Eddie Howe hailed as Premier League’s best manager of 2022 as Jamie Carragher insists neither Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp could have bettered his Newcastle turnaround
Jamie Carragher has hailed Eddie Howe as the best Premier League manager of 2022 and insists Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola wouldn’t have bettered his work at Newcastle.
The Magpies are sitting pretty in third place after collecting nine wins from their 16 Premier League games this season.
It’s a far cry from this time last year when they were languishing in the bottom three and staring relegation in the face.
But former Bournemouth manager Howe has galvanised his squad and they are now firmly in the mix for Champions League qualification.
Liverpool hero Carragher has been impressed by the turnaround at St James’ Park and is full of praise for the job Howe and his staff have done in awakening the club.
The former England defender puts the success down to coaching rather than the club’s bottomless pot of funds, following last year’s Saudi-led takeover.
“Eddie Howe is the Premier League manager of 2022. The first phase of the new era at Newcastle United is a triumph of coaching more than the result of a financial revolution,” Carragher told .
“I don’t believe any other manager could have bettered Howe’s work at St James’ Park over the past 12 months. Had the club’s Saudi Arabia owners’ somehow lured Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp to the north east upon completing their takeover, the team would not be in a stronger position.
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“Much has been made of the money available at Newcastle and where it will eventually take the club. It is inaccurate and unfair to judge Howe’s early work through that lens.”
Carragher continued: “He has led a team that was second from bottom to third in the Premier League through a combination of astute purchases and by vastly improving the performances of those players he inherited.
“Financial backing has been part of it, but secondary to Howe changing Newcastle’s style. They have gone from a defensively minded team trying to grind out results to entertainers playing on the front-foot.”
The Sky Sports pundit admitted that at the start of the season a reasonable expectation was for Newcastle to finish in mid-table based on their current squad.
But he points to the rejuvenated performances of Miguel Almiron and Joelinton as evidence of Howe’s fantastic work after both players struggled to impress before his arrival.
He added: “Assessing Howe’s squad at the start of this season, they looked well equipped to finish mid-table.
“It is the players already at St James’ Park - those who were part of successive bids to avoid relegation - who have demonstrated the excellence of Howe’s work.
“Miguel Almiron is one of the players of the season - he would make my XI at the halfway stage - and Joelinton is unrecognisable since he was being ridiculed as one of the worst Premier League signings.
“Given their resources, Newcastle are primed to get to the next level. What was less clear was how soon. It is the quality of their coach - not the size of the bank balance - that is leading them there quicker than expected.”