Graham Potter

Is Graham Potter overhyped?

 

Whilst a-lot of people like and respect Graham Potter due to his tactics and what he has achieved throughout his career. For what I believe i personally think he is overrated.

Lack of consistent results at elevated level

Potter had a solid record at Swansea and Brighton even though he did not get Swansea promoted, but instead finishing 10th in the championship and then gets awarded the Brighton job. The same season Frank Lampard gets Derby into the play off final in his managerial job. But everyone liked how Potter ball was played. Graham Potter then moved to giants Chelsea. He could not produce results on a consistent basis. Chelsea then sacked him after just a few months in charge which shows he cannot manage a top club, also a team with big egos that he cannot handle. He also cannot manage a team with bigger expectations and better players on paper,

 

Could not handle pressure at an elite club

At a top club like Chelsea, the pressure to success is intense. Potter struggled to cope with that pressure. His calm and progressive style, whilst it worked at Brighton, did not work at Chelsea and he could not handle the pressure of the media. To oversee a big club, you must handle the media.

 

Lack of winning trophies

Potter was working with a well funded club. Potter has not won any trophies in England. The only trophies he is won is when he led Swedish side Ostersund from the fourth tier into the top flight with having three promotions in five seasons and won the 2017 Swedish cup, before he went to Swansea City. Chelsea always appointed managers that are typically defined by their ability to win things and can secure silverware. Potter did that all in Sweden when he had a much lower profile before his move to Swansea. When you move to a big club your expected to win and he could not do that.

 

Could not settle on a formation

At his time at Brighton, Potter was known for being tactically flexible, but that turned into issue at his time at Chelsea. His system seemed coherence and could not decide on what formation to play he always kept changing it. The lack of clarity made the team look bad, disjointed, given the players he had.

Did not adapt quickly

Potters’ success at Swansea and Brighton came with gradual build up of his style of play. Being at Chelsea, where results are expected to be winning, Potter was unable to adapt quickly at a big club. His slow work and results not being good enough led him to his sack.

 

Underwhelming player development at Chelsea

 

Potter was known for admirable player development at Brighton, his time at Chelsea did not show any significant signs of that in the form of individual players. Despite with working with high talent, he struggled with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Enzo Fernandez, and others. This showed his inability to coach big players at a big club which raised questions about his ability to work with elite players.

 

Substance

 

Potters style was all about attractive and possession-based, but this can be seen as more than style than substance. Whilst he got Brighton playing nice football, they lacked ruthlessness, clinical edge. His tactics always were prioritised aesthetics over effectiveness.

 

No experience with top clubs

 

Before he went to Chelsea, potter had no major experience in managing in European competitions or managing at the top. His coaching came through at smaller teams. His lack of experience needed to handle the big egos at a big club was never going to work. In the premier league and champions league.

 

Potter was an overrated manager just because he got Brighton playing some good football. They finished 9th in the 21/22 season he had 15 draws and had a horrible run and had relegation form at one point. It was a false position and yet the English media and fans rated him so high, as there is a lack of top-quality English managers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *