Photo from Shutterstock. Graham Potter.

Jeong Hae-sung, the Chairman of the National Team Strengthening Committee, announced at a press conference at the Football Association building at 4 PM on the 21st that the capability of the next coach of the South Korean men's national football team will be judged based on the following eight criteria. The committee members are expected to bring a list of recommended coaches based on the content below by Saturday. NjT has analyzed foreign coaches according to the content below.
 

1. Tactical capability: A game plan and execution suitable for the national team.

2. Development: It is important to develop players and solve weak positions.

3. Justification: A person with achievements as a coach.

4. Experience: Rich tournament experience as a coach.

5. Communication skills: Communication with players and the association about technical philosophy. Communication with age-specific national teams.

6. Leadership: What kind of leadership is important according to the tendencies of the MZ generation?

7. The ability to assemble the best coaching staff: A human system that allows the coach to make the best decisions.

8. The ability to produce results: The ability to produce results by synthesizing all the above content.
   
   
   1. Graham Potter (born in 1975)

Currently ranked as one of the world's best coaches, Graham Potter is the number one coach on a break. Potter has passed through Swansea City AFC, Brighton, and Chelsea FC.

Known as one of the youngest coaches with the most outstanding tactical intelligence, Potter has a clear vision for the future and an innovative attitude towards tactics. Therefore, regarding tactical capability, he is a coach who deserves a perfect score of 10. He is ranked 22nd in the world's best coach rankings on Ranker.com.

Ranker.com introduced Potter as "a respected figure for his strong belief in possession-based attacking football and his dedication to developing young players." He can also be considered a leader worthy of a perfect score of 10 in development.

Before establishing himself in the EPL, Potter achieved remarkable results with the Swedish league team Ostersund. He won the fourth division league in the 2011 season, the third division league in the 2012 season, finished second in the second division league in the 2015 season followed by promotion to the first division, and led Ostersund to their first UEFA Europa League appearance in team history by winning the Svenska Cupen in the 2016-17 season.

He was selected as the best coach in the Swedish league. Moreover, he led the team to the round of 32 in the 2017-18 Europa League season and even won away against Arsenal FC. He coached Moon Seon-min when Ostersund was in the second and third divisions.

Then, he moved to the EPL in his home country, England. He led Swansea, a team with a tumultuous atmosphere, to the FA Cup quarterfinals and recorded 43 wins, 43 draws, and 48 losses in 134 matches with the underdog Brighton. Potter was praised for leading the underdog Brighton well for four years, and in the last season, he even led them to fourth place.

However, he repeatedly struggled at Chelsea and, after being criticized for a lack of strategic ability, left the team by mutual consent before his contract ended. In terms of justification and experience, Potter could receive around 8 points, especially since the lack of international football experience is pointed out as a disadvantage.

Former Celtic and Barcelona player Henrik Larsson commented on Potter's game pattern: "He used all kinds of systems. He started some games in one way, switched to another system in the middle, and finished with a third one. And all the players knew exactly what they had to do."

Currently considered one of the world's best coaches, Pep Guardiola is a "big fan" of Potter, saying, "Watching his (Potter's Brighton era) games, analyzing them was a pleasure." Guardiola continued, "Brighton players moved freely at that time, and everyone knew what they had to do. They had the courage to play anywhere."

In 2021, when Potter was doing well, the British BBC Sports also mentioned him as a future candidate for the England national team coach.

Considering the words of Larsson and Guardiola, he could receive 8-10 points for criteria 5 to 8. However, due to the severe criticism at Chelsea, it doesn't seem very easy for him to receive perfect scores in these four categories. A coach must prove everything with results.

Although South Korea has many star players, it is not as much as Chelsea, and since Potter achieved good results with Brighton, it seems that he would somewhat match South Korea. Not being familiar with national team football is also a slight disadvantage.

The author would like to give the following scores to Potter:

1. Tactical Capability: 10 points

2. Development: 10 points

3. Justification: 8 points

4. Experience: 8 points

5. Communication Skills: 8 points

6. Leadership: 9 points

7. Ability to Assemble the Best Coaching Staff: 7 points

8. Ability to Achieve Results: 8 points

Total Score: 68 points