DAZN's 2025-26 winners: Premier League Manager of the Season

As usual, it's been a thrilling campaign up and down the league, but some individuals stand out more than others.

DAZN News is looking back over the season and handing out our own awards in a selection of the traditional end-of-season categories.

We've already selected our young player of the season, and now we'll choose our winning names for the Premier League's manager of the season.

Runners-up

Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth)

@afcbournemouth

It was really dicey for Iraola and the Cherries to end the 2025 calendar year, with the team going 11 matches without a win and raising questions about the Spaniard's immediate future at the club.

However, the Bournemouth brass stuck by their manager, and that faith has been repaid in spades as Iraola led the Cherries out of the doldrums. Since that winless skid, they've embarked on an unbeaten run that has now stretched to 16 Premier League matches and counting.

As of today, the Cherries occupy sixth place in the standings, which would qualify them for the Europa League. A place in next season's Champions League is not completely out of the question, either.

Keith Andrews (Brentford)

Brentford

Like his counterpart at Bournemouth, Brentford boss Keith Andrews has helped his side overcome a rough patch earlier this season to put his side on the verge of European football.

Andrews' first season in charge at the Gtech Community Stadium hasn't gone off without a hitch, as the 45-year-old had to deal with the sale of two of Brentford's best attacking players (Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa) while reshaping the club's identity to match his vision.

The second half of the campaign has shown the Bees' potential under Andrews, with forward Igor Thiago having a breakout season, and they are on the verge of qualifying for the UEFA Conference League or Europa League.

Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

Ruben Amorim, who?

Michael Carrick has performed nothing short of a miracle in making the Man United faithful forget all about the manager who was in charge for the first half of the campaign, as the Red Devils have shown a marked improvement with their former midfielder taking over the reins in January.

No Premier League side has a better record than United since Carrick was made caretaker manager, and they've clinched a Champions League berth after two seasons away from the continent's top club competition.

If Carrick were in charge from the beginning of the season, we might be talking about him as the winner of this award and Man United as legitimate title contenders. Unfortunately for Red Devils supporters, he was hired too late to help in that regard.

And the winner is...

Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

www.arsenal.com

How could it be anyone else?

Sure, Arsenal could still fall in the Premier League title race, and they could stumble against PSG in the Champions League final, but the fact is that Arteta is the first manager in 20 years to get the Gunners this close to either of those trophies.

The Gunners have led the league since October and are within touching distance of becoming the first team not named Manchester City or Liverpool to take the Premier League crown in nearly a decade. Arteta's squad-building and willingness to completely change the team's style of play are massive reasons for why they are in this position, and while many pundits and fans do not love this pragmatic version of Arsenal, it's hard to argue against the Spaniard's vision at this point. 

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga, and more.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch, click here.