While its fair to say neither Alexander Isak nor Viktor Gyokeres have set the world alight in the Premier League this season, former West Ham United manager Graham Potter will be pretty happy with his centre-forward options these days.
The Swedish FA wasted little time hiring Potter following the sacking of ex-Blackburn Rovers coach John Dahl Tomasson in October.
In the meantime, he went from Niclas Fullkrug and a 33-year-old Callum Wilson at West Ham United to a pair of strikers who changed hands for over £180 million last summer.
Remarkably, Wilson has just one goal less than Isak and Gyokeres have scored between them in the Premier League for Liverpool and Arsenal. Isak opened his account at the London Stadium against Potter’s West Ham successor Nuno Espirito Santo, but that is a rare high point in a Liverpool career made up almost solely of lows thus far.
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Isak’s miserable season could take a turn for the worse in the spring, meanwhile. Sweden need to beat Ukraine and then either Poland or Albania to secure a 2026 World Cup spot via the play-offs.
And though the Sweden camp gave off a rather underwhelmed vibe when training under Potter for the first time, the former Newcastle talisman is throwing his weight behind a man who remains something of a coaching legend in Scandinavia.
Alexander Isak backing former West Ham United boss Graham Potter in Sweden’s World Cup mission
Potter famously took one-time minnows Ostersunds from the third tier to the knockout rounds of the Europa League.
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Taking Sweden to the World Cup following a disastrous start to the qualification campaign under Tomasson, then, would only cement his status as a managerial icon in the northernmost regions of European football.
Graham Potter during West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
Photo by Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“It’s very early. We’ve had a meeting, and we’ve talked a little bit on the side,” Isak told Aftonbladet this week. “But there’s not a lot of time to get to know each other either.
“I got a very good impression of [Potter] at the meeting we were at. I know that many people feel the same way about what he is like as a person and leader. The team and I are very optimistic.”
Isak has scored only 16 goals in 56 Sweden caps. This will be a record Potter will be desperate to improve, with he and the similarly out-of-sorts Gyokeres representing the nation’s best hope of reaching a tournament they have not graced since Russia 2018.
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Potter reunited with former West Ham coach Linus Kandolin shortly after taking his first leap into international management. Kandolin spent a few months working with the goalkeepers behind the scenes at West Ham – the Swede took a real liking to young Finn Herrick – but departed alongside Potter in September.
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FIFA World Cup Trophy is displayed during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Potter has no ‘regrets’ about his West Ham career, though, despite lasting only eight months in the job.
“No, I don’t think there’s too much time for regrets,” Potter said during a press conference in his new role. “Everything is a learning experience.
“[West Ham] is a fantastic club with great people and I really enjoyed myself there. The training ground, Rush Green, is a wonderful place.
“It’s football, if you don’t win enough then we all know the consequences as a head coach and I respect their decision and life moves on.”
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