Graham Potter returned to Swedish football on Monday as coach of the underperforming national team with a short-term mission to qualify for the World Cup.
After six tumultuous years in the Premier League, the 50-year-old Englishman has landed his first job in international football, back in 2011, in the country where his coaching career began in earnest. Ostersundhe led a small and unheralded team from the fourth division into Sweden’s top division.
Fourteen years later, he was in charge of a national team featuring Premier League stars such as Alexander Isak and Viktor Gökeres, but they underperformed after losing three straight in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
After the dismissal of Danish coach john dahl thomassonThe Swedish Football Association has hired another foreign-born coach alongside Potter in an initial deal, who will take charge in next month’s final World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Slovenia. He will also coach Sweden in the World Cup play-offs in March, with Sweden likely to reach the play-offs after winning their most recent Nations League group stage.
If Sweden qualifies for the World Cup, Potter will lead the team in a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Potter understood the initial nature of the role, telling a hastily arranged press conference: “For me it’s very simple. There’s no talk of building or changing or philosophy. Just win games to get to the World Cup.”
where did it start
The appointment marks a return to Sweden for Potter, who coached Ostersund from 2011 to 2018, leading the team from the amateur ranks to the Swedish top flight in 2015 and winning the Swedish Cup title in 2017.
As a result, Ostersund qualified for the Europa League, but although they won the second leg 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, they advanced to the finals, where they lost to Arsenal.
Potter was seen as a forward-thinking coach with a team-oriented playing philosophy and open to outside-the-box ideas about team cohesion. For example, during his time in Ostersund, the club developed a “Cultural Academy” where players learned skills such as stand-up comedy, art, dance and rap, which they demonstrated in front of the city’s residents, challenging their mental processes and decision-making under pressure.
After a highly regarded and modest playing career in England’s lower leagues, Potter returned to England as a coach. swansea Then we played against Brighton in the Premier League.
He was the first manager hired by Chelsea’s new American owners, but his tenure, which previously took place in chaotic circumstances, lasted less than seven months. be fired His most recent tenure as coach has also been disappointing. west ham From January to September of this year.
Swedish FA President Simon Astrom said: “With Graham Potter, we have a strong and experienced leader who has been tested at the absolute highest level.”
Potter said he was “very humbled by this assignment, but also incredibly inspired.”
“When you’re a kid you dream about the World Cup,” Potter said. “It’s incredibly exciting to be at the World Cup and have the opportunity to support a country that is so close to my heart and has played such an important role in my career and life.”
Underachieving star
Sweden’s squad includes high-profile players, including starting strikers Isak and Gokeres from Liverpool and Arsenal respectively, Tottenham midfielder Lukas Bergvall, Newcastle winger Anthony Eranga and Barcelona’s Rooney Bulge.
However, the team suffered humiliating defeats against Kosovo and Switzerland, and now sit at the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group with a one-point difference after four games.
Tomasson was unable to make the most of Sweden’s abundant attacking power. Now it’s Potter’s turn and he wants to find a better balance within the team.
“Given my experience with Swedish football, my respect for Swedish football and what I learned from Swedish football, the group is the most important thing,” Potter said, adding: “We obviously have top players, but football is not about the best eleven, it’s about the best eleven.”
___ AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
