Premier League 2022-23 review: managers of the season

This selection – alphabetically first but meritocratically last – could just as easily have been Mikel Arteta, Steve Cooper, Thomas Frank or Erik ten Hag. But De Zerbi carries it, and with good reason. Ordinarily, arriving after the start of the season would be enough to rule him out of lists such as this, but strangely, in this case it fortifies his position in it. His appointment in September left him plenty of time to work, but more than that, the manner in which he has inculcated a style change in between matches, most particularly solving a goalscoring problem that has dogged Brighton for years, make him impossible to leave out. Watching Brighton at any point during any game, it’s clear that the players know their jobs as individuals and a collective and stick to them in all circumstances against every opponent. On the face of things, this looks a brave plan – different opponents have different strengths and weaknesses – but in reality it makes perfect sense, because De Zerbi formulated it.

We can’t fete Pep Guardiola without noting that every team he’s ever managed has had the best players in its league, but his ability to extract the most from elite-level players is sensational – they know if they sign for him they will improve and win. In the early part of this season, it looked like the obsessiveness which drives that process was beginning to grate on them, but that is forgotten now, a tactical innovation pushing the game on and leaving the rest rummaging for an antidote. It is not unamusing that this move to three at the back involved the penetrating realisation that defenders who can defend are useful, but four attacking midfielders behind Erling Haaland, with two technical, powerful holders pushing up behind