Who is Graham Potter? How his Tactics Could Transform West Ham United?

Earlier today, as top football reporter and journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed, former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter will return to management as West Ham United’s head coach. Following the initial scoop yesterday, the decision has been confirmed by West Ham, who had recently parted ways with their former coach, Julen Lopetegui, following a string of disappointing results. 

That said, Graham Potter will be the man to take charge of the Hammers to try to course-correct and push for a top-half finish in the Premier League. West Ham is sitting 14th in the Premier League table, only a couple of points away from the relegation zone. Potter has been brought on board with a two-and-a-half-year contract and will look to implement his style immediately for the club’s upcoming FA Cup matchup against Aston Villa on Friday, January 10. 

Naturally, there had been a lot of talk regarding the next West Ham manager, and there were rumors that David Moyes would return for a third stint. Thus, many will still be delighted by the nature of the news, seeing how Graham Potter has a solid reputation as a coach and has done some great work at his previous clubs. 

Interestingly, the 49-year-old has a fair bit of experience in management and could utilize that to help West Ham save their season from being an absolute disaster. However, given the numerous challenging Premier League fixtures they still have ahead of them, it will be an extremely challenging task. 

In this article, we are going to focus exclusively on Graham Potter, who will be leading West Ham United as their new head coach, understanding his style of play and tactics, his successes as a manager, what he can bring to the Hammers, and what would be the possible formation or lineup they would adopt under his regime, set to commence this week.

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Graham Potter’s Style of Play and Tactics

By and large, Graham Potter has been known to implement a free-flowing, possession-based attacking style of play, which looks to bring out the individuality of players in situations. The manager has been known for his unconventional tactics, which have yielded some very positive results, especially against the higher-level opposition teams.

For the most part, Potter liked implementing a 3-4-3 system at the start of his managerial career with Östersund and Swansea City. However, as seen by his most notable stint with Brighton and Hove Albion, he has since opted for a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 to allow for better execution of his game plans and, at times, to adjust for the absence of key players in the squad. 

Interestingly, his 4-4-2 system led to some of his best results, allowing him to create attacking overloads and more one-on-one opportunities for his attacking players. Overall, Potter is committed to his teams being tactically flexible, attacking, and possession-based, an approach that West Ham has not particularly excelled in under Julen Lopetegui’s leadership.

With the tactical flexibility to shift from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 depending on the stage of the game and the opposition, it allowed for some Brighton players to thrive under him and, as a result, earned them big money moves to better Premier League and European clubs. As for West Ham, Graham Potter will already have a lineup of some great attacking and defensive talents that he will look to get a tune out of. With the likes of Tomas Soucek, Emerson, Edson Alvarez, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Max Kilman, he will already have a solid foundation to build from.

Seeing that the side has the capability and different profiles required to succeed and implement Potter’s system, the Englishman will look to verse the players in his way quickly and try to have them buy into his ideology. One of the key downfalls of Lopetegui’s regime was the fact that he had underdelivered massively despite having significant quality in his team, which could ideally have been making a strong case to be among the European League spots. 

Graham Potter’s Trophies and Achievements as A Manager

It has been 15 years since Graham Potter officially began his managerial career, but his work has yet to yield the desired number of trophies. That said, his time managing Östersund, Swansea, and Brighton was seen as great success, and Potter displayed solid team management throughout the season.

As for his time at Chelsea, it was far more fragmented and took a lot away from the usual level of players under him and the expectations of the hierarchy of a big club. That said, there is an expectation that the English manager has since learned a lot from his previous experiences and, having been put in a similar position before, will look to bring out better results.

Is Graham Potter the right fit for West Ham?

Graham Potter could prove to be a great coach for West Ham, provided he is given enough time to implement his system and work with the players for a sustained period of time. There are already other clubs and managers who are doing well with similar tactical approaches, and Potter’s management style and talent identification could well align with the short, medium, and long-term ambitions of the West Ham hierarchy.  Additionally, the 49-year-old manager has a reputation for developing young players into solid performers for both club and country. He has done this at Brighton over the years and should continue to do so with the Hammers as well.

How could West Ham line up under Graham Potter?

With Graham Potter’s 4-3-2-1 formation and possession-based attacking style, here’s how West Ham could line up in their upcoming Premier League and FA Cup matches. Alphonse Areola is expected to start as their goalkeeper. The four-man backline is expected to consist of right-back Aaron Wan Bissaka, along with Max Kilman and Todibo as the center halves and Emerson Palmieri as left-back.

This can be supplemented with Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek at the base of midfield, with possibly Lucas Paqueta or Jarrod Bowen playing ahead of them as the attacking midfielder. Ahead of them, Mohammed Kudus, Bowen, and Crysencio Summerville can also provide a lot of pace and power, with Nichola Fullkrug expected to lead the lineup.

With a whole host of young and experienced talents at his disposal, Graham Potter will be expected to work his magic and hopefully make a strong case for West Ham to compete with the likes of other top-half teams in a bid for a spot in any of next year’s European competitions, with the Europa League and the Europa Conference League being a more feasible option.

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