“Everybody wants to see Graham Potter,” observed Tyler Terens, a commentator from Fox Sports, and that was the case on Saturday in a packed press room in the bowels of the spectacular Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico.
Ten cameras trained on the Englishman as he sat next to his Sweden captain Victor Lindelof, discussing topics from the advantages of not being Danish, through teaching at Leeds Metropolitan University, to “the best football experience of my life”.
Dispelling suspicions that recent stints with Chelsea and West Ham United damaged the reputation established by Ostersunds, Swansea and Brighton, here was a content and confident Potter on the eve of leading his adopted country in their World Cup opener against Tunisia.
“I’m older and wiser,” Potter told the South China Morning Post during a press conference that lasted more than 30 minutes.
“I think life teaches you to deal with ups and downs… when you’re young, you want to succeed and you want to win, and I think every human being has those desires. It’s normal.
“But, sometimes, when things don’t go your way, and you don’t get what you want, you can learn a lot from that. You can grow.
