Premier Manager Revealed: Matchweek 3
Every week, I score the leadership language used by each manager in one post-match interview. I’m looking for the managers whose words inspire their players and help them perform at their best.
Gary O’Neil is this week’s biggest riser, climbing six places after some genuinely inspirational work. Matthias Jaissle goes the other way, falling five. Mikel Arteta is also on the rise after using language that builds real confidence. If it is easy to sound positive when you are winning, why is Manchester City’s Enzo Maresca only 13th with nine points, having dropped two places? The emerging star is Keith Andrews, whose remarkably empowering language is exactly what his players will love hearing.
You can read every supplied quote and the analysis behind each score by following the link beneath the table.
Matchweek 3 · 2026/27
| Pos | Move | Manager | Club | This week | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | – | Daniel Farke | Leeds United | 12 | 12.0 |
| 1= | – | Unai Emery | Aston Villa | 12 | 12.0 |
| 3= | ↑ 1 | Keith Andrews | Brentford | 12 | 11.7 |
| 3= | ↑ 2 | Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | 12 | 11.7 |
| 5 | ↓ 4 | Fabian Hürzeler | Brighton & Hove Albion | 10 | 11.3 |
| 6= | ↑ 3 | Xabi Alonso | Chelsea | 12 | 11.0 |
| 6= | ↓ 1 | Sergej Jakirović | Hull City | 11 | 11.0 |
| 8 | ↑ 1 | Frank Lampard | Coventry City | 12 | 10.7 |
| 9= | ↓ 4 | Oliver Glasner | Nottingham Forest | 7 | 9.7 |
| 9= | ↑ 2 | Régis Le Bris | Sunderland | 11 | 9.7 |
| 9= | ↑ 6 | Gary O’Neil | Ipswich Town | 12 | 9.7 |
| 12 | ↓ 1 | Marco Rose | AFC Bournemouth | 10 | 9.3 |
| 13= | ↓ 5 | Matthias Jaissle | Newcastle United | 6 | 9.0 |
| 13= | ↓ 2 | Enzo Maresca | Manchester City | 9 | 9.0 |
| 15= | ↓ 4 | Andoni Iraola | Liverpool | 7 | 8.3 |
| 15= | ↑ 2 | Michael Carrick | Manchester United | 10 | 8.3 |
| 17= | ↓ 2 | Pierre Sage | Crystal Palace | 5 | 7.3 |
| 17= | ↑ 1 | David Moyes | Everton | 10 | 7.3 |
| 17= | ↑ 2 | Roberto De Zerbi | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | 7.3 |
| 20 | – | Álvaro Arbeloa | Fulham | 10 | 6.5 |
Average score per assessed interview, out of 12. Movement compares each manager’s displayed position with Matchweek 2; tied positions use the published position number. The scoring week runs Monday to Sunday.
Quote of the Week: Gary O’Neil, Ipswich Town
“We made a couple of mistakes that have meant we don’t leave with anything apart from a real belief. I think we take belief from today, I do especially, to see the group performing that way, and I’m really confident that we can move on.”
Ipswich were two goals down to Liverpool inside nine minutes. O’Neil makes those goals specific mistakes against world-class players, then points to what his team did next. They fought back, took control, played through Liverpool and kept going. The result is painful and the errors are Narrow and Fleeting, while the response gives the players lasting evidence of their Capability. “Real belief” is credible because he has just explained where it came from.
Low IDQ Quote: Pierre Sage, Crystal Palace
“We didn’t play as we expected, I’m happy but disappointed for the other team and the coach because they had opportunities [to win] too. I am not happy with the way we defended, we have a lot of things to move.”
Sage is honest and generous after winning, but his language gives the players little to build on. Palace did not play as expected, he is unhappy with the defending and there are “a lot of things to move”. Those problems remain Broad and are not balanced by any player or team SQAs. The result may supply confidence, but Sage does not tell the players what they did to earn it or what it says about them.
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Other quotes of note
On Identity: Keith Andrews, Brentford
“What you’re alluding to is what makes me feel alive: our players going toe-to-toe with a really good team and a good coach, the way he sets them up and the way all those things unfold.”
Andrews lets the players hear what their football does to him. They have gone toe-to-toe with a strong team and made their manager feel alive watching it. He then says the first half was below the levels they have reached in recent weeks, while the substitutes came on and played “more like us”. This is strong Identity language. Their intensity, style and ability to respond already belong to them, and the poorer spell is treated as the exception.
How do I score the quotes?
Six categories, 0 to 2 points each, out of 12:
- Towards language. Is he focusing his team on positive strengths, actions or a plan, or only on what they are trying to avoid?
- SQAs. Does he name the Strengths, Qualities and Attributes his people actually have?
- Adversity framing. Does he treat the problem as separate, limited and temporary, and name a strength that belongs to the players and lasts beyond the result?
- Identity. Who are “we”, and how do we behave when it is hard?
- Path. When direction is needed, does he give the players a useful next step? Its absence does not automatically weaken an otherwise inspiring answer.
- Result leadership. Is he a good winner, a good loser, or honest about a draw?
The match result has no bearing on the score. A manager can build confidence after a defeat or damage it after a victory. Honesty needs to be handled carefully. A detailed account of every weakness may be accurate, but it can leave players with less belief in themselves. The manager must retain credibility while building the players’ confidence.
Which Identity level are they addressing?
Identity is made up of the beliefs we build about ourselves over time. A manager’s words can strengthen or weaken those beliefs. We track how each manager affects the five parts of Identity: Safety, Belonging, Esteem, Capability and Purpose. The individual levels do not receive a separate score.
