Potter isn’t the best English manager in the world – but he could be one day
Pep Guardiola caused quite a stir when he described Graham Potter as the best English manager in the world following Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City last week.
“We were in front of the best English manager right now,” Guardiola said after the Seagulls had given his billion petrodollar squad a run for their money at the Etihad Stadium.
“You have to be a top side to play that way. As a spectator, I like to watch these teams. I like watching Brighton play. I recognise it. When I was a football player, I would love to play in this team.”
Ignoring the fact that Graham Potter probably would have played Pep Guardiola in goal or something, that is high praise from one of the greatest managers in the history of football.
It has sparked quite a debate. Numerous football websites have had a go at producing their own hierarchy of English football managers. Squawka agreed with Guardiola and put Potter at the top of their 11 man list.
90min meanwhile had Potter all the way down in seventh behind Roy Hodgson, Chris Wilder, Dean Smith, Sean Dyche, Steven Gerrard and Big Sam Allardyce.
The extremities in views suggests that nobody can quite work Potter out. Which is probably about right; if you base your list on style of football, then Potter has every right to be somewhere near the top.
If you base it on results, then six wins in 37 since the start of 2020 and one home success in over a year puts him somewhere near the bottom of the elite.
To understand where Potter fits in, you have to delve a little deeper – which can make it difficult. Too many people see the world through black and white; you must be either Potter in or Potter out.
If you criticise Potter for his substitutions, team selection or lack of consistency, then you are anti-Potter and a terrible Brighton supporter.
Likewise, those who praise him when Brighton have played well despite losing are called deluded despite the fact they can appreciate that results nay not be good enough.
This may come as a surprise to some, but it is entirely possible to think that Potter does some things very well at the same time as thinking he does some things particularly badly. You can believe he is the right man for the job at the same time as pointing out and being critical of his mistakes.
In his 20 months as Brighton manager, Graham Potter has done much that backs up Pep Guardiola lauding him as the best English manager in the world.
The way in which he has overhauled the Albion’s style of play has been phenomenal. There are countless examples of Premier League clubs who ditched a defensive-minded manager in favour of somebody more attacking, only to burned by the decision.
Southampton went from eighth in the Premier League and reaching the League Cup final under boring Claude Puel to fighting relegation under exciting Mauricio Pellegrino.
Stoke City’s time in the top flight was significantly shortened when they ditched Tony Pulis and Crystal Palace’s attempts to become more entertaining lasted all of seven games under Frank De Boer between the reigns of Allardyce and Hodgson.
Few managers have successfully transformed a team in the way Potter has, let alone done so in such a short period of time. Only three months elapsed between the final game of Chris Hughton’s tenure and Potter sending a side out who blew Watford away 3-0 on the opening day of the 2019-20 season.
There cannot be many Albion fans who have complaints about the football Brighton have largely played under Potter since that sunny day at Vicarage Road. For style, Guardiola is right when he says Potter is the best English manager in the world.
He has also overseen a dramatic change in the profile of the squad. Under Hughton, Brighton’s starting XI was one of the oldest in the Premier League. Now, the Albion regularly field the youngest side in the top flight.
Potter has put his faith in the likes of Steve Alzate, Aaron Connolly, Big Bob Sanchez, Alexis Mac Allister, Ben White, Tariq Lamptey and Yves Bissouma.
Since becoming first team regulars under Potter, Lamptey and Bissouma have become two of the most sought-after players in England and White’s rise which began on loan at The Leeds United last season shows no signs of abating.
With the arrivals of Jakub Moder and Michal Karbownik from Poland and players like Reda Khedra, Jayson Molumby, Jenson Weir, Haydon Roberts and Teddy Jenks waiting to breakthrough, the production line shows no sign of abating.
His track record with young players means that Potter is well placed to make the most of their talents – and there is not a better English manager around than Potter when it comes to trusting and improving young players. Guardiola is right again.
What then is stopping Potter from taking the crown as the best English manager in the world? Results is an obvious answer and they need no introduction. Improve those and Potter’s claim on top spot becomes much stronger.
Tactically, he is guilty of frequently overthinking things. Nobody needs to see Dan Burn out-of-position at left wing back, Pascal Gross out-of-position at right back, Bernardo out-of-position in the centre of midfield, Andi Zeqiri out-of-position on the left wing, Leandro Torssard out-of-position as a lone striker, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Alexis Mac Allister out-of-position as centre forwards… you get the picture.
Flexibility is good but trying to play every single player in five different positions over the course of the season is unnecessary. Likewise, switching players in and out of the team, preventing them building up any sort of momentum or form. Sometimes, it almost feels like Potter is trying to be too clever with his selections and substitutions.
He can be naïve. Brighton have conceded far too many goals from set pieces this season for it to be anything other than bad management. Zonal marking does not work unless the players are fully drilled in it, yet the complete lack of disregard for improving the situation suggests Potter thinks something as mundane as defending set pieces is not needed.
When concerns were frequently raised about the lack of new striker signing in the summer, Potter dismissed them by saying he would coach more goals out of Neal Maupay, Connolly, Jahanbakhsh and Trossard.
The fact that the first three of those four have all produced at least one memorable miss from within three yards of an open goal this season and Leandro Trossard set a record for hitting the woodwork three times in a single game when Manchester United came to the Amex suggest that has not gone as well as Potter hoped.
It is these faults which mean, despite what Pep Guardiola says, Graham Potter cannot be considered the best English manager in the world. Not yet, anyway.
For Potter could make it there. He is young and relatively inexperienced compared to the likes of Hodgson, Wilder, Dyche, Gerrard, Allardyce and Frank Lampard, who have all either been in management for many years or had long and distinguished playing careers at the highest level. None of those have cut their teeth by performing Swan Lake in a small Swedish town, as Potter has.
He also has the significant advantage of working for Tony Bloom, who must rank as one of the most patient owners in English football. Many chairman would have handed a manager who oversaw five wins in a calendar year and only one of those in front of his own supporters their P45.
Not Bloom though. He even turned down Sami Hyypia’s initial resignation because he wanted to be right about appointing the Finn. Bloom gives his managers the chance to learn on the job that few are afforded because of modern day football’s obsession with results and the money which comes with them, especially in the Premier League.
With Bloom’s seemingly unwavering support, Potter has the stability he needs to develop and improve as a manager. We have seen glimpses of what Brighton are capable of under him; if he can cut out the sort of weird tactical decisions, the tinkering and the poor game management that have also littered this season so far, then those glimpses will become more frequent viewing.
When that happens, then Guardiola will be right about Potter. He is not the best English manager in the world at the moment – but he could be one day.
