There is a story from Thomas Tuchel’s time at Paris Saint-Germain that probably goes a long way to highlighting the potential dangers when the players are wired differently, perhaps, than your average dressing room.
Tuchel was appointed as PSG’s manager in 2018, the former Borussia DortmundHead coach was responsible for a number of superstars, including Kylian Mabappe, Neymar Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria.
Tuchel’s appointment interrupted a pattern of PSG hiring big-name managers who had won the game’s major trophies. And he soon found out it can be tough — as his successor, Mauricio Pochettino, would almost certainly agree — to deal with the politics and egos and sensitivities at Parc des Princes.
Six months into the job, Tuchel was asked at a news conference whether Mbappe deserved to win the Ballon d’Or. The manager’s response was to say that Mbappe would probably win it several times in the future but that he expected another French player, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, to be honoured that year.
The following day, Tuchel was summoned to the office of Antero Henrique, then PSG’s sporting director. Mbappe’s father had taken those comments as an affront and complained to the club. Tuchel was stunned by the outcry it caused. But he listened, took it in and learned a lesson: sometimes it is better to accept a superstar’s ego, indulge that player and treat him differently to the rest.
It is a extreme example, but Graham Potter may need to remember this now that he is gone Brighton & Hove Albion to manage a club that, earlier this year, could call themselves the European and world champions. Trophies for ChelseaThese are almost obligatory. These players often have more impressive CVs than The Boss, which can lead to dramatic changes in the dynamic.
It doesn’t need to be an issue, according to those who know Potter well. They speak of a man who has many layers to his personality. They point out that, as well as a deep knowledge of his profession, Potter has a master’s degree in leadership and emotional intelligence. He has a deep understanding of the human psyche. He understands what makes a footballer tick, and how to get the most out of his players.
There are still obvious challenges. We now live in an era where a manager must win over his players, rather than the other way around.
Tuchel was able to use his personality and force to punish Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot for late attendance at a PSG team meeting. Anything less would have been weak and might have diminished the manager’s stature among the other players.
Mbappe was substituted by the German on several other occasions. He must have known that it would cause a lot of fuss. Mbappe’s first response was to stomp off the pitch and avoid eye contact with Tuchel who tried to embrace him. Manager and player had heated exchanges with their hands in front of each other the next time it happened. Tuchel understood that it was crucial to let everyone know, not only Mbappe.
Now, three years later, Potter faces the challenge of showing he can do it at an elite club. Despite all the goodwill, it remains a fact that he has not managed one game in the elite club. Champions League.
This is an unorthodox, almost-Chelsea-like job if we remember. Manchester United also considered Potter’s merits earlier this year before deciding he — Graham, aged 47, from Solihull — was not experienced enough, or perhaps glamorous enough, for a club with their ambitions.
Graham Potter watching his first training session at Chelsea. (Photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images).
This may be a reflection on Old Trafford more than the man himself. This has been a significant departure from Chelsea’s normal, as it is not easy to imagine Potter receiving this opportunity. Roman Abramovich’s ownership.
How does a manager in Potter’s position connect with the category-A footballers in his presence? How does he make an impression at these getting-to know-you stages of his career? They may not realize that he is new to this level.
Brendan Rodgers starting the job at Perhaps this is the closest analogy. LiverpoolAfter establishing his reputation as a renowned a…” Swansea CitySides that believe they can outperform, outmanoeuvre, and outscore teams with higher budgets.
Potter and Rodgers couldn’t boast a trophy haul at the highest tiers English football. But Rodgers did know how put together a team which could compete in the top division against Liverpool. Manchester CityAnd ArsenalIn the course of this process.
He was 39 years old when he arrived at Anfield. He had only three-and-a-half seasons of managerial experience. He was a fan favorite for winning the Championship play off final. Many felt Kenny Dalglish should not have lost his job. Others wanted Rafael Benitez’s return.
Because they had experienced the coaching effects, Rodgers was clear to the players.
“I had noticed Brendan’s intelligence and tactical flexibility even before he took over at Liverpool,” Steven Gerrard, then the captain, writes in his 2015 autobiography. “We had played Swansea at Anfield and I’d been impressed with how they passed the ball and how he had set them up.
“I’d seen that he was trying to get a numerical advantage around our two central midfielders and he’d made it a tough afternoon for me. It was rare for a team from the middle to the lower ranks of the football league, and I still remember thinking about it. Premier League to turn up at Anfield and show tactical flexibility and imagination while outplaying us on the day.”
Gerrard remembers that the level of training at Liverpool was as good as it had been when Rodgers was in charge. It was clear that Rodgers was prepared to make tough decisions. It was not easy to let Jamie Carragher go. Rodgers would not have been hired if he didn’t possess the character strength to make large calls.
“You don’t become the manager of a huge club like Liverpool without having a hard, even ruthless streak,” was Gerrard’s take. “You need to be prepared to make tough decisions that will cause some hurt.”
Rodgers, shortly after joining Liverpool to manage the club (Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images).
Alternatives include taking the chance of Quique Setien’s fate when he took the plunge. Barcelona job in 2020 to the surprise of many people — including, it seemed, himself.
Setien had quit Real Betis in the summer before and admitted that he didn’t think he had enough experience to be able to apply for the Barca job. He seemed amazed by his good fortune.
Setien was not able to manage the personalities of the top-ranking players in the dressing room and the politics in the boardroom, unfortunately. Video footage from one match showed Lionel Messi apparently disregarding Eder Saabia, the assistant manager, when he was supposed be receiving touchline instructions.
Journalists and fans questioned why Setien continued to pick a 33-year-old Luis Suarez over Setien. Others wondered whether Setien was able to give up Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal. All knew Setien was not involved in transfer decisions. Messi said “big changes” had to be made behind the scenes and complained that little had gone right since January — which happened, coincidentally, to be when Setien took over.
It The Champions League loss to Bayern Munich, 8-2, culminated in this defeat, Barca’s biggest thrashing since 1946, and an ordeal that finished with Setien standing with his arms stretched across the bench, crucifixion-style. Setien, like the rest of football, knew that his time was over.
Setien after Barcelona’s 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in 2020 (Photo: Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
It’s also important to not lose your way on the journey into training. David Moyes did that on his first day. EvertonHe was awarded the job in 2002 after his work at Preston North End, the division below.
Moyes never forgot the feeling of insecurity he felt when he entered a dressing room with Paul Gascoigne, David Ginola, and other battle-hardened Premier League campaigners at 38.
The manager’s first conversation with Gascoigne ended with the former EnglandA midfielder breaks down in tears Ask to be moved to Burnley. Moyes knew that he had to assert himself. He had already decided to leave Ginola.
He was also unsure if he should continue training as he did at Preston because he wasn’t sure how the players would react. He decided to do it because he believed he should continue doing what worked for him in the past.
A good start is vital — and Moyes played a blinder ahead of his first game by making Duncan Ferguson the captain.
“It was twenty to three, I’d gone over all the preparation and the dressing room went quiet,” Moyes recalled some years later. “Then you heard, ‘Yooouu fucking blue boys! Yooouu better get IN THERE!’. Big Dunc was on his feet, getting in every single player’s face, screaming in the roughest Scottish accent. They walked out in the same way. ScotlandEngland’s rugby team would be defeated. We scored after 31 seconds.”
The popular story isn’t true, incidentally, that when Moyes took the Manchester United job 11 years later he told Rio Ferdinand — six-time Premier League winner, 81 England caps and one of the outstanding defenders of his generation — to watch videos of Phil Jagielka.
Moyes did not get the job. Moyes’ worry lines became more prominent each week. Sam Allardyce, Moyes’ friend, pointed out that Moyes had lost ten years in six short months.
Patrice Evra said the same: “You only had to look at David’s face to see the pressure he was under. I thought his approach was a mistake. In the dressing room before one game he said, ‘Guys, you’ve won everything here, you have to show me the way to win. I have never won the league, you have to show me to do it’.
“I could see what David was trying to do by making the players feel responsible, but (Sir Alex) Ferguson would never have asked his players how to win a game. He would have shown us how it was done. Some players used that against him (Moyes) because they thought they were now in charge.”
Memo to Potter: maybe avoid reminding Chelsea’s players that you aren’t used to winning matches at their level.
The same applies to the rest of the coaching staff who have been recruited from Brighton by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Chelsea’s new owners, for compensation in the region of £22million ($25.4m). For example, Billy Reid was in Scotland, first with Hamilton Academical and then with Potter, his right-hand man. Ben Roberts, now Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, started at Yeovil Town and Charlton Athletic. Bjorn Hamberg got to know Potter in Sweden’s lower divisions. All of them have been key to Brighton’s upward trajectory. It is not surprising that they were nervous on their first day in Chelsea.
Potter’s achievements at Brighton are not something to be ashamed of. He led them to their highest Premier League finish ever, finishing ninth. That included two 1-1 draws against Chelsea. In the first game, at Stamford Bridge, Brighton had 52 per cent possession and 18 shots to Chelsea’s 11. In the second fixture, Brighton held 57% of the ball while Chelsea had only 11. Chelsea’s players should know all about Potter even without taking into account Brighton’s wins against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and TottenhamThe last 18 months.
“Graham was 35 when he went out to Sweden to manage Ostersund,” says Ian Burchnall, a manager who has had a close-up view of Potter’s work. “He’s 47 now. It’s been 12 years of progression and that progress has been so astounding it makes me think he has everything to keep it going. I don’t really see the egos of the dressing room being an issue for him.”
Burchnall is Forest Green Rovers’ manager League OneHe is now a well-respected tactician in the lower divisions.
Potter has been his friend since the University Challenge. Potter was head football at Leeds Metropolitan University. Burchnall had a similar role at Leeds University that he combined with coaching in Bradford City’s academy.
They remained in touch. They had many common football philosophies. Burchnall assumed control at Ostersund after Potter, with a small budget, took them from the fourth tier to the top division of Swedish football. Europa League.
“They were talking about putting up a statue of him,” says Burchnall. “It’s a small town — a winter skiing town. They didn’t have any real history with football and there were probably 100 people going to matches when Graham first rocked up.
“By the time I replaced him, we were getting six or seven thousand. Graham was the best coach in Sweden. You could sense his influence, not just on Ostersund but Swedish football in general.”
The key question is: Can he manage the dressing-room dynamics at a club that would be a part of the European Super League.
“In my opinion, that’s his biggest strength,” says Burchnall. “I know Graham, as a coach, is brilliant on the pitch but, from everything I know of He, the biggest thing is him — his character, how he leads, how he gets players to buy into his messages. Because that’s half the battle. You can be the best coach and tactician in the world but it won’t work if the players don’t buy into it.
“His method of leadership is built around that. It’s maybe his strongest part: that he can handle it.
“He’s just a nice guy. A good, honest guy. Talk to the players about him and they all speak really highly of him — even the ones who aren’t in the team. That’s a sign of the relationships he builds. Chelsea have a reputation for being a bit quick-fire with managers but this appointment makes total sense if they want to build over a period of time.”
(Photos by Getty Images; design by Eamonn Dlton)
