After getting relegated, Swansea City appointed Graham Potter as their new manager. Graham Potter had an impressive career, he has been a manager of Swedish side Östersund for almost eight years and he managed to win three promotions with them. Eventually, they even won the Swedish Cup, leading them to Europa League in 2017/2018. That season, the world started to notice him and his team, he proved to be excellent with tactics and Östersund finished second in their group. Their biggest result was probably their win against Arsenal on Emirates Stadium and that is how football fans all over the world started to notice Graham Potter.

When Swansea City appointed him as their new manager, everyone was quite optimistic. A lot of things needed to change within the club and young and promising manager was certainly someone that could make those changes. After nine games in Championship so far, people are still wondering, is Graham Potter the right man for Swansea?

Have Swansea made good results so far?

After nine games, Swansea City holds 14th place, they’ve lost only two matches but they are still far from top 6. What everyone has to understand is that Swansea City maybe had the hardest schedule at the beginning of the season, and they actually made excellent results. They managed to get 4 draws so far, and three of them were against Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. To stay unbeaten against both Leeds United and Middlesbrough is certainly an amazing achievement for any club in Championship this season. Their performance was excellent in their nine games so far, they’ve got three wins and it is fair to say that they’ve made good results so far this season.

What Graham Potter have brought to the team?

What Graham Potter has brought to Swansea is probably the biggest reason why they managed to make such good results so far. He has changed the mentality of the team and he gets his players motivated to work hard every game. Graham Potter is certainly a proper old school English manager, he even started his career in Sweden and that reminds me a lot of Roy Hodgson. What impresses me about Graham Potter is that everything in Swansea City team is about hard work and discipline. His tactics are excellent and he seems to know every opponent and he knows what tactics he wants to use against them. Hard work is certainly the most important thing in Championship and the fact that he managed to motivate his players to work hard in every game is telling us that Graham Potter can do a lot in Championship and maybe even in Premier League.

Is the good defence enough and do Swanseas have enough quality in their squad?

Last season Swansea City didn’t have enough quality for the Premier League, but that squad is gone now. So far this season they have one of the best defences in the EFL Championship. Only Middlesbrough have conceded less goals than the Swans in the league. The Welsh team need improve their offensive performance, however. Although some of their players were excellent, the fact that Swansea doesn’t have Jordan Ayew and more importantly Andre Ayew in their squad anymore might be the best thing that happened to them. Jordan Ayew was good for them, but what Swansea City really needed was a proper striker.

Their current squad certainly has enough quality for them to fight for a promotion this season. Oliver McBurnie has been excellent in attack so far for the Welsh side, the youngster is very physical and he already scored four goals for Swansea this season. The biggest problem with the youngster might be the fact that he is making a lot of fouls which can eventually get him suspended. Graham Potter talked about that for the press:

“There is a line you have to manage; you need to be able to channel it in the right way given the environment in the Championship. If you want to go higher you have to deal with those issues. The challenge for him is to do it in the way that helps his performance and helps the team. He’s a young man who cares a lot about the team. I think we have a good group and a spirit here. There’s a feeling they are playing for each other and are proud to play for Swansea. So there are those feelings, but I think there is a line you have to manage because we don’t want to lose people unnecessarily. So it’s something for him to consider and get better with. But in terms of a lad and how he conducts himself I have no complaints with Ollie.”

What do we expect from Swansea City in the EFL Championship?

Considering the fact that they currently hold 14th place in Championship, people might think that Swansea is not a contender for the promotion this season. But they had all the tough opponents in their first nine matches and until the end of 2018 Swansea will mostly play against easier opponents and sides that will fight relegation battle this season. They look confident on the field, they are properly motivated and they will certainly work hard to win most of their upcoming matches.

Among all the sides that will fight for a promotion this season, Swansea City has the best schedule in next few months. If they continue their current form, it should be expected for them to finish this year in top 6. Graham Potter managed to change their mentality and create a very dangerous side, now he will certainly work hard to get Swansea City back in the Premier League.

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