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Meet the Barcelona coach turning this into Sweden’s best football club

Sergi Angulo from Barcelona talks to The Local about why he thinks that the Spanish school of football will help new team Nacka FC go all the way to the top.

Published: 20 February 2017 06:59 CET
Meet the Barcelona coach turning this into Sweden's best football club
Sergi Angulo, technical director of Nacka FC. Photo: Private

Boasting less than a handful of active players well known beyond the borders of Sweden and with few recent major international successes, either at national or club level, Swedish football is in a slump.

Enter Nacka Football Club, founded in 2015 by Joakim Orthen with an ambitious goal. To create a club providing the best football education in Sweden for young teenagers and children with big dreams.

“We're going to become the best formative club in Sweden,” its technical director Sergi Angulo tells The Local.

Angulo, from Barcelona, was handpicked by Orthen and brought to Sweden, to the suburb Nacka south of Stockholm, specifically to help set up the club during the summer a year and a half ago. It's been a fast ride.

“When I arrived here we had no structure, no nothing. Now we have four teams, eight coaches and more than 60 players (born 2004-2007). The goal is to have ten teams by September,” he explains.


Discussing strategy on the pitch. Photo: Private

The club's philosophy is based on Spanish methodology, a comprehensive and successful football strategy which, for example, helped Spain's national team win the Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

“Spanish methodology is about understanding football and how to play the ball. This means that players need to make mistakes and learn to make good decisions – that's important. In Sweden the defender takes the ball and kicks it long. In Spain you control the ball and pass it between players to have control of the game and dominate the opponent,” says Angulo.

More than the players' performance on match day that counts, though. He and the other club bosses believe that a team's behaviour off the pitch and in the training room is a major factor in their success.

“The values of the players are important. Being a good person is important, studies are important, it's important to come to training. We are a team and we work together.”

The coaches also put effort into making sure that each kid on the team gets the chance to play, whether it is in training or tournaments. “Everyone is the same and has the same opportunities. We think the most important thing for the club is that the players learn and develop. Then the club develops,” says Angulo.


The important thing is to have fun, says Angulo. Photo: Private

Angulo first started playing football back home in Barcelona when he was four years old, moving on to coaching at the age of 14. Today, he is one of Spain's youngest professional coaches with the highest qualifications (Uefa B, Uefa A and Uefa Pro) and has coached teams in Marseille, Andorra and Spain.

“In Sweden I am special. In Spain you're just 'one more'. Here I am the Spanish guy, people know you as the Spanish guy. My objective is being in professional football and that's easier for me here than in Spain.”

He says he feels like he is still learning, even while coaching the kids in Nacka.

“I am very happy because I think I'm growing in a good way,” he says.

“I love Stockholm, it's a super nice city. The culture that Sweden has is amazing. When you are a father you have months to be with your family, if you want to study at university you can do that for free. I think these are opportunities for the people. In Spain going to university is really expensive so you lose a lot of talent that way.”

His own future career goal is to keep working as a professional football coach, training adult competitive teams. But for now, he is firmly rooted in Nacka Football Club, leaving his competitive streak to the side while helping the youngsters grow. “With the kids the most important thing is to have fun and learn, not to win.”

Still, the aim is that this mindset is what will make their youngsters Sweden's future top footballers.

“In Sweden in football the physical work is very good, we don't care about this very much in Spain. But in Sweden they need to develop their understanding of football,” he says.

“Right now they're in a good place, they're changing to the Spanish way and I think that's good.”

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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