When Gareth Southgate begrudgingly accepted the role as England manager back in 2016, the lack of candidates shone a light on the country’s glaring coaching problem.
Taking over when Sam Allardyce’s one-game spell ended in ignominy, the FA were incredibly short on English-born options, but were fortunate enough to luck in with Southgate.
The current Three Lions boss has excelled in the role, with a large helping hand from England’s incredible new youth production line, however, coaching is still playing catch up.
There’s some signs things are now changing though, nowhere more so than on the south coast.
High profile former England internationals such as Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Scott Parker are raising eyebrows in their current roles, but the real excitement begins back in Sweden.
With a notable, but incomparable playing career, in comparison to the already mentioned names, Brighton’s Graham Potter had to do things the hard way, going completely off the map to Sweden’s fourth tier.
After retiring from football Potter had become disenfranchised by the English game and tried his hand at teaching with the University of Hull.
“I played football because I loved the game,” Potter later said. “But I didn’t enjoy the focus on not making mistakes and the culture being essentially one of blame and a little fear.”
However, his return to football did soon come, but essentially in the middle of nowhere, with a city of just 50,000 inhabitants, and a club called Ostersund formed in October 1996.
Back-to-back promotions followed for Potter, before reaching the top flight in 2015, later the Europa League came beckoning.
Things crescendoed in 2018 when Potter’s side somehow reached the last 16 of Europe’s second tier competition, facing off against an Arsenal side with a 60,000 capacity stadium, and a manager in Arsene Wenger who had been in place since September 1996.
3-0 down from the first leg, Ostersund were 2-0 up at the Emirates in the return game after 25 minutes, but Sead Kolasinac later ended any chance of a comeback.
He also ended Potter’s time in Sweden with clubs by then fully aware of the Solihull-born mastermind, with Swansea taking the plunge at the end of the season, a year later he was in the Premier League with Brighton.
The 44-year-old’s two and a half seasons at the AmEx have brought some of the club’s biggest ever highs, including wins over Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal.
A team struggling to adapt from the move up from the Championship, often relying heavily on Glenn Murray and attritional tactics, Potter’s transformation of the club has since been complete.
Now Premier League regulars and a tough ask for any opponent, Potter’s Brighton have overcome debates about expected goals and advanced stats, with the manager emerging as the next in line for one of the league’s top jobs.
Potter’s dislike of fear and blame in football is reflected in his sides, creating unbreakable team bonding exercises that extend to local theatre productions of Swan Lake, and he always defends his players.
Even Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has jumped on the bandwagon, calling Potter adventurous after a recent meeting.
“He obviously has a clear idea about football and he is doing a brilliant job,” Klopp said.
“He has brought a clear identity to how he wants his teams to play. He is an innovator and is adventurous.
“He is an absolutely nice fella and his team mirrors his ability. I don’t want to talk the coach of Brighton away to some other clubs, but I think he should not worry about his future.”
And one big club in dire need of an innovator is Manchester United, with Potter now earmarked as a potential long-term candidate when Ralf Rangnick leaves his interim role in the summer.
Previous boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was given almost three years at Old Trafford, and, if the club are willing to take their time as they adapt to the modern game, Potter may be the right candidate.
United continue to spend big money since Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2013 departure, but fail to challenge, an identity and a well-thought out plan may be exactly what the club needs.
The board tried with quick fixes in the shape of Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, and Potter could be the long term solution that initially failed with David Moyes, and has since been shown up to perhaps be the right path.
Rangnick too has had much success leading above a young and unique coach, providing Julian Nagelsmann with the players and environment to take Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals and second place in the Bundesliga.
Much of the stats debate proves Potter’s players struggle to make the most of his advanced systems, with poor finishing and bad luck largely to blame for what is statistically one of the best-oiled machines in the league.
With world class personnel at his disposal at Old Trafford, Potter’s stunning rise from the Swedish fourth tier could well continue all the way into the Champions League, and maybe show he’s the man they’ve been looking for all along.
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