Potter’s gamble: Isak and Gyokeres light Sweden up

Graham Potter still remembers the first time he saw Alexander Isak’s name in 2016, and a decade later he’s pinning Sweden’s World Cup hopes on a striking partnership that once again looks like it can change matches. Against Tunisia, Isak and Viktor Gyokeres fo

For Graham Potter, it wasn’t just another scouting story. It was a moment that stuck.

In April 2016. AIK travelled to play Potter’s Ostersunds in Sweden’s Allsvenskan. and there was a name on the team sheet that looked like a mistake to most people: Alexander Isak. a 16-year-old making a surprise inclusion. Potter admits he wasn’t too disappointed at the time to see an unknown teenager handed his debut.

Then Isak scored the second goal as AIK won 2-0. and at 16 years and 199 days he became the youngest player to ever score in Sweden’s Allsvenskan. Within a year. he won his first international cap and signed for Borussia Dortmund. and Potter’s view of that “unknown teenager” flipped for good. “Learned a lesson there. ” he smiled. telling the tale to English journalists in London before setting off for the World Cup. joking that Isak liked to remind him of it every so often.

Now, a decade later, the same striker — and the player he’s often paired with — sits at the centre of Sweden’s World Cup ambitions.

Potter. tasked with reviving Sweden’s hopes. knows the key is not just Isak. but maximising his talents alongside Viktor Gyokeres. Potter’s predecessor Jon Dahl Tomasson had struggled to modernise the team and lessen their reliance on the old 4-4-2 they adopted from England. In the process. Tomasson managed to disable Sweden’s biggest weapon: the two strikers born a year apart in Stockholm. operating at their peaks in the Premier League.

Potter has both.

He took charge in November and says success at the World Cup would rest heavily on keeping the pair fit and firing — and finding a formula that suits them together. The problem was simple: he couldn’t name them in the same squad straight away. Gyokeres was ruled out of the November qualifiers due to injury before returning with a bang for the play-offs.

His hat trick helped blow away Ukraine’s challenge. and an 88th winner sealed a 3-2 thriller against Poland in Stockholm to secure a World Cup place. Isak, though, sat out the play-offs, recovering from a broken leg. Gyokeres also missed the first of two warm-up friendlies. just two days after Arsenal lost on penalties in the Champions League final.

Potter only had the pair together for 63 minutes against Greece in a friendly, but when he unleashed them against Tunisia in Monterrey on Monday, it looked like a plan finally clicking into place.

Sweden’s front line set the tone early. Isak and Gyokeres formed the front two in a 3-5-2 system. It wasn’t a clean return to the old 4-4-2 days — Potter used wing backs rather than wide midfielders — but it was close enough to make the intent feel familiar. Jesper Karlstrom anchored deep in midfield, allowing Yasin Ayari and Benjamin Nygren to support the front two.

The result was a platform that made Gyokeres’s physical strength and running power a constant threat as he stretched Tunisia’s back line. It also gave Isak the licence to drift left into the channel, where he’s been dangerous during his time at Newcastle.

Ayari stole the show anyway. Sweden crushed Tunisia 5-1, with Ayari netting two wonderful goals. The win was Sweden’s best World Cup result since they fired eight past Cuba in 1938.

Potter insists the styles are complementary, not conflicting. “They’re different in styles, which is good for us,” he said. Potter first encountered Gyokeres when he was appointed Brighton manager in 2019, with the Swede already at the Sussex club. Gyokeres. young and impatient to score goals. pushed for a move. leaving for spells at St Pauli in Germany and Swansea. before a loan at Coventry that became permanent and proved a catalyst for his career.

Potter says that attitude left a strong impression — and he dismisses the criticism Gyokeres has faced since joining Arsenal.

“From our perspective, he scored four goals in two playoff games, got us to the World Cup, so his impact is incredible,” the Sweden boss said. “From Arsenal’s perspective he’s played his role on the team, scored his goals.”

He pointed out what Gyokeres has still achieved despite the noise. “They won the Premier League and got to the Champions League final and he played in most of those games. but he still gets the criticism. That’s just the world we’re in. Just look at him and how much work he does and how he goes about his business. He’s an incredible character.”.

The numbers behind that argument are hard to ignore: only Harry Kane (98 goals) and Kylian Mbappe (83) have scored more in Europe’s top leagues than Gyokeres (82) since August 2023.

Isak’s recent league tally may not match his partner’s pace. but his pedigree in Sweden’s structure remains central. Isak ranks inside the top 15 of that list despite scoring only three since the £125m move to Liverpool. That debut season at Anfield was miserable. with problems settling into a team in transition and a three-month spell out with a broken leg.

After Sweden’s 5-1 win, Potter had a message that sounded almost personal — a reminder that player careers don’t follow straight lines, no matter how promising a signing looks.

“It’s fair to say it probably hasn’t gone as well as he or anybody would’ve liked,” Potter said. “We sometimes make the assumption that when you sign a player, automatically, it’s going to improve everything.”

He’s lived that cycle himself. From success at Brighton to quick-fire sackings at Chelsea and West Ham, Potter knows football carries no guarantees. “Everybody’s career can go up and down,” he added. “The quality of the person and the quality of the player is undeniable.”

Against Tunisia, the signs were there. Potter said it was encouraging to see Isak recapturing fluency in that form, and he believes the combination gives Sweden a serious goal threat — the kind that can turn a strong start into an enduring summer.

He doesn’t compare this squad to every previous campaign, but the reference is clear. Sweden’s attacking options once included Martin Dahlin. Kennet Andersson. Tomas Brolin and Henrik Larsson during their run to the semi-finals at USA 94. Potter believes Sweden can build something similar — with caution.

The caution is about fitness. and it has become part of the job description for the man now trying to keep momentum alive. Potter is determined to be careful with Isak’s fitness. Isak has not played a full 90 minutes since his injury in December. After almost a full shift of 89 minutes against Tunisia. he trained apart from the rest of the squad over the next few days.

The Swedes explained the absence as part of Isak’s personal recovery plan, and he is expected to be ready to face a Netherlands team featuring Liverpool teammates Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch in Houston on Saturday.

It’s a match that will put Sweden’s new attacking picture under immediate pressure. But after the way Isak and Gyokeres shaped Sweden’s 5-1 demolition of Tunisia — and after Potter’s long memory of that 16-year-old’s breakthrough — the pairing doesn’t just feel like a tactic.

It feels like a belief made visible.

Graham Potter Sweden Alexander Isak Viktor Gyokeres World Cup Tunisia vs Sweden Yasin Ayari Monterrey Virgil van Dijk Cody Gakpo Ryan Gravenberch Arsenal Liverpool Brighton