Paul Merson controversially left out
Manchester City boss
Pep Guardiola when naming his top three
Premier League managers of all-time. The Spaniard arrived at the Etihad Stadium in 2016 after leaving Bayern Munich and has been at the helm for a dominant period of success, both domestically and in Europe. During his time in Manchester, Guardiola has won the Premier League in five of his seven seasons, while winning the FA Cup twice, the Carabao Cup four times and the
Champions League once. In fact, Guardiola has won 333 of his 458 matches in charge and no manager has a better win percentage in Premier League history than the ex-Barcelona coach, who boasts a 73.5 per cent win rate. Watch the Premier League title race with the best Sky Sports deals Premier League confirm TV fixture changes with
Liverpool handed daunting schedule Despite this, Merson still doesn't think Guardiola ranks in his top three. When asked for his opinion for the three best managers in the Premier League era, the former
Arsenal midfielder replied and instead included Sir Alex Ferguson ,
Jose Mourinho , Arsene Wenger . This isn't the first time Merson has openly not rated Guardiola as high as some of the other Premier League bosses. Back in 2020 when City were 22 points behind Liverpool in the title race, Merson issued a scathing assessment of Guardiola and admitted he doesn't think he is the best manager in the world . He said: "How is he the best manager in the world if he is 22 points behind? What he (Klopp) has done, you've got to move that way. He's moved forward. He's not gone backwards. Paul Merson doesn't think Pep Guardiola is the best manager in Premier League history ( Image: Getty Images) Who is the best manager in Premier League history? Let us know in the comments below! "What he (Klopp) has done, he's gone that way (forward). He's brought in extra players in. That team (Liverpool) hasn't been the same, he's gone forward. Man City haven't, have they? "We all knew they needed a centre-back, [Vincent] Kompany went. He didn't know [Aymeric] Laporte was going to get injured, nobody knows that but Kompany has gone." Since Liverpool won the Premier League title during the 2019/20 season, City have gone on to lift the famous trophy in the next three campaigns, taking their tally to seven. And they also have a very realistic chance of winning the top flight for the fourth straight year this season. City currently sit third, one point behind second-place Liverpool and Arsenal in top spot with 10 matches to go. Guardiola's men face the Gunners in a gigantic match at the summit immediately after the international break, and will no doubt be confident to get over the line once again. Join our new
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