Graham Potter’s brilliance making a world of difference at Brighton
In the span of a few years, Graham Potter has gone from managing Ostersunds, to Swansea, & now to Brighton, where his quality has made a massive difference.
If you were one of those people that was criticizing Brighton and Hove Albion’s decision to part ways with Chris Hughton at the end of last season, I don’t blame you. Seriously, I don’t. Hughton’s 5-year career with the Seagulls was impressive, and he took them from the Championship to the Premier League and managed to keep them up – and that’s a success.
However, the ambitious, lively Brighton board, headlined by chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber, wanted more than to be relegation-flirters every single year.
For this reason, they hired Graham Potter to replace Chris Hughton following the end of the 2018-19 Premier League season.
Potter rose to prominence while managing Swedish side Ostersunds a few years ago, where his side beat Arsenal at the Emirates in the Europa League, earning him a heightened reputation and some genuine interest from back home. This led to him joining Swansea for a season, where he impressed.
Graham Potter revolutionised Brighton's style over the course of one summer. No talk of three or four transfer windows, just a team drastically improved by coaching and a club structure built to take the club forward. Some clubs - including tonight's opponents - could try it.
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) December 5, 2019
Now, just 15 matches into his first-ever Premier League season as a manager, Graham Potter has Brighton playing some superb football, and he repeated his feat of beating Arsenal at the Emirates once again on Thursday, where his side earned a deserved victory through a late Neil Maupay goal.
Potter’s style of play is based around possession of the football, which has allowed them to play to their strengths through the middle and rely a little bit less upon their superb centre-back duo of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy – 2 of the most under-appreciated players in the Premier League. Brighton are currently averaging the 6th most possession in the Premier League this season, ahead of teams like Manchester United and Everton.
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While clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United failed to find a unique, effective style of play with prolonged periods with their managers, or in Arsenal’s case, former managers, Graham Potter has been able to instil his philosophy into this Brighton team quickly, and they are now looking confident of challenging for a top-half spot.