Graham Potter faces a major challenge in Sweden
Keystone
The new coach of the Swedish national team is Graham Potter. The Englishman succeeds Jon Dahl Tomasson.
The Swedish association parted company with the Dane due to the disappointing results in the World Cup qualifiers, in which the Scandinavians finished fourth and last in their group with Switzerland with just one point from four games. They suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to the Swiss, who lead the group with ten points and are their next opponents in Geneva on November 11. Sweden have by far the most valuable team in qualifying Group B.
Potter’s contract initially runs until the end of March. It will be automatically extended if Sweden qualify successfully for next year’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA. The 50-year-old most recently worked at West Ham United, but was sacked by the Premier League’s bottom club at the end of September. He previously worked for Chelsea.
Potter also has a past in Sweden, and a very successful one at that. From 2011 to 2018, he coached Östersund, which he led from the fourth to the first division and to the first cup win in the club’s history in 2017. In the following season, the team made it to the round of 16 in the Europa League.