Top Managerial Feats & Betting Angles

The football season 2024/25 squeezed every drop of drama from Europe’s top divisions. New bosses rewired club identities, tested their discipline under real‐time pressure, and delivered headline-grabbing breakthroughs. Cash-strapped bettors, and even bookmakers such as 22Bet Africa, will remember it for years as they debate who deserves to be called the best manager in the world.

Below, I walk through the five stand-out achievements — what worked, what failed, and where the value may lie when you next scan the Premier League fixtures or check Bayer Leverkusen standings.

A Season of Tactical Mastery and Historic Achievements

Tactics are useless without teamwork. The most successful coaches in this campaign showcased leadership steeped in innovation, had a clear vision, and were able to execute it well. 

Whether they turned underdogs into cup-giant-killers or brought back fallen giants, each manager got the squad dynamics just right and got the players to focus on winning.

Use the table as a snapshot: wins, draws, losses, and average points per match (PPM), which shows how many points each coach earned per game, let you see at a glance who delivered the best returns.

Disclaimer: Figures are taken straight from each manager’s “Stats 24/25” panel on Transfermarkt.

Arne Slot – Premier League Triumph in Debut Season

Slot ditched Klopp’s heavy-metal approach, with its relentless high pressing, rapid transitions, and power-driven attacks, for a more precision-based 4-2-3-1: high full-backs, wide overloads, and an “accordion” mid-block that snapped into a 5-4-1 out of possession. This adjustment noticeably cut down on the big chances Liverpool conceded and, according to FBref’s xG-chain metric (which weights each player’s involvement in build-up sequences by expected goals), restored Mohamed Salah’s open-play influence to his 2017 peak.

What the Numbers Say

Liverpool scored in every away game and racked up 84 points, enough to clinch the title with two matchdays left. 

Betting Angle

Bettors who tailed Arne Slot’s tactics, especially the second-half goal market, cashed consistently; Liverpool finished as one of the league’s most potent second-half scoring teams.

Nuno Espírito Santo – Nottingham Forest’s Remarkable Rise

Arriving in December 2023, Nuno prioritised structure and unity. He dumped the scatter-gun pressing of the previous regime, installed a narrow 3-4-3, and drilled discipline in both boxes. Result: a +12 goal difference swing and Forest’s best top-flight finish since 1996.

Results Snapshot

Fans who tracked Nottingham Forest games enjoyed an extended unbeaten spell in spring, highlighted by a 2-1 win over Spurs that came at roughly 4/1 in most books.

Betting Angle

Forest frequently cleared the Asian-handicap line, rewarding bettors whenever markets undervalued Nuno’s aggressive set-up.

Oliver Glasner – Crystal Palace’s First Major Trophy

The Austrian’s trademark Oliver Glasner formation layered a back-three with inverted wing-backs, enabling Eberechi Eze to float between lines. The system shredded Manchester City’s high line in the FA Cup final, sealing a 1-0 win and catalysing a club-wide resurgence.

Big-Game Execution

Palace allowed very few shots on target over the entire six-match cup run, with textbook precision and mentality under pressure.

Betting Angle

Underdog bettors feasted: Most books had Palace around 7–8/1 before kick-off, reinforcing the value of spotting underdogs coached by tactically flexible bosses.

Hansi Flick – Barcelona’s Resurgence and El Clásico Dominance

Hansi Flick’s tactics fused Bayern-style ascendancy pressing with Barça’s positional play. A 4-2-3-1 morphed into a 3-2-2-3 in build-up, allowing Lamine Yamal to isolate full-backs while Robert Lewandowski attacked the half-spaces.

Four-for-Four in El Clásicos

Flick became the first coach to win four competitive Clásicos in one season, outscoring Real Madrid 16-7. Barça lifted their 28th league crown, a Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, adding three pieces to the Barcelona trophies cabinet and re-establishing club dominance.

Betting Angle

All four competitive Clásicos passed the over-2.5 line (5-2, 4-0, 4-3, 3-2), proof that Flick’s set-up brings fireworks.

Xabi Alonso – Bayer Leverkusen’s Near-Unbeatable Away Form

Alonso’s side stretched their away unbeaten streak to a Bundesliga record 34 games, a headline achievement that elevated the Xabi Alonso profile to Europe’s coaching elite. His 3-4-2-1 emphasised cohesion through a double pivot that recycled possession with precision.

Tactical Detail

A mid-block press timed to the opposition’s second pass allowed rapid transition into 5-v-4 breaks, key to a division-leading away goal difference.

Betting Angle

Serial draws hurt the title chase but paid dividends for bettors playing the “Leverkusen win/draw double chance” at 1.50-1.70. Keep that in mind when scanning the Bayer Leverkusen standings next term.

Honourable Mentions: Managers Who Left Their Mark

Before we wrap it up, three more bosses deserve a nod for trajectory and ambition.

Eddie Howe – Newcastle’s Late Surge

Howe stabilised injuries, leaned into Bruno Guimarães as a single pivot, and finished fifth, three points shy of the final Champions League berth.

Antonio Conte – Napoli’s Italian Job

Conte’s back-three made Partenopei Serie A’s stingiest back line, conceding fewer than 30 goals all season.

Luis Enrique – PSG’s European Breakthrough

A fluid 4-3-3 pushed Mbappé central, finally marrying star-power and structure as Paris reached their first Champions League final since 2020.