Big Six manager ratings

Both Guardiola and Tuchel shared great glories this season
Both Guardiola and Tuchel shared great glories this season

Pep Guardiola

Three-time PL champion Pep Guardiola
Three-time PL champion Pep Guardiola

Guardiola won the 2020-21 Premier League with ease and bagged the League Cup for the fourth time in a row.

His City team would have completed a fantastic treble had they won the Champions League as well but Pep's team fell short in the European final.

He did, however, get the best out of Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin de Brunye, Ederson, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Fernandinho and other top City players. Despite the CL final loss, Pep will be proud of his team's performance this season. He has now won the same number of PL titles as Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho (three), and is well-placed to win more in the future.

Rating - 8/10

Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool failed to defend their league title
Liverpool failed to defend their league title

A settled side can be a boon and a curse.

The boon is that every player knows his function, and how to execute it. The curse is that it can be reliant on key players to succeed. And once those players are out, or not performing to their optimum standards, it can undermine the settled structure.

The system can also be broken if the formula gets old, or found out by other teams - as was the case with Liverpool this season. Klopp managed to steer them into the top four, guaranteeing CL football again next season, but the 2020/21 season was a missed opportunity for them to stamp their mark as a major contemporary force in world football.

Yes, losing Virgil van Dijk for much of the season was a huge blow, but Liverpool's poor title defense is perhaps deeper and more complex than just injuries to key players.

Rating 4/10

Frank Lampard/Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel with the Champions League after the 2021 final win over Man City
Thomas Tuchel with the Champions League after the 2021 final win over Man City

Club legend Frank Lampard had shown promise in his first season by leading Chelsea to a top four finish last year. However, Lampard failed to build on it despite being given world class players in the summer. It led to club owner Roman Abramovich dismissing him from the job. His inexperience cost him as he was replaced by German boss Thomas Tuchel.

After a promising start as new Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel secured the fourth place in the league standings despite losing to Aston Villa on the final day.

The FA Cup final loss to Leicester City was a dent in his perfect mini-season otherwise. This was hugely remedied by winning the Champions League, however, for the second time in Chelsea's history. Despite Manchester City finishing higher in the league and having better players, Tuchel executed a strong plan to deliver the Champions League with a 1-0 win against Pep's team.

With further backing in the summer, Chelsea could well challenge for the league in the 2021/22 season under Tuchel's evidently sound stewardship.

Lampard - 3/10

Tuchel - 9/10

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