Graham Potter is set to accept the job as Sweden’s new head coach on a short-term basis, with the mandate to help them overcome the odds and qualify for the World Cup.
Nizaar Kinsella reports for the BBC this weekend that former West Ham and Chelsea manager Graham Potter is set to accept an offer to become Sweden’s head coach.
The offer is for an initial short-term role to help Sweden in their efforts to qualify for the World Cup, with discussions progressing quickly. Sweden’s previous boss Jon Dahl Tomasson was sacked earlier this week.
Potter’s focus is likely to be on getting Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres and Liverpool’s Alexander Isak firing again, with neither striker scoring in Sweden’s four qualifiers so far.
It’s too late for Sweden to achieve automatic World Cup qualification through their group, nine points behind leaders Switzerland with just two games remaining. It also looks like an impossible task to finish as a runner-up, six points behind Kosovo in the group’s play-off spot.
Yet that doesn’t mean the end of Sweden’s hopes, as their strong Nations League performances mean that as it stands, they’ll advance to the play-offs anyway.
Qualifying through the play-offs will be very difficult. As a Nations League qualifier, Sweden would be a Pot 4 team, meaning they’d play away from home against a Pot 1 team.
Even if they win, they’ll then have to win a play-off final against another higher-seeded team (the winner of the Pot 2 vs Pot 3 match).
Those matches will take place in March, so Potter at least has some time to steady the ship before then. He’ll have Sweden’s remaining group games in November to try and get the team going again, then that one last chance to make the final tournament with a couple of wins next spring.