Premiership Manager Revealed
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, because I believe this is one of the qualities that sets truly great leaders apart.
Do the results surprise you? You can read all the quotes I reviewed by following the link beneath the table.
Matchweek 2 · 2026/27
Matchweek 2 · 2026/27
| Pos | Manager | Club | This week | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Daniel Farke | Leeds United | 12 | 12.0 |
| 1= | Fabian Hürzeler | Brighton & Hove Albion | 12 | 12.0 |
| 1= | Unai Emery | Aston Villa | – | 12.0 |
| 4 | Keith Andrews | Brentford | 12 | 11.5 |
| 5= | Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | – | 11.0 |
| 5= | Oliver Glasner | Nottingham Forest | 12 | 11.0 |
| 5= | Sergej Jakirović | Hull City | 11 | 11.0 |
| 8 | Matthias Jaissle | Newcastle United | 12 | 10.5 |
| 9= | Frank Lampard | Coventry City | 10 | 10.0 |
| 9= | Xabi Alonso | Chelsea | 10 | 10.0 |
| 11= | Andoni Iraola | Liverpool | 8 | 9.0 |
| 11= | Enzo Maresca | Manchester City | 8 | 9.0 |
| 11= | Marco Rose | AFC Bournemouth | 9 | 9.0 |
| 11= | Régis Le Bris | Sunderland | 12 | 9.0 |
| 15= | Gary O’Neil | Ipswich Town | 8 | 8.5 |
| 15= | Pierre Sage | Crystal Palace | 8 | 8.5 |
| 17 | Michael Carrick | Manchester United | 9 | 7.5 |
| 18 | David Moyes | Everton | 4 | 6.0 |
| 19 | Roberto De Zerbi | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 5.0 |
| 20 | Álvaro Arbeloa | Fulham | 3 | 3.0 |
Average score per assessed interview, out of 12. The scoring week runs Tuesday to Sunday; Monday evening fixtures are carried into the following edition.
Quote of the Week: Régis Le Bris, Sunderland
“Life is unpredictable, football is unpredictable but at least you can control your standards and the standards today were high.”
Le Bris has just watched Sunderland earn a tight home win, and he gives the players something more useful than the result. The uncertainty belongs to football. The standards belong to them. In Elevate Formula terms, the difficulty is Fleeting and Other, while the behaviour that produced the win is Self and Lasting. His transfer answer reinforces that confidence: keeping the core of the squad is the main point, and any signing would strengthen a group he already values.
Low IDQ Quote: Álvaro Arbeloa, Fulham
“We didn’t even fight, we didn’t run, poor technical level. We were not in the game.”
Arbeloa has every right to demand more energy and competitiveness, and he later gives the players specific behaviours to improve. This sentence makes the failure Broad and Self before that path appears. Fighting, running, technique, character, mentality and ambition are all questioned, which leaves almost nothing in the players’ Identity untouched. No existing SQA is named to help them believe they can meet the challenge.
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Other quotes of note
On adversity: Fabian Hürzeler, Brighton & Hove Albion
“We came here to win the game and the boys showed that attitude even at 3-0 down. We will get stronger because of this game and we can make the next step in our development.”
Brighton lose after scoring three times away from home, and Hürzeler keeps the afternoon narrow. The problem was the balance between control and defending, along with small moments Chelsea had the quality to punish. The attitude at three nil down belongs to the players and tells them something lasting about their Capability. He then turns it into a path: analyse the basics, grow stronger and take the next step.
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. Does anyone leave with a usable next step?
- 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.
