Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.11.2007, Qupperneq 6

In Iceland, there are roughly three hundred thou-
sand coaches for the national football team. Unfor-
tunately, only one of them is employed by the Ice-
landic Football Association. As of this week, that
man is Ólafur Jóhannesson, who was announced
as a replacement for former coach Eyjólfur Sver-
risson last Monday. Ólafur has been a successful
coach in Iceland for over 20 years. At the end of
this summer, he stepped down as coach of the do-
mestic club FH after the team failed in their bid to
win the Icelandic Championship for the fourth year
running and finished second in the league. The
team only managed to land the Icelandic Cup, their
worst season since 2003. Now Ólafur will work his
magic on the pitch for the Icelandic National Team.
The team will play its first game, against Denmark
at Parken, November 21.
How did you get started in coaching?
Now there’s a story. My wife was studying at uni-
versity in 1981 and one of her classmates was a
member of a small sports club in Vopnafjörður
in eastern Iceland, called Einherji. At a party that
winter, he approached me and asked if I was will-
ing to come back east and coach his club. I had
never coached before, not even kids, but I told
him I was ready to do it. He got back to me the
next day and asked, “Remember what you said
last night?” That’s how I started coaching.
So you actually started coaching on a drunk-
en promise?
Yes, you could say that. But, yes, I went east to Vo-
pnafjörður to coach and spent three years there,
and now I’ve been coaching for over 20 years.
In 1996, you took on another small club when
you moved to Borgarnes (pop. 2500) to coach
the Skallgrímur team, and you took that team
to the top division. I want to ask what you
think is more of an accomplishment: taking
a big club like FH, full of good players and
with a lot of resources and turning them into
champions, or taking a small town club like
Skallagrímur to the top division?
That is a very interesting question and it’s difficult
to answer because being a champion was a lot
more fun. That is the biggest accolade. But at the
time, when Skallagrímur went to the top division,
that was huge accomplishment. Nobody expected
anything from that team and it was not filled with
“great football talent,” but there was great chem-
istry in the group. It’s difficult to compare, but I
think I would have to say that becoming an Icelan-
dic champion stands closer to my heart.
From a coaching standpoint, I have a feeling
that taking Skallagrímur to the top might be
more of an accomplishment.
Well, like I said, that team did not have the same
level of football talent, but the players played with
their hearts and, back then, nobody was receiving
a lot of money for playing football. It is true, that
was a very big accomplishment.
You quit as coach of FH this spring, and it
only seems fair to ask, were you already pre-
paring for the national team position then?
No, many people have mentioned this, but there
is no correlation. I had been coaching FH for five
years, it was a great time, but I think I had man-
aged to squeeze everything out of them that I pos-
sibly could and vice versa. I was invited back, but
I thought this would be a good time to move on.
I think both parties were kind of relieved when I
made that decision actually. After I announced
my resignation, I was determined to take a year
off and not coach at all this year. I was returning
back to normal, physically, and I felt great about
the decision. But when this came up, I simply
could not say no.
Did you ever have any doubts?
About taking this job? No, never. Of course I had
seen my name suggested as a replacement if [for-
mer national team coach] Eyjólfur’s contract was
not to be renewed, so I had given a little thought to
what I would say if the call came. When it came, I
never had any doubts.
Did you expect the call?
I hadn’t really thought about it previously, but
when the media discussion started I thought I
was just as likely to be asked as the other coaches
mentioned. But it never kept me up at night.
There is often debate about whether the Ice-
landic national team should focus on using
its own tactic, or play reactionary and adapt
its approach to that of the opposing team.
Where do you stand on this question?
I am still thinking about this issue. The thing is
that Icelandic football fans only demand one
thing: results. If you don’t get results, you will be
heavily criticised and ultimately ousted. The key
to getting good results is to defend. I will stress
defence heavily – playing good defence the right
way and defending with many players. I will stress
this a lot, but at the same time I realise we need to
have a plan when we have possession. You can’t
just defend and then kick the ball forward and
wait and hope for the best once you get it. I will
emphasise defence, but I want us to play a certain
type of football when we have possession. I don’t
want players to be afraid of receiving the ball and
playing football when we attack.
Are you thinking of making any changes in
the group?
Of course I’m keeping a close eye on a lot of play-
ers. But I’m not looking at making many changes
for the next game. I think Eyjólfur selected most
of our best players in our group. I don’t see my-
self adding many new names for the game against
Denmark. But a new generation of good football
players is surfacing here in Iceland.
What is a realistic goal on the football field
for Iceland? KSÍ [the Icelandic Football Asso-
ciation] has stated that they expect the team
to qualify for the finals of a big tournament
in the next 10-15 years. Is that realistic?
Look, it’s difficult to say that it’s realistic, but the
fact is that few nations are as demanding of results
as the Icelandic people. The demands are high,
but what I will demand is that when we go into
games, the players will work hard. I think they usu-
ally do that, but when they leave the pitch, I want
players to feel good about having done everything
they can. That is all we can ask for, really. If play-
ers do that every single game, I am certain that
we’re capable of achieving great things. I believe
that the gap between us and bigger nations is di-
minishing.
Do you think we could reach the same level
as the other Nordic countries then?
Yes, I believe that is a realistic goal. We have more
players turning pro so we have more players that
are training more regularly and in better condi-
tions and that should result in better football play-
ers. However, many young players leave for the
pros in other countries, just to go pro, and end up
riding the bench or even fail to make selection.
I was going to ask you about exactly this point.
It seems to be engraved in Icelandic players’
minds that they want to play in England, and
many of them go there. Do you think it’s bet-
ter for players to aim for the smaller profes-
sional leagues where they get to play, rather
than focus on the big leagues where they
might not get an opportunity to play?
Of course everybody wants to go to England. It is
the Mecca of football with the most money and
the most attention. But there’s no point going to
England if you’re not playing. You will not improve
as a football player by sitting on the bench. You
will only improve by playing competitive football
on a regular basis. I think it’s better for them to go
to smaller leagues where they will get an opportu-
nity to play. If you do well there, you will undoubt-
edly get a chance to play in a bigger league. Many
players are looking at the pay check, but hopefully
your first contract won’t be your last contract. If it
is your last contract, you are not a football player.
Good football players will get paid. There’s a lot
of money involved, so I believe they should take
smaller steps. If they do well, they will be offered
bigger deals with bigger teams.
Text by Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
I Only Ask for Hard Work
Of course everybody
wants to go to England.
It is the Mecca of football
with the most money and
the most attention. But
there’s no point going
to England if you’re not
playing.
Ólafur Jóhannesson is the newly appointed coach of
the Icelandic national football team. Photo by GAS
06 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 17 2007 | Interview