Dyche remarkably kept the Clarets in the Premier League for six long seasons as they rarely flirted with relegation and even secured European qualification with a seventh-placed finish in 2017-18. Now fighting fires at Everton, he avoided the drop in consecutive seasons despite a precarious financial situation and two points deductions.

Among the 10 managers to have taken charge of the most Premier League games, Steve Bruce has had a storied managerial career at the highest level of English football and takes his place on this list through sheer longevity and commitment.

Former Manchester United defender Bruce has overseen a whopping 476 matches across spells with Newcastle (84 games), Hull City (76), Sunderland (89), Wigan Athletic (62) and Birmingham City (165). He has had varying degrees of success, but you can't understate his love for the trade.

After reviving Leicester City and guiding them to an eighth-placed finish in 2000, Martin O'Neill returned to English football in 2006 after a successful spell with Celtic as he took charge of Aston Villa.

The charismatic Northern Irishman turned the Villans into consistent top-six challengers, helping the club to qualify for the UEFA Cup and just falling short of reaching the Champions League. Getting the best out of players like Gareth Barry and Gabriel Agbonlahor, O'Neill's 1.55 points-per-game record in the Premier League with Villa is second only to current boss Unai Emery.

Long regarded as one of the best up-and-coming English managers, Eddie Howe made his name at Bournemouth - whom he kept in the Premier League for five years on a shoestring budget after securing a first-ever top-flight promotion in 2015, including a remarkable ninth-placed finish in 2017.

Howe has, of course, since joined Newcastle, whose fortunes he has completely changed alongside their new, incredibly wealthy Saudi owners. In the space of less than two seasons, the 46-year-old took the Magpies from battling relegation to the promised land of the Champions League, and there is the sense that they are here to stay as top-six challengers.

Although his style of play has never been popular, Sam Allardyce has become renowned as an expert Premier League firefighter, swerving relegation after being brought in at struggling Blackburn, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.

It wasn't always that way, however; 'Big Sam' enjoyed his first foray into the top flight with Bolton Wanderers and guided them into Europe courtesy of a club-record, sixth-place finish in 2004-05, snaring a UEFA Cup place with a team full of 'streets won't forget' names like Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and Stelios Giannakopoulos. His highest recent finish came at Everton in 2018, with whom he claimed eighth place.

Emery had unfinished work in the Premier League after his ill-fated spell with Arsenal, but boy has he set about completing it. Succeeding Arsene Wenger was never going to be an easy task, but the Spaniard will feel he deserved more time after being sacked a little over a year into his tenure in November 2019.

Returning to English shores with Aston Villa in 2022, Emery has demonstrated what he is all about - propelling the Villans from relegation-threatened to European qualification in the season he took over and securing a historic top-four place in 2023-24 as Villa returned to the Champions League for the first time in 42 years. Impressive transfers and a distinctive, high-octane style of play mean the club is only looking upwards.

The late, great, Sir Bobby Robson only managed in the Premier League for four years of the 21st century at Newcastle, but that was all he required to earn the freedom of the city. He thrust the club from the lower reaches of the Premier League to consistent top-five finishes, securing Champions League football two years in a row and taking them as high as third in 2002-03.

One of the greatest football managers of all time, Sir Bobby will always be remembered particularly fondly on Tyneside for those heady years in the early 2000s, reflected in the fact he was granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in March 2005. He has been immortalised with a statue outside St James' Park.

Probably a consequence of what followed, it feels like an absolute age since Brendan Rodgers was the man in the Liverpool dugout - but he arguably laid the groundwork for their future success. After cutting his teeth at Chelsea and catching the eye with his attacking brand of play at Swansea, he came agonisingly close to ending Liverpool's wait for a Premier League title in 2013-14 with a team comprising a prime Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard.

Although they fell (or slipped) two points short, this was one of the most entertaining sides in Premier League history. Rodgers would go on to enjoy success with Leicester, winning the FA Cup and twice qualifying for the Europa League via fifth-placed finishes in 2020 and 2021.

Among the top-five managers to have taken charge of the most Premier League games with a total of 641, Harry Redknapp has certainly been around the block. Since the turn of the century, though, his greatest achievements have come at Portsmouth and Tottenham.

After initially steering the former away from the threat of relegation in 2005 and establishing them in the top flight, Redknapp was appointed at Spurs in 2008 after winning the FA Cup with Pompey. He then guided a middling side into the Champions League in less than two seasons at the helm with a scintillating style of play, overseeing a thrilling run to the quarter-finals as Gareth Bale starred.

The oldest manager to ever work in the Premier League, Roy Hodgson was actually something of a late bloomer in the English top-flight, enjoying a nomadic career before taking charge at Fulham in 2007 aged 60. Hodgson miraculously kept the Cottagers up after a tough start before incredibly securing Europa League football in his second season as he earned the club's highest-ever finish.

After reaching the final of the European competition, Hodgson would have an ill-fated spell at Liverpool, before turning relegation-threatened West Brom's fortunes around and being appointed by England (we all know how that went...). Hodgson is a hero at boyhood club Crystal Palace, too - keeping the club in the Premier League twice across two spells in south London and equalling the Eagles' record points total in 2018-19.

The late Gerard Houllier had a huge impact on Liverpool, instilling discipline and helping to revitalise and modernise the club in the early 2000s as he delivered tangible, incremental improvement in the league standings. He would make academy graduates Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen important members of his first-team setup and signed others who would become keys parts of the club's longer-term success.

Despite battling a heart condition, Houllier guided Liverpool to what was their highest-ever Premier League finish at the time in 2001-02, as the Reds came second behind Arsenal, while he had plenty of success in the cup competitions.

David Moyes' Premier League career has been a rollercoaster, but he didn't let his ill-fated spell at Manchester United define him. He turned Everton into a consistent top-eight side over the course of his 11 years at Goodison Park despite a restrictive budget, even securing a fourth-placed finish in 2004-05 as he made shrewd signings like Tim Cahill and Steven Pienaar and set a long-term vision.

Although his tenures at United and Sunderland were unsuccessful, Moyes has rebuilt his reputation across two spells with West Ham - first keeping them in the Premier League in 2017-18 before returning to repeat the trick in 2019-20 and securing the Hammers' record points tally the following season. They would become European contenders and Conference League winners, and at the time of writing, the Scot is third in the list of those to have managed the most Premier League games with 697.

A man with the potential to climb this list as time goes by, Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal into genuine, consistent title contenders for the first time in a very long time - now it is just a matter of landing that elusive first title.

The Gunners have had to be patient, but over the last five years Arteta has overseen incremental improvement - climbing from eighth place to second - and built a young squad capable of challenging, playing a distinctive, high-intensity brand of football, and now they look like the side most likely to loosen Man City's vice-like grip on the trophy.

One of the Premier League's nearly men, newly-appointed United States boss Mauricio Pochettino will always be a firm favourite at Tottenham, whose fortunes changed significantly after his arrival - although they would fall short of winning a trophy. He was named Spurs manager having guided Southampton to eighth place and their highest-ever points tally in 2013-14, in what was just his second job in management.

Pochettino became renowned for his front-footed attacking style of play and blooding the club's academy graduates, with Spurs improving year on year and challenging for the title in 2016 before falling short. They then finished second the following season and consistently qualified for the Champions League until the Argentine's exit in 2019.

He also deserves credit for his work at Chelsea in the 2023-24 season, whom he guided to sixth place with a strong finish after their nightmare the previous campaign.

Rafael Benitez was the man Liverpool chose to build on the groundwork laid by Houllier, and he delivered - especially in Europe, where the Reds famously won the Champions League in 2005.

Liverpool would become a thorn in the side of the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal under the Spaniard without landing a league title themselves, consistently finishing in the top four before mounting a title challenge in 2008-09 with Gerrard and Fernando Torres at their peaks. They would ultimately finish four points behind United.

Benitez would go on to have mixed spells elsewhere at Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton, entering the top 10 for games managed in the Premier League.

The Premier League's ultimate comeback king. Claudio Ranieri was unceremoniously sacked by new Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2004 despite leading the Blues to a second-placed finish, signing Frank Lampard and nurturing John Terry.

The Italian would not return to England until 2015 as he was appointed at Leicester, with his reputation at its nadir following a terrible spell as Greece's national team boss. Charged predominantly with keeping the Foxes in the top flight, he would pull off what was nothing short of a miracle as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Co. fired the club to a simply incredible league title, ultimately finishing the campaign 10 points clear of Arsenal. Dilly ding, dilly dong.

Ranieri's second season was less successful and he has since had less notable spells at Fulham and Watford back in the Premier League, but that really pales into insignificance.

Manuel Pellegrini remains the only non-European winner of the Premier League as his well-oiled Man City machine saw off the stiff competition of Rodgers' Liverpool in 2013-14, thanks in no small part to that slip from Gerrard.

Known for their mesmerising, geometric patterns of play, City were certainly easy on the eye under Pellegrini's stewardship, scoring more than 100 league goals in record time on the way to claiming that title. Having been replaced by Pep Guardiola in 2016, the Chilean returned to English shores with West Ham two years later, but he was unable to deliver similar success and was sacked with the club in the relegation zone.

A manager who wins things (almost) wherever he goes, Antonio Conte will always be a popular figure in one part of London, at least. After a dire start to the 2016-17 campaign as Chelsea's new manager, the Italian switched up his tactics by reverting to a back three - a setup that would be widely copied in subsequent years - and would reap the rewards.

Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses shone as wing-backs, while they had the guile of Eden Hazard, the vision of Cesc Fabregas and the goals of Diego Costa in central areas. It proved to be the perfect formula as the Blues recovered from their early-season blip to win the league at something of a canter, eventually finishing seven points clear of second-placed Tottenham and setting a new Premier League record for the most wins in a single season with 30.

Having been dismissed by Chelsea after a disappointing second season, Conte would, of course, return to the English top flight when he took charge of Spurs in 2021, and although he guided them back into the Champions League, things would soon turn sour.

Roberto Mancini will always be remembered as the manager who oversaw arguably the greatest moment in Manchester City history, as Sergio Aguero's last-gasp winner against QPR secured the title in the final seconds of the 2011-12 campaign. Up until that point, his City tenure had been a slow burn, with the newly-moneyed Citizens finishing fifth and then third in his first two seasons at the helm.

That all changed in 2012, as he set City on course for this period of unprecedented success by claiming their first-ever Premier League title in the most dramatic fashion. It was a moment that secured Mancini's legacy forever.

You can't help but wonder what might have been had Chelsea held on to Carlo Ancelotti... The legendary Italian tactician led a rampant Blues side to the title in 2009-10 in his debut campaign, as the west Londoners became the first Premier League team to score more than 100 goals in a season (103) with Didier Drogba and Lampard at the peak of their powers.

After finishing second in an inconsistent second season, Ancelotti fell foul of Abramovich's ruthless streak and was dismissed. When his time at Chelsea ended, he had a record of 67 wins, 20 draws and 22 losses in 109 matches, with a win percentage among the highest in Premier League history.

The man who has restored Liverpool to the very top of the English and European game, Jurgen Klopp was the perfect fit when the club turned to him in 2015. It was a gradual process, but Klopp's Reds eventually emerged as the main challengers to Man City's dominance as a modern rivalry was born between the two clubs and their managers in the late 2010s.

With his high-tempo, Gegenpressing tactics, Klopp would eventually end Liverpool's agonising 30-year wait for a top-flight title in the Covid-affected 2019-20 season, with captain Jordan Henderson hoisting the trophy aloft at a near-empty Anfield.

That would prove to be Klopp's only league title before he shockingly stepped down in 2024, but his deep understanding of the club and connection with the fans, as well as his multiple triumphs in the cup competitions, mean he will go down as one of Liverpool's greatest-ever managers.

'The Special One'. Jose Mourinho disrupted the established order and propelled Chelsea to become regular challengers in the Premier League. With the swaggering, sneering manager in the dugout, the Blues were utterly dominant in his first two seasons as they claimed back-to-back league titles - including their first for 50 years - and sent out a message that their Abramovich-backed success would not be a flash in the pan.

Things would, of course, go awry, but Mourinho returned six years after his initial exit in 2007 and guided a brilliant Chelsea side to another league title in 2014-15, with Fabregas and Hazard among those to play a starring role.

That remains the Portuguese's most recent league title triumph anywhere he has managed, with his spells at Manchester United and Tottenham far less notable. At Stamford Bridge, however, he will always be welcomed as a hero.

Arsenal may have struggled in the latter part of his tenure, but Arsene Wenger remains one of the greatest managers to ever grace the Premier League. A man who arguably singlehandedly revolutionised the approach to football in England with his stylish, attractive brand of play and focus on a healthy lifestyle, the Gunners teams of the early 2000s absolutely oozed class.

The Frenchman's greatest achievement was undoubtedly the unbeaten season of 2003-04, as Arsenal's 'Invincibles' won the league title without losing a single game - a feat that may never be repeated. Wenger had also claimed a second title in 2002, ending a period of Manchester United dominance.

He will always be revered in the red half of north London, with his technical philosophy now part of the fabric of the club and the benchmark for Arsenal teams ever since his arrival. Wenger has managed more Premier League games than anyone else with a ridiculous 828 - another achievement that is unlikely to ever be matched.

A modern-day football revolutionary, Pep Guardiola has overseen an era of utter dominance for Manchester City as the club has consolidated its place at English football's top table since the Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008.

With the caveat that they have been bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour's near-limitless wealth - signing the likes of Aguero, David Silva and Erling Haaland down the years - and the fact that 115 charges of financial misconduct hang over them, Guardiola has built the Premier League's latest dynasty at the Etihad Stadium to follow in the footsteps of legacy managers Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Playing a brand of dominant, possession-based, attacking football, the Catalan tactician has claimed six league titles in his eight years in England, including the last four in a row. Man City have become a juggernaut, and as long as Guardiola is the man in the dugout, it will be an almighty task to stop them.

Arguably the greatest manager football has ever witnessed, Sir Alex Ferguson remains the best in the modern history of the Premier League. The legendary former Manchester United boss won eight of his 13 league titles after the turn of the century, successfully adapting to respond to the respective rises of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City to ensure United continued to challenge.

Fiercely competitive, Ferguson was box office, too. His rivalry with Wenger was particularly bitter as two footballing philosophies clashed, producing some of the most iconic matches of all time on the pitch. The Scot's teams were often greater than the sum of all their parts, especially in the latter years of his reign.

He will undoubtedly go down as United's greatest-ever manager, and his legacy is profound - with no-one able to come close to matching his unprecedented success at Old Trafford in the years since he stepped down in 2013, after securing the league title one final time. Ferguson is one of the key reasons behind the exponential growth of England's top flight.