Dissecting every Premier League manager's touchline fashion choices

Did you know that the Luton FC manager, Rob Edwards, is the sexiest manager in the Premier League? This is according to a very scientific census conducted by The Sun.

I like to think of it as the equivalent of People's "Sexiest Man Alive" award.

Anyway, if you're curious, The Sun posted the full list to Twitter.

I have lots of questions (I'll spare you), but I think most people will agree with Mr. Edwards' title. For sure, it's a consolation prize if the Hatters end up relegated.

And this list is truly the gift that keeps on giving, because my mind jumped from "sexy" to "clothes," hence arriving here at the fashion IQ — or lack thereof — of all our Premier League managers.

Lights, camera, fashion ... football?

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta

Signature Outfit: Really tight pants

Black pants, or grey? It doesn't matter; the Arsenal manager owns an overwhelming amount of tailored trousers in both colors. But if you suspect he's always wearing the same teeny-tiny grey bottoms with the same fitted black top, he probably is.

"When we are winning, I don't like to change my clothes," Mikel Arteta told The Telegraph in 2023. "I like to maintain exactly the same jumper, trousers, and shoes as before. If we lose, I change to something different."

The Gunners have won 25 of 35 games and tied another five this year. That's a lot of the same co-ords for Super Mik.

Even so, sometimes the tried-and-true look lets you down.

Sadly, Mikel became a fashion victim in early 2024 when the anguish of losing 2-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup caused him to rip his pants.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed a suspect patch on his trousers, causing them to wonder whether he'd torn the material in his crotch. The silver lining is that Mikel is married to the former Miss Spain, a model who can surely sympathize with all manner of fashion mishaps.

Aston Villa's Unai Emery

Signature Outfit: Hair pomade

Unai Emery is almost always wearing a suit and tie on the pitch, and you'll never find him without his hair slicked back.

This is a man who values control to the extent that he cannot have any flyaway strands distracting him from his tactics and/or match day formation.

Also, a man who has taken his style cues from "Hotel Transylvania."

Thanks to his success at Aston Villa, Unai was initially linked to the managerial job at Bayern Munich. Had it happened, it would have been great for him because it would've taken him that much closer to Romania.

Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola

Signature Outfit: Baggy outerwear

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is Spanish, like Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola. But unlike those two, he's not teeny tiny and doesn't get hyped on testing the boundaries of tight pants.

Andoni likes a billowing overcoat or comfy pullover, and almost always wears a dark top. Occasionally he'll wear a Bournemouth tracksuit top.

For the life of me, I cannot picture him without long sleeves, which tells me I haven't paid enough attention to Andoni.

I'll do better come August.

Brentford's Thomas Frank

Signature Outfit: A stick of gum

Thomas Frank is simplicity personified. He fluctuates between sweaters, tees, chinos, and sneakers, though he always rocks perfectly windswept hair.

The excessive gum chewing, though ... Hard to tell if it ruins or complements his overall vibe.

Maybe Thomas is just doing his best to follow in the footsteps of great Premier League managers with oral fixations (i.e Sam Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson), but he doesn't need to!

The Internet thinks he has a little bit of a Timothée Chalamat thing going on. It's probably better Thomas lean into that instead of relying so much on his trusty pack of Trident.

Brighton's Roberto de Zerbi

Signature Outfit: Black on black on black

Like Mikel Arteta, Roberto de Zerbi is allergic to color. I'd make a joke about him dressing in black to match the dismal weather, but coastal Brighton is actually a smidge sunnier than London. So I guess it really is a sartorial choice!

People are here for it, too. In 2023, clothing brand Jacamo put out a press release (via The Guardian), claiming that their black sweaters and pants were flying off the racks. Just call it the de Zerbi effect.

That said, dressing in all-black doesn't turn you into Roberto. You have to rock the spiked hair and immaculate beard to really pull off the full look.

Overly groomed facial hair is enough to make most men look like creeps, but Roberto just looks Italian. Which he is!

Burnley's Vincent Kompany

Signature Outfit: Burnley baseball cap

Vince isn't afraid to draw attention to his total lack of hair follicles with a statement piece: his ever-present Burnley cap. Win or lose, the manager wears it everywhere — from the sidelines to post-match press conferences. It looks especially cool when paired with the thick black jacket that features zipper/button detailing (above).

However, fans took offense when Vince paired his baseball cap with a white T-shirt and blazer combo earlier in the year.

The Internet can lay off, though. Vince formerly captained a Manchester City side that won the Premier League; he was a style icon and he can wear a baseball cap and blazer if he wants to!

But the Belgium doesn't think he should be credited with pushing all the style boundaries. When asked about the best-dressed manager in the Premier League, Vince named Mikel Arteta heir to his fashion empire.

Chelsea's Mauricio Pochettino

Signature Outfit: A Chelsea windbreaker

These days, it feels like Mauricio Pochettino's go-to accessory is a frown, but the next best thing is his trusty windbreaker. Since taking over at Chelsea in 2023, match day most often sees the Argentine manager huddled up in his jacket, looking both vaguely hungover and bemused by his team's ineptitude.

It's giving Frank Lampard circa 2022.

Interestingly, a quick Google Image search reveals that Mauricio dressed very differently when he was managing Tottenham back in 2018. Think tailored suits and monochromatic looks; Esquire even ran a piece on one of his best looks!

"With suit or tracksuit, I look good! I am handsome," Poch said at the time.

Apparently, both his sartorial standards (and team standards) have fallen short since then.

Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner

Signature Outfit: Casual wear

If Steven Gerrard and Michael J. Fox had a baby, it would look like Oliver Glasner. Stylistically, the man is trickier to pin down. His admission of preferring "casual wear," which he simply defines as having "no tie," gives me exactly zero to go off of.

Oliver doesn't wear his pants as tightly as Mikel Arteta, but the Crystal Palace manager does like a slim, tailored fit. And forget Adidas or Nike. He'll wear nondescript pants or T-shirts over labels any day of the week.

That said, Oliver does have a thing for Canada Goose ... a decade after the puffers were last considered cool.

Oliver is similar to the Crystal Palace side he manages. After a season of turmoil, I'm still learning about what he/they will do next.

Everton's Sean Dyche

Signature Outfit: (formerly) suit and tie / (recently) tracksuit

Sean Dyche threw me for a loop in April. The Everton gaffer has worn a suit and tie throughout his entire career, but a horrific 6-0 loss to Chelsea prompted him to rethink everything he knows about football. And fashion too, apparently.

The next time we saw Sean on the touchline, Everton was playing Nottingham Forest and Sean had ditched his typical formal threads for a tracksuit.

"There was no drama to it, only a personal choice. I've always thought it was correct to wear a shirt and tie but thought, 'Let's see if it makes a difference,'" Sean told media after the game. "By no means am I making out that [wearing a tracksuit] wins you a game, but I thought I'd play a small part in the changes I was asking for from my staff and players."

Sean's win ratio is 100% when wearing a tracksuit. Everton captain James Tarkowski joked that the manager's change of clothes has been Everton's lucky charm.

But let's face it. Whether Sean is wearing a tie or a tracksuit, he will never not look like a club bouncer.

Fulham's Marco Silva

Signature Outfit: Dressed-down neutrals

Once upon a time, Marco Silva managed Everton and looked like the kind of finance bro who told you he worked on Wall Street when he actually worked in midtown.

But these days, Marco dresses more like a P.E. coach, one that all the girls in your class have crushes on.

At this point in his career, Marco has managed four different Premier League clubs, including Hull City, Watford, Everton, and currently, Fulham. His decision to ditch the branded gear for stylish neutrals is probably a strategic move on his part, lest he accidentally select a Watford jacket by mistake.

Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp

Signature outfit: Tracksuit + baseball cap, but mostly veneers

Jurgen Klopp is the quintessential tracksuit manager. He wants to show everyone that he's just one of the boys — and it's true that his warmth and charisma have made him one of the great managers of our generation.

But his veneers are what really make the tracksuits pop. Those pearly whites are so iconic that there's a Twitter handle named @Jurgensteeth1. As far as I can tell, it's a real person, not just a troll.

Media have been covering Jurgen's veneers since he got them done in 2017.

The story goes that it was former Liverpool player Roberto Firminho who inspired Jurgen. And because Liverpool's a far cry from the cultural hub of London, everyone on the team went to the same dentist, one Dr. Robbie Hughes.

"Working with Jurgen Klopp came about because he saw Roberto's new teeth and decided he wanted to do something," Robbie told The Sun in 2019. "When Jurgen came to see us, he basically just said he liked Roberto's teeth, [but] that he wouldn't want to go quite as white."

FWIW, I'm pretty sure Bobby Firminho's teeth glow in the dark.

It's giving Ross Geller.

Luton's Rob Edwards

Signature Outfit: Sandbanks jacket

Rob Edwards has worn that Sandbanks jacket so much this season that someone wrote an article on where you can buy it. Sandbanks jacket aside, you can't put Rob in a (branded) box. Sweaters, blazers, jackets, tees, tracksuits — he has range.

The one thing he doesn't do is hats, which is ironic as he manages the Hatters. Speaking on "What The EFL?!" podcast in 2023, Rob said, "If I was going to wear any hat, it'd be a baseball cap. That'd go with my Luton tracksuit at the moment. I've gone Luton Town tracksuit [lately], little bit gritty we are ..."

Rob would show up on the touchline in a top hat if it would help the Hatters stay up, though.

Also, no matter what Rob wears, the Internet thinks he's sexy. Congrats, gaffer!

Manchester City's Pep Guardiola

Signature Outfit: Custom athleisure or Italian cashmere

When it comes to fashion and possession-based high press, Pep Guardiola can do no wrong. He's like the 2000s era Bill Belichick of the Premier League, if Bill had burned all those Patriots hoodies and gone shopping in Milan, instead.

Though he used to favor a suit and tie when he worked at Barcelona, Pep dresses down these days. Note that for him, dressing down often means wearing very cool, custom athleisure, or some item of clothing that makes a statement.

Pep does a little bit of everything ... Cargo pants, distressed jeans, luxe sweaters, chinos, turtlenecks, sneakers, branded tees, even baseball jackets. Fashion comes naturally to him. That's because, long before he was a manager, Pep was a model.

Here he is on the catwalk circa 1993 (with hair, no less)!

Pep also gets fashion advice from his wife, Christina Serra, whose family owns a clothing company called Serra Claret. In 2022, Pep told Sky Sports that his wife picks out all his outfits.

And in 2024, he told Men In Blazers, "My wife is the best in the world at many things, but especially in fashion. So she normally says to me, don't wear this or wear that [and I do what she says]."

As if we needed more proof that Pep is a genius.

Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag

Signature Outfit: A turtleneck

All hail the King of the Turtleneck, which — in the wake of an actual trophy — is more like a participation ribbon.

These days, it feels like Erik's turtleneck is less about making a fashion statement, and more about hiding from the media and their tough questions.

That fancy cashmere likely provides better defensive cover than Diogo Dalot, anyway.

Newcastle's Eddie Howe

Signature Outfit: Newcastle tracksuit

Like Jurgen Klopp, Eddie Howe is all about the tracksuit for bonding purposes. "I always want that closeness with my players on match days," he told the Chronicle Live. "I think being in a tracksuit is another example that I am not too far away from them and I am supporting them."

Even when Eddie was sidelined because of COVID-19 and had to be separated from his team on match day, do you think he watched from afar in his pajamas? No, The Daily Mail reported, he still changed into full Newcastle tracksuit regalia like a complete nerd.

Because he is extra, Eddie added that he doesn't like to sit down on match day for the same reasons. "I am always at the front because I want my players to know that I am with them in every moment," he said.

OK, calm down sir.

Nottingham Forest's Nuno Espirito Santo

Signature Outfit: Salt and pepper beard

As a manager, Nuno Espirito Santo has really made the rounds in the Premier League. He's coached at Tottenham, Wolves, and currently Nottingham Forest. The constants? That salt and pepper beard and a heavy Portuguese accent.

Also, Nuno likes to wear tracksuits, and has worn them consistently. It's true that we're seeing a new contingent of managers who like to be comfy when they're ordering players into a 4-3-3 formation, but there are still those who prefer to dress up for match day.

Which brings me to...

Tottenham's Ange Postecoglou

Signature Outfit: Suit and tie

Ange Postecoglou may have grown up in Melbourne, but don't let his Aussie twang and liberal use of the word "mate" fool you. He's no Crocodile Dundee!

Ange is a card carrying member of the old school suit-and-tie brigade. That said, he used to have a thing about "jumpers" (aka sweaters) when he managed at Celtic.

In 2022, Ange explained that his wife normally picked out his clothes for him, so he panicked when she went away. "And so with her being away for the first game I just thought, 'I'll put on a jumper!'" he explained. "Now, I don't want to tell you what the text message from my wife was when she saw me wearing a jumper at the game, but she said, 'What are you doing?' But then all of a sudden it became a thing, so there you go!"

I'm guessing she's endorsed the suit and tie look that Ange is currently sporting?

Jumpers or crisp white button downs aside, Ange is a breath of fresh air after Antonio Conte's temper tantrums last season. Ange is like your friend who works a corporate job, but who meets you at the pub, immediately loosens his tie, gets along with all your blue collar friends, and buys a round on him.

Cheers mate!

Sheffield's Chris Wilder

Signature Outfit: A marshmallow jacket

Logically, I know that Chris Wilder doesn't always wear this jacket, but I'm having trouble picturing him without it.

(To be fair, Chris took over from Paul Heckingbottom around the middle of the season, and it's been cold since then.)

Gone are any sort of dress shoes or nicer pants. Everything about Chris' tracksuit, sneakers, and mattress-like jacket screams "rough and ready" — much like the Sheffield side he manages.

West Ham's David Moyes

Signature Outfit: Poorly fitting tracksuit

Lately, the 61-year-old Scottish manager wears a variety of tracksuit bottoms and club-branded tops that look like they were made for someone of a completely different size to him and/or simply plucked from the top of the laundry pile.

In the past two years, David Moyes' job has been in jeopardy more times than I can count. He doesn't have time to appease the fashion police from the touchline. And he'd tell you it's not his job, anyway.

Wolves' Gary O'Neil

Signature Outfit: Wolves tracksuit or Wolves polo

Gary O'Neil belongs to the same clique as the Jurgen Klopps, Eddie Howes, and David Moyeses of the world. The man loves a tracksuit. And it loves him right back!

Pundits agree that Gary's done a remarkable job at Wolves since arriving from Bournemouth. Whether or not we're crediting the tracksuit for all the work (à la Sean Dyche) still remains to be seen.