Surprise Premier League manager is 'better than' Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca

03/31/2025 01:37 AM

Louis Saha has claimed an unheralded Premier League manager is ‘better than’ Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca.

Arsenal have come agonisingly close to winning the Premier League under Arteta, twice finishing just behind Manchester City.

The Gunners look set for a third successive second-place finish this season, though this time it is Liverpool – not City – denying Arteta the Premier League trophy.

Maresca, meanwhile, has endured a mixed first season in charge or Chelsea, initially exceeding expectations but latterly frustrating the Stamford Bridge faithful with both underwhelming performances and poor results.

Saha says Maresca deserves credit for turning chaotic Chelsea into top-four contenders but believes he and Arteta are both being trumped by another London-based manager.

Marco Silva has not only established Fulham as a Premier League team capable of avoiding relegation but taken the Cottagers into the top-half of the table this season.

With nine games remaining, Fulham are just four points outside the top-four spots and in with a superb chance of securing European football for next season.

The west London side also enjoyed a deep run in the FA Cup before they were knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals by Crystal Palace.

Silva, 47, has spent almost a decade in English football but underwhelmed at Hull City, Watford and Everton before finding success at Fulham.

The Portuguese coach has been repeatedly linked with bigger clubs and Saha understands why as he rates him as the best manager in London.

Asked if Silva was the ‘best manager in London’ at this moment in time, Saha told Genting Casino: ‘I think so, yeah.

‘But Chelsea’s manager had a big, big task to get them up there at the start of the season. I didn’t see this coming.

‘I felt like Chelsea were struggling because there were too many players. There are too many players, too many combinations.

‘So I felt like it would have been really hard, but he’s done really well too. To accomplish that and manage to get those players to not only play together but play well.

‘Some games they are really playing some attractive football and I’m very impressed. Because it was a hell of a job.

‘But Fulham has been consistently playing well with their squad. It's a good squad, but they don't have the same capacity in terms of buying power.

‘Marco Silva has done really well to maintain that quality and even improve the type of style that they play. It’s really strong defensively.

‘Silva managed to really maintain the desire to play attractive football, which was really hard over the years.

‘Fulham never had this type of consistency with any manager they had, so I can applaud with my biggest admiration. Yeah, it’s a great, great job.’

Arteta was widely praised by Arsenal fans for changing the culture and raising standards at the Emirates Stadium following a difficult spell in the aftermath of Arsene Wenger's departure.

But, barring a miraculous turnaround in the Premier League title race or an unlikely Champions League triumph, Arsenal will go a fourth successive season without a trophy.

Maresca opted to leave Championship winners Leicester City to take over at Chelsea last summer following Mauricio Pochettino's mutually agreed exit.

The Blues were arguably the most exciting team in the Premier League in the first-half of the season, emerging as Liverpool's biggest rivals for the title, but Maresca's side have suffered an alarming dip since Christmas.

Securing a top-four finish and winning the weak and unglamorous Europa Conference League would still represent an encouraging season for a team with Premier League and Champions League aspirations.

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