News Focus
- Andoni Iraola has reportedly reached a verbal agreement to join Liverpool from Bournemouth
- Statistics show managers stepping up to ‘big six’ clubs suffer extremely short tenures
- No coach has won major silverware making this specific Premier League transition since 2008
- David Moyes, Graham Potter and Nuno Espirito Santo all failed after similar moves
- Increased fixture congestion and intense media scrutiny create harsh working conditions
Moving from a successful mid-table Premier League side to one of the elite ‘big six’ clubs often appears to be the logical next step in a manager’s career. These six giants—Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur—have dominated the top of the table for the past 15 years. However, history suggests this step up is one of the most difficult challenges in football.
The data paints a worrying picture. Andoni Iraola, who has reportedly agreed terms with Liverpool after leading Bournemouth to sixth place, faces a daunting task. Analysis shows that coaches who make this jump typically enjoy very short spells in charge. Most fail to complete two full seasons, with several losing their jobs before finishing their first campaign.
David Moyes provides perhaps the clearest warning. Sir Alex Ferguson personally selected him from Everton to take charge at Manchester United in 2013, asking fans to “stand by your new manager” in his farewell speech. Despite signing a six-year contract, Moyes was sacked after just ten months. The club missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time since 1995.
Roy Hodgson followed a different path to Liverpool in 2010 but suffered the same fate. He arrived from Fulham calling it “the biggest job in club football” after taking the London club to the Europa League final. However, he was gone by January, with the Reds sitting 12th in the table having won only seven of twenty matches.
Recent history shows little improvement. Graham Potter lasted just 22 league games at Chelsea after leaving Brighton. Nuno Espirito Santo managed only ten matches at Tottenham despite his excellent work taking Wolves from the Championship to the Europa League quarter-finals. Thomas Frank recently repeated this pattern at Spurs, lasting just 26 games after impressing at Brentford.
Even managers given more time have struggled to deliver silverware. Mark Hughes spent around 18 months at Manchester City, while Brendan Rodgers, Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino all served more than three years at their respective clubs without winning major trophies. Pochettino came closest, leading Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final, but poor results later that year still cost him his position.
Points-per-game statistics reveal a mixed pattern. Rodgers improved significantly after moving from Swansea to Liverpool in 2012, nearly winning the title in 2013-14. Redknapp also boosted Tottenham’s results after arriving from Portsmouth, securing Champions League football. However, others saw their records dip. Hodgson’s figures fell at Liverpool, while Frank’s dropped at Spurs. Potter’s Chelsea numbers showed only marginal improvement on his Brighton record.
The most striking fact remains simple. Since Manchester City’s 2008 takeover established the current ‘big six’ landscape, no manager has stepped up from another Premier League club to one of these six teams and won a major trophy. There have been near misses, but the drought continues.
The reasons are consistent across these failures. ‘Big six’ clubs play approximately 55 matches per season across all competitions—eight more than other Premier League teams. Success at smaller clubs often comes from clever recruitment and overperforming with limited resources. At elite clubs, the expectation shifts from survival to mandatory trophy wins.
A poor run of form that might be acceptable at Bournemouth or Brentford becomes a crisis at Liverpool or Chelsea. The pressure is greater, the media scrutiny more intense, and the margin for error smaller. Even coaches with clear tactical identities and strong reputations have found this adjustment extremely difficult.
This does not mean the move is doomed. Redknapp, Rodgers and Pochettino showed it can work to some degree. Enzo Maresca won the Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea in 2024 after joining from Leicester City, though he had not previously managed in the top flight. However, the historical evidence suggests Iraola faces a significant challenge if he is to buck this trend and end the trophyless streak.