Graham Potter: Albion’s Pericles leading Brighton into a Golden Age
Nobody expected Brighton & Hove Albion to win a Premier League game – especially against reigning champions Manchester City – wearing their jinxed yellow and blue kit.
And I also doubt that anyone could imagine Graham Potter wearing a big, ancient Greek helmet and tunic, strolling around the marble streets of Athens and giving speeches about politics.
In that sense, the Brighton manager has little in common with one of our most famous historical figures here in Greece – Pericles.
Pericles was a politician and general of the Athenian army. Under his command, Athens experienced times of glory and prosperity in all aspects. This led to Pericles’ time being known as the Golden Age.
This is where Pericles and Potter do share similarities. Since Potter arrived at Brighton, the team has played some of its best football ever.
A result of that is fans witnessing historic highs (and a few lows, but they are all part of the learning process). Surely, these highs will be capped off by a record Premier League points tally and highest finish this season.
Even fans of other clubs love watching the Brighton boys in blue and white playing and many of them applaud the style Potter has brought. “Potterball” is not a title that has come randomly.
The Albion owe their attractive football to their manager, his work, his tactics and some magic tricks… he is a Potter, after all!
His most admirable skill might be his versatility with formations. Potter has the ability to shake things up when needed and this enables him to get the best out of his players, even when they play in new positions.
For example, Leandro Trossard has thrived as a left wing back in recent matches. He scored from this role in the 2-1 win at Arsenal and got the winner in the 1-0 victory over Spurs.
Ask most football fans what they associate Potter’s Brighton with and they will say a unique football identity. This identity has its pros and cons but it makes the club distinctive and has been praised by experts across the world.
To do all this at a club who have only been in the Premier League for five seasons is not easy, especially when it has been achieved at the same time as the main goal has been avoiding relegation.
The reward is that Brighton are now on track in terms of longer-term progress towards the club being established as a top 10 team.
Who better to judge just what an impressive job Potter is doing than the four top coaches in the league? After all, they have all suffered against Brighton.
Pep Guardiola has been an open fan of the Albion boss for some time now. Guardiola’s own words were that the Potter was the best English manager.
Guardiola had more praise before the most recent meeting at the Etihad Stadium, saying he had a lot of admiration for the way Brighton play and their recent results in beating Arsenal and Spurs.
Antonio Conte is another Potter devotee. He has claimed Potter to be a really good manager, who he appreciates for having a specific way and idea of playing football.
Thomas Tuchel praised Potter as a top coach. His fellow German, Jurgen Klopp, has said how highly he regards Potter and that he hopes Brighton realise the quality they have on their bench.
Klopp is right. As Seagulls fans, we should know and appreciate that we have a top, top coach. We are lucky to enjoy watching the Albion play some amazing football, which sometimes beats the strongest teams in the world.
Some of the best, most successful managers in the history of football are fans of Potter and how he plays. Let that sink in for a minute.
If Guardiola, Conte, Tuchel and Klopp are sure that the Albion are in safe hands, then we should be as well.
We should remember that when Brighton embark on their next bad run – and it will inevitable come at some point, because that is the life of the Albion.
The truth lies in the long term picture and if Brighton can keep Potter and he continues moving the Seagulls forward step by step, then in the future we may refer back to these days as Potter’s Golden Age.
Just like Pericles.
Jason Therios @JasonTherios
