Chelsea - Jose Mourinho
"The Special One" got his eye in during the first
season of his second spell at Stamford Bridge
before satisfying his hunger for trophies with two
outstanding signings in Diego Costa and Cesc
Fabregas, who inspired a third Premier League
title for the Portuguese at Chelsea.
Mourinho will know Manchester City and
Manchester United, in particular, will wave the
chequebook (if that is what they still do) this
summer and while he was relaxing at Queen's
Club, make no mistake this ruthless, cunning and
brilliantly talented manager will be plotting his
next moves.
He now has the comfort of being totally secure
in his relationship with Chelsea owner Roman
Abramovich - and vice-versa.

Manchester City - Manuel Pellegrini
Manchester City's decent end to last season that
secured second place ensured he would get a
third year in charge, as did Pep Guardiola's
decision to honour the final year of his contract
at Bayern Munich.
The feeling remains that Guardiola will eventually
end up at Etihad Stadium but Pellegrini will want
to blow away the clouds of speculation with a
much, much better season. The pressure will
only increase with a poor start.
This may be his final season at City and he will
want to go out with his reputation enhanced.

Arsenal - Arsene Wenger
Wenger is the eternal optimist and things look to
be heading in the right direction again at Arsenal
with a talented squad showing real signs of
development, augmented by a masterstroke in
the £32m signing of Sanchez, and greater
resilience that brought wins at Manchester City
in the Premier League and Manchester United in
the FA Cup quarter-final.
There are still plenty of Arsenal fans out there,
however, who will only come back onside with
Wenger if he can use this summer to build for a
serious title challenge. Can he finally do it?

Manchester United - Louis van Gaal
Last season was mission accomplished for Van
Gaal as he put Manchester United back in the
Champions League - but it was not totally
convincing, with many indifferent performances
and transfer disappointments in the shape of
Falcao and £59.7m British record buy Angel Di
Maria. Luke Shaw, at £27.5m, also still has much
to prove.
Van Gaal has already been handed £31m to sign
Netherlands forward Memphis Depay from PSV
Eindhoven and reportedly has a £150m transfer
fund. For the sort of money he will be paying,
demands will rise.
Van Gaal has done the job so far but it is
unlikely his Old Trafford paymasters will want
United off the pace in fourth next season given
the vast scale of investment.

Tottenham - Mauricio Pochettino
Spurs looked top-four candidates at one point
but faded into fifth place as Liverpool's season
went into meltdown. It was a satisfactory first
campaign for Pochettino at White Hart Lane, but
no more than that.
History tells us how ruthlessly demanding Spurs
chairman Daniel Levy can be, so the pressure is
always on any manager to deliver. All the moves
Pochettino makes this season - keeping Kane
and goalkeeper Lloris chief among them - must
be aimed at the top four.
The price of failure can be terminal at White
Hart Lane.
Liverpool - Brendan Rodgers
This time last year Rodgers was deservedly
basking in the glow of a thrilling season that
almost brought Liverpool their first title in 24
years - now no other manager will have to fight
harder to keep his job.
Backed by Liverpool owners Fenway Sports
Group after a dismal end to the season, Rodgers
knows he simply cannot afford a false start with
an increasingly critical fanbase and managers of
high reputation such as Jurgen Klopp and Carlo
Ancelotti out of work.
Logic and fair play dictated Rodgers deserved to
see in the start of this season but he will know
the outcome if the start of this campaign looks
anything like the end of the last one.