Hot Seat Watch for World Football Coaches After Weekend of Nov. 7-9
Another weekend of action has seen some sides improve their league positions, run of form and points tallies—but others have tailed off alarmingly or lost a big fixture.
The buck always stops with the manager in such situations and, to reflect that, this week's hot seat watch is going to focus just on the men in the dugout; a few weeks from now we'll run a similar version for the players under the spotlight.
Here's our selection of coaches who need things to improve drastically. Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp no longer features after his side finally found a win and moved off the bottom of the Bundesliga this weekend!
Walter Mazzarri
1 of 9
We'll begin in Serie A, where Inter Milan boss Walter Mazzarri just can't seem to find that winning formula for his team.
It's now just two wins in eight in all competitions for Inter, following a 2-2 draw at home to Hellas Verona at the weekend. Inter were denied victory in the final minutes with an equaliser for Verona, while they also lost Gary Medel to a red card.
Next up, the Milan derby, with Inter down in ninth.
Brendan Rodgers
2 of 9
Liverpool suffered three successive defeats in the space of a week as Brendan Rodgers' tenure at the club remains firmly entrenched in its most difficult period.
Champions League qualification remains balanced on a knife edge with no room for error in the final two matches, while Premier League form is a huge concern; Liverpool are down in 11th after losing to Chelsea at home this weekend, a fifth league defeat of the season.
Poor defence, no attack and a lack of leadership or form in key positions throughout the team make this a welcome international break for Rodgers to regroup and rethink things.
Sergio
3 of 9
Espanyol boss Sergio Gonzalez is one of the youngest in Europe's top flights at age 38, and the former midfielder is finding things tough in his debut campaign.
His team are fairly tough to beat but have also only won only twice all season, with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal making it four games without a win now and leaving Espanyol in 12th place—but just two points above the relegation zone as the bottom half of the table becomes very cluttered.
Espanyol face the improving Athletic Bilbao next as Sergio faces a tough test to help his team score more goals and win more points in an unforgiving league.
Arsene Wenger
4 of 9
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is very much feeling the wave of public support go against him right now, with social media and polls aplenty seeing fans ask for a change at the top.
The Gunners blew a three-goal lead against Anderlecht in the Champions League in midweek and then led 1-0 against Swansea in the Premier League at the weekend—only to end up losing 2-1 and slip to sixth in the table, with the Swans leap-frogging them.
Arsenal have won just four times from 11 games in the league this term and five of the last 14 in all competitions.
Marco Silva
5 of 9
Over in Portugal, the "big three" are looking like being a reduced "big two" this season, with Sporting Lisbon struggling to keep pace under new boss Marco Silva.
Silva won acclaim by leading Estoril to fifth and then, last season, fourth place in Portugal, before he was poached away to lead Sporting this term. However, he has won just four of his first 10 league games as manager of the Lisbon club, and they lag down in eighth place in the Primeira Liga, already eight points adrift of Benfica.
It's not an insurmountable gap at this stage to return to the top three, but Sporting have to show more consistency in winning than they have so far under Silva.
Manuel Pellegrini
6 of 9
Back to England and the Premier League, where reigning title holders Manchester City are struggling to recapture last season's form and attacking intent under Manuel Pellegrini this term.
A sluggish and disjointed display at the weekend saw them draw 2-2 with basement side QPR, only managing even that thanks to the outlandish consistency and skill of Sergio Aguero.
Pellegrini is coming under pressure after a run of just one win in six games in all competitions, though the Sky Blues remain in third place in the league.
Mauricio Pochettino
7 of 9
Mauricio Pochettino was a frustrated onlooker from the sidelines as his Tottenham Hotspur side lost 2-1 at home to Stoke City at the weekend, presiding over a toothless and defensively poor performance.
The manager just can't seem to gel any part of his side together at the moment: Spurs are woefully open at the back and have little in the way of final-third game plan going forward, and key players including Christian Eriksen aren't performing well in midfield either.
Spurs are 12th, with three defeats in their last four league matches.
Armin Veh
8 of 9
Stuttgart's season suffered a big double blow at the weekend as Borussia Dortmund finally got their act together to win a game...and Armin Veh's team also lost 2-0 to the other bottom club, Werder Bremen, at the same time.
Those results contrived to send VfB Stuttgart right to the foot of the Bundesliga, with only two wins all season and only one in the last five.
Veh has issues at both ends; Stuttgart haven't scored in the last two and have conceded 16 in the last five matches.
Vincenzo Montella
9 of 9
We finish up where we started, back in Italy where Vincenzo Montella—much heralded last season—is struggling to follow up the success of his first couple of campaigns with Fiorentina.
The Viola have lost three of their last five in Serie A and have only managed three wins all season, with recent defeats leaving them down in 11th place, already eight points off the Champions League places.
Napoli's recent run of good form has seen them surge back into the top three—with the latest win being a 1-0 over Montella's Fiorentina, in Florence. With just 10 goals scored this season and only two shots on target this weekend, it's clear where Fiorentina's main problems lie at this stage.
