Ex-Liverpool and Arsenal winger names surprising manager as the best he has worked with

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Former Liverpool and Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant believes that a surprising name is the best manager he worked under during his playing career.

During his playing career, winger Jermaine Pennant, 40, played under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal previous stadium Highbury and Rafa Benitez at Liverpool.

During his time at the London club, the English winger scored 3 goals and provided 3 assists and when he was further north with Liverpool he also scored three times and provided 18 assists in 81 games.

The English winger had a rather exciting career as he played for multiple clubs during his time as a player and he has now named the best manager he ever played for.

Pennant on best manager he played for

Despite playing under Wenger and Benitez during his time at two of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, the Englishman has named a different manager who he believes to be the best.

“He is the best man manager that I’ve worked under,” Pennant told the Daily Star on Steve Bruce, who he played for during his time at Birmingham City.

“He was amazing, for me, for my career. I owe a lot to Steve because he never gave up on me.

“He could have given up on me multiple times because I drove him around the bend at times. You know I got him in trouble sometimes, but he never, ever gave up on me and that is a great attribute to have.

“And in that I repaid him on the pitch. No matter what was going on, I made sure that I gave 110% on that field. On the back of that, I got rewarded with a move to Liverpool, so if I didn’t perform well on the pitch Liverpool would not be interested for that whole season.”

Pennant’s career

After his successful spell at Birmingham, the winger was snapped up by Liverpool for a fee in the region of £6.7 million and was an exciting winger for the Reds.

“I think they [Liverpool] watched me for the whole season and Steve Bruce supported that. He supported me, not only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well. I couldn’t speak more highly of Steve,” Pennant said.

The former Manchester United defender has been a rather divisive figure in recent years after his spell at Newcastle United but the 63-year-old does not get the credit he deserves for his managerial skills.