A Swedish journalist tells EPN: This is what HJK’s new head coach Ferran Sibila is like

Helsinki Football Club introduced its new head coach Ferran Sibilan to the media on Tuesday.

HJK’s director of sports Aki Riihilahti said that the selection of the head coach was a big process. According to him, HJK started the application process in November 2022, when the previous head coach Toni Koskelan there was a year left on the contract.

– We want to increase our international competitiveness and take even more young players forward through us. Sibila is on the cutting edge of modern gameplay. He is able to bring new ways of doing things both internationally and nationally, says Riihilahti.

The 35-year-old head coach Sibila says that HJK wants to be a dominating team in the Veikkausliiga, but there is still a lot to develop when thinking about the European games. He says he wants his team to play possession football.

– The goal is that we have a hard-working team that runs non-stop and counter-attacks well. We want to keep the ball, but not just in the sense that we keep the ball for the sake of possession. We have to move the ball and the opponent to find free players. When we create spaces, we have to take advantage of those spaces and be really good in the opponent’s penalty area, says Sibila.

Sibila says that she usually doesn’t want to talk about herself. However, he states that he is really precise and controlling. Sibila wants even the smallest details to be on point in every exercise.

– My goal is to set the highest standards for every working day. I believe that the desired result can be achieved with good groundwork, says Sibila.

Sibila says that her role model as a coach is the head coach of Manchester City Josep Guardiola. You can see the reasoning in the inset below.

From football consultant to head coach

Football reporter for the Swedish Göteborgs-Posten Fredrik Janlind has followed Sibila’s career closely. He praises the Spanish coach profusely, but has also recognized a problem in Sibila’s game philosophy.

– Previously, he was not ready to change or adapt his ways if, for example, the season started badly. Sibila firmly believes in her vision, but that can also be her problem as a head coach, says Janlind.

In 2019–21, Sibila worked at the Swedish premier league club IFK Gothenburg Poya Asbagh as an assistant coach. According to Janlind, Sibila has been influenced a lot by the way Barcelona and Spain play football.

– He has always said that if the team has the ball, it is really difficult for the opponent to score. But if you’re in control of the ball and don’t get as much time with it, it might not be the best way to go.

Janlind says that while working in Gothenburg, Sibila used the saying “Trust the process” in interviews and on social media.

– When the results were bad and there was still talk of trusting the process, the Gothenburg fans were quite nervous. For Ferran’s sake, I hope he has gone back on his word.

Sibila’s coaching career in Sweden really started in GIF Sundvall in 2017. At that time Joel Cedergren served as the team’s head coach.

– Cedergren applied for a coaching degree in Spain. That’s when he met Sibila, who worked as a consultant at Soccer Service Barcelona. Cedergren definitely wanted Sibila as his assistant coach in Sweden, says Janlind.

Sundvall achieved the best performance of the 2010s in the Swedish premier league Allsvenskan in 2018, when the team finished in 8th place. After that season, Sibila was chosen as IFK Göteborg’s assistant coach.

– I remember that Gothenburg’s daily and evening newspapers were at the airport opposite Sibila – that is, the team’s assistant coach. He was unbelievably popular even before working in Gothenburg.

Reporter Fredrik Janlind says that Sibila wanted to work behind the scenes, so to speak, and did not give interviews much. Janlind describes Sibila as a really analytical coach who is “even addicted to football”.

Janlind estimates that Sibila is a personable coach. In Gothenburg, both young and older players liked him. Janlind says many Gothenburg players have told him that the head coach Poya Asbagh and assistant coach Sibila’s years were the most fun of their careers, even if the results were not always pleasant.

– As far as I understand, Sibila was sometimes the brains of the operation, even though Asbaghi ​​was the head coach. Many players I spoke to during that time said that Sibila is very good at communicating what he wants in training. And that’s why he gets what he wants out of his players, says Janlind.

Before joining HJK, Sibila worked in Swedish Malmö FF as a player development coach. Won the Swedish championship with Malmö on Sunday Niklas Moisander states that Sibila is a competent football coach and a great person. Sibila pulled some exercises every month in the training of Malmö’s representative team, Moisander says.

– We have also talked about the Club. He is excited about his new role and I think he is ready for it. I really wish him the best of luck.