Premier League is back and uncertainty pervades start of post-Guardiola era
The post-Pep Guardiola era is getting underway in English soccer amid uncertainty and upheaval - not just at Manchester City but across the whole of the Premier League.
Get this: Heading into the new top-flight season beginning Friday, nine clubs have new permanent managers - an unprecedented number at the start of an English top-flight campaign. At age 33, Fabian Hurzeler is the fifth longest-serving coach in the Premier League ... and he has been at Brighton for just two years.
The biggest vacuum needing to be filled is at City, following the departure of Guardiola after 10 record-breaking years in charge. Good luck following that, Enzo Maresca — especially after the team’s lamentable performance in the Community Shield loss to Arsenal on Sunday. Among the other top clubs with new coaches are Liverpool (Andoni Iraola), Chelsea (Xabi Alonso) and Newcastle (Matthias Jaissle) — all of which competed in the Champions League last season.
Heck, it makes Roberto De Zerbi — appointed by Tottenham on March 31 to escape relegation — and Michael Carrick - installed as interim manager at Manchester United for the second half of last season - seem like veritable veterans.
It also makes Arsenal, the reigning champion, appear a haven of stability as Mikel Arteta goes into his seventh full season at the helm as by far the league’s longest-serving manager.
Yet, there’s a big question mark hanging over the Gunners, too: Will there be a hangover after winning the league for the first time in 22 years?
The non-stop roller coaster that is the Premier League begins in earnest Friday night when Arsenal hosts promoted Coventry, which has a compelling backstory of its own after being out of the big time for 25 years.
