Nine Premier League clubs face the new season beginning on Friday under new management, but none will feel the pressure faced by Italian Carlo Ancelotti and Spaniards Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonzo. The league has not recorded this level of managerial changes at the start of a campaign since the 1946-1947 season, the first season after World War II.
The wave of changes has left Manchester United manager Michael Carrick as the tenth longest-serving manager in the tournament, despite only arriving at Old Trafford in January. Ancelotti, Iraola and Alonzo will be subject to the most intense scrutiny as they begin their challenging tasks with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, respectively.
Ancelotti spoke of a "return home" following his appointment at Manchester City, although he already faces pressure after a very poor start to his arduous task of succeeding Spaniard Pep Guardiola. The 46-year-old Italian manager is well acquainted with the club's corridors after managing the under-23 team in the 2020-2021 season and serving as Guardiola's assistant in 2022-2023, a period in which he contributed to the team winning the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. He subsequently managed Leicester City in the Championship before taking them back to the Premier League, and later moved to Chelsea, where he won the Conference League and the Club World Cup during a turbulent 18-month period.
Iraola, 44, told Liverpool supporters that he wished to "earn my place as one of you" after replacing Dutchman Slot at Anfield. The Spaniard was hired for his tactical expertise and is expected to return Liverpool to the attacking style of football for which it was famous under German Jürgen Klopp. Iraola caught Liverpool's attention through his work with Bournemouth, where he improved the club's league position during his three seasons, achieving a sixth-place finish last season that allowed the team to qualify for European competitions for the first time in its history.
Alonzo has long been linked with Liverpool as a player, but fate took him to Chelsea. The 44-year-old manager achieved his real breakthrough in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen, where he led the team to a historic domestic double without defeats in the 2023-2024 season. This allowed him to manage Real Madrid, his former club, but his experience at the Bernabéu deteriorated quickly and he departed in January after less than eight months. Alonzo acknowledged that his early exit from Real Madrid left him with a "scar", but said it has healed. His task at Chelsea will be to restore stability after a chaotic previous campaign that concluded with a tenth-place finish in the table.
