How Managers Influence Individual Player Performance in English Premier League Soccer

Chris Ronningstad

Abstract: The study examines how manager changes in the English Premier League influenced the individual performance of elite soccer players. In the period 2010–2018, the findings describe how individual players (N = 350) on 27 teams performed during the season after a manager change compared with the previous season. The study tests four hypotheses concerning manager characteristics that may influence team performance and empirically tests whether the same characteristics may influence individual player’s performance. The study makes theoretical, ontological, cultural, and methodological arguments for the importance of considering individual player performance in the study of soccer managers and suggests several paths for future study.

Keywords: manager characteristics, elite soccer players, team manager changes, player performance, team performance

Citation: Ronningstad, C. (2021). How managers influence individual player performance in English Premier League soccer. International Journal of Sport Management, 22(3), 221-240.

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