How every Premier League manager fared in their first game

Ian Watson
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta in their first games in charge.

With three managers taking charge of their clubs for the first time this weekend, we’ve taken a look back at how the other bosses started their current reigns.

 

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta
Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal
December 26, 2019

Arteta had to be grateful for a second-half equaliser from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to salvage a point from his first game as Arsenal boss as the Gunners entered the second half of the season in the bottom half of the table. “I am not happy we have not won the game but happy overall,” Arteta said. “In terms of attitude, desire and commitment it was better than I expected.”

Team: Leno, Maitland-Niles, David Luiz, Sokratis, Saka, Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Nelson, Aubameyang, Lacazette

 

Aston Villa: Steven Gerrard
Villa v Brighton
November 20, 2021

We’ll see on Saturday how Gerrard fares on his Villa bow, but he won his first competitive game in charge of Rangers when they beat Macedonian side Shkupi 2-0 in the Europa League first qualification round, even if a last-gasp Aberdeen equaliser denied him victory in his opening SPL match.

 

Brentford: Thomas Frank
Brentford 0-1 Bristol City
October 20, 2018

Frank was also undone by a late goal as Niclas Eliasson’s 89th-minute winner gave Bristol City a win at Griffin Park in the opening game of the Brentford manager’s reign.

Team: Bentley, Dalsgaard, Konsa, Mepham, Barbet, McEachran, Sawyers, Canos, MacLeod, Watkins, Maupay

 

Brighton: Graham Potter
Watford 0-3 Brighton
August 10, 2019

Potter’s influence was evident from the start of his Seagulls reign when they went to Vicarage Road and wiped the floor with Watford, thanks to an Abdoulaye Doucoure own goal and second-half strikes from subs Florin Andone and new signing Neal Maupay.

Team: Ryan, Duffy, Dunk, Burn, Montoya, Propper, Stephens, March, Gross, Murray, Locadia

 

Burnley: Sean Dyche
Burnley 2-0 Wolves
November 3, 2012

Dyche’s first game in charge nine years ago was a comfortable victory at Turf Moor courtesy of goals from Martin Paterson and Charlie Austin which left Burnley 13th in the Championship table.

Team: Grant, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Edgar, Stock, Marney, Wallace, Austin, Paterson

 

Chelsea: Thomas Tuchel
Chelsea 0-0 Wolves
January 27, 2021

Wolves also provided the opposition when Tuchel took to the Chelsea dug-out for the first time when the Blues were held in a drab stalemate. “I don’t see too many weaknesses,” he said. “We will build a team that nobody wants to play against.” Job done.

Team: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell, Ziyech, Havertz, Giroud

 


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Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira
Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace
August 14, 2021

The former Arsenal midfielder was given a stinking baptism as Palace boss with the Eagles sent to the home of the European Cup winners on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Team: Guaita, Ward, Kouyate, Guehi, Mitchell, Ayew, Riedewald, McArthur, Schlupp, Zaha, Mateta

 

Everton: Rafa Benitez
Everton 3-1 Southampton
August 14, 2021

Richarlison inspired a second-half fightback when Everton trailed at the break of Rafa’s first game in charge at Goodison, with the Brazilian equalising before Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed a deserved victory.

Team: Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Digne, Allan, Doucoure, Townsend, Gray, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin

 

Leeds: Marcelo Bielsa
Leeds 3-1 Stoke
August 5, 2018

Elland Road’s first taste of Bielsaball was a dominant 3-1 win over the recently relegated Potters with Mateusz Klich, Pablo Hernandez and Benik Afobe all on target.

Team: Peacock-Farrell, Ayling, Berardi, Cooper, Douglas, Phillips, Hernández, Saiz, Klich, Alioski, Roofe

 

Leicester: Brendan Rodgers
Watford 2-1 Leicester
March 3, 2019

Brendan’s bow ended in defeat after Andre Gray struck a 92nd-minute winner for the eighth-placed Hornets after it had appeared that Jamie Vardy had secured a point for the Foxes.

Team: Schmeichel, Evans, Morgan, Maguire, Ricardo Pereira, Tielemans, Ndidi, Chilwell, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy

 

Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp
Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool
October 17, 2015

“There were many full-throttle moments in the game,” said Klopp after a goalless stalemate against Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs. “We need to improve but after working with the players for three days I am completely satisfied.”

Team: Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno, Leiva, Can, Milner, Lallana, Coutinho, Origi

 

Manchester City: Pep Guardiola
Man City 2-1 Sunderland
August 13, 2016

Pep needed an 87th-minute own goal from Paddy McNair to stumble past Sunderland on the opening day when his most eye-catching move was to leave Joe Hart out of the XI.

Team: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne, Nolito, Aguero

Pep Guardiola during his first game in charge of Manchester City.

 

Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Cardiff 1-5 Man Utd
December 22, 2018

Liberated from that nasty Jose Mourinho and powered by little more than Solskjaer’s beaming smile, United smashed five past their caretaker manager’s former club. “Football is easy if you’ve got good players! They are a great bunch of players and their quality is unbelievable,” said Solskjaer, who may wish to revisit that standpoint almost three years on.

Team: De Gea, Young, Lindelöf, Jones, Shaw, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Rashford, Martial

 

Newcastle: Eddie Howe
Newcastle v Brentford
November 20, 2021

Howe will be looking for his first win in the opening game of any of his reigns, having lost both matches when he took charge of Bournemouth on separate occasions, while his Burnley bow ended in a goalless draw.

 

Norwich: Dean Smith
Norwich v Southampton
November 20, 2021

In contrast, Smith is yet to lose upon taking charge of a team for the first time. He drew with Walsall before winning both openers with Brentford and Villa.

 

Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl
Cardiff 1-0 Southampton
December 8, 2018

Saints were sunk when Big Sam’s younger brother Callum Paterson pounced on a glaring error by Jannik Vestergaard after Hasenhuttl made six changes for his first game.

Team: McCarthy, Valery, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Targett, Højbjerg, Romeu, Lemina, Redmond, Armstrong, Austin

 

Tottenham: Antonio Conte
Tottenham 3-2 Vitesse
November 4, 2021

You have to cast your mind all the way back to a fortnight ago for a game that was a perfect microcosm of Spurs and Spursiness.

Team: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Davies, Emerson Royal, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Reguilon, Lucas Moura, Kane, Son

 

Watford: Claudio Ranieri
Watford 0-5 Liverpool
October 16, 2021

In Ranieri’s first game in charge of the Hornets, Liverpool inflicted upon the hosts their heaviest Premier League defeat since an eight-goal tw*tting at Man City in September 2019. It took Watford 78 minutes just to win a corner.

Team: Foster, Femenía, Cathcart, Troost-Ekong, Rose, Masina, Dennis, Kucka, Sissoko, Suárez, Sarr

 

West Ham: David Moyes
Watford 2-0 West Ham
November 19, 2017

The opening game of Moyes’ first reign was a defeat at Vicarage Road in his 500th Premier League game. He was not impressed: “I always thought this was a big job. Some big players with big reputations disappointed me a lot. I thought they would show me more.” Moyes fared rather better second time around, winning 4-0 over Bournemouth on New Year’s Day in 2020.

Team: Hart, Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate, Noble, Obiang, Arnautovic, Carroll, Lanzini

 

Wolves: Bruno Lage
Leicester 1-0 Wolves
August 14, 2021

“I’m not happy because we deserved more than we got,” said Lage after Wolves were beaten by Vardy’s goal but few others would have agreed with that assessment.

Team: Sa, Kilman, Coady, Saïss, Hoever, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal, Trincao, Jimenez, Traore.