Is Graham Potter ready to manage at the highest level in English football?
The short answer is yes.
His time at Brighton and Hove Albion has been very impressive, and he has the south coast punching far above their weight in the Premier League.
Their core numbers suggest that, if given greater resources, which a ‘Big Six’ club would provide, then Graham Potter could achieve even more.
Let’s take a look at those numbers to see just how good Graham Potter and Brighton have been.
Why Graham Potter Deserves a Chance at a ‘Big Six’ Club
How good is Graham Potter?
I love how Brighton play and he has to be one of the best young managers around. Ticks every box for me. pic.twitter.com/1CNL90lyFW— John Terry (@JohnTerry26) August 23, 2022
Defensive Stability
Without question, Graham Potter has been able to transform Brighton into one of the most defensively solid teams in the Premier League.
In the 2021/22 season, they had the sixth lowest total expected goals against (xGA) in the league with a figure of 45.6 across the entire season. Given that they are a team who like to play expansively rather than deploy a low block as some other teams of the same calibre do, that is remarkable.
Unsurprisingly then, they also conceded the sixth lowest number of shots on goal per game in the same season, with an impressive figure of just 12.5 – beating out both Tottenham Hotspur (12,9) and Manchester United (13.4). Graham Potter’s system is already out-performing some of the so-called ‘Big Six’ clubs, despite having access to far fewer resources
The 2021/22 season wasn’t just a fluke either. Since his arrival, Brighton have conceded 145 goals in 116 games. That’s an average of just 1.25 goals per game, which is impressive given the squad at his disposal.
They have started the 2022/23 season in a similar vein, having conceded just one goal in four games.
It is evident then that Potter is a manager who has a clear idea of how he wants his team to defend and can implement his philosophy effectively.
Every team, especially those at the top of the league, needs a solid defensive platform to build from, and Potter is definitely a manager who is able to produce this platform.
Attacking Fluency
As mentioned, don’t be fooled into thinking that in order to achieve such impressive defensive numbers Graham Potter disregards the attacking phase of the game.
This could not be further from the truth.
Once again, focusing on the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, Brighton recorded an average of 12.9 shots on goal per game – that was the joint sixth-highest in the league.
Creating chances has never been an issue for Brighton under Potter’s management, which is further highlighted by the fact that, in the same season, they also registered 19.8 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes. That was the seventh highest in the league
These chances didn’t always yield impressive goal returns, but that is largely due to them rarely having a consistently prolific goal scorer in the side, rather than any shortcomings in Potter’s tactics.
A coach’s role is to provide his players with a strategy that allows them to defend well and attack effectively – of which Potter does both brilliantly.
If he were able to utilise better players in attack, not only would his side create even more chances. but they would also likely convert a greater percentage of those chances too.
Style of Play
Playing on the front foot and pressing an opponent is almost an expectation for a top side in the modern era of football.
Luckily this is an area in which Graham Potter excels.
In the 2021/22 season, Brighton had the eighth highest number of pressures per 90 minutes (149.1) maintaining a success rate of 32.3%. For perspective, Liverpool also had 32.3%, whilst Manchester City only marginally beat them with a percentage of 32.5%
Of course, Liverpool and Manchester City dominate the majority of their opponents so, naturally, Brighton have more opportunities to press. Despite that though, being in the same ballpark as arguably the two best pressing sides in European football is outstanding.
Brighton are also no slouches themselves when it comes to controlling the possession in a game. In fact, in the 2021/22 campaign, they had the fourth highest amount of total possession in the Premier League, with a figure of 54.8%.
It would be hard to find anyone that suggests they have the fourth-best squad in the league, yet Graham Potter has his side dominating the majority of games they play.
Finally, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, and Antonio Conte – they all believe that having the right balance between attack and defence is one of the most vital things in football.
And Graham Potter is no different.
In an interview with The Coaches Voicein 2020, he said: “You have to have a defensive structure and understand that that’s as important, in fact, some would argue more important than the other stuff [attacking]”.
Graham Potter is a truly wonderful manager. His time at Brighton suggests that the ‘Big Six’ clubs in England would be foolish not to consider appointing him in the near future.
