Robert Vilahamn interview (SK86) | OneFootball

INTERVIEW: Chris Brookes IMAGES: Tottenham Hotspur/Shutterstock & Sports Press Photo

If Robert Vilahamn was hoping to make an instant impression at Tottenham Hotspur last season, the popular Swedish coach certainly achieved it. What he might not have bargained for was setting off a feelgood factor that even brought personal serenade from his new public.

A managerial Robert is now so in style in the Barclays WSL that there are twice as many in the league this season (it’s true, check the stats). Taking the tally up to an emphatic two, Aston Villa’s recent appointment of Bayer Leverkusen’s Robert de Pauw might not have been a direct result of the impact enjoyed by Robert Vilahamn at Tottenham, but his first year in England had ticked many a box.

Spurs’ belief in the former BK Häcken boss – and perhaps, with a thought of growing interest from elsewhere – was such that a new three-year contract this summer was as warmly received as any on-field signing. With a first FA Cup final, and a jump of 13 points and three places (to 6th) in the league, players’ collective and individual progress sparked in tandem with driven, empathetic management and progressive on-field principles.

Nobody is keener to stress the point of a collaborative effort than Vilahamn, and maybe that polite humility was just another reason for supporters to start singing his name (to KC and the Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’); a deep-rooted trend towards managers in the men’s game but far rarer in women’s football.

“When it went online, at the (Wembley) BOXPARK for the FA Cup final, I think that was the first time I heard it,” he recalls. “Then some friends started to sing it as well, because they felt like it was a good touch!”

“I just felt in the beginning a little bit embarrassed; I’m not used to that. I’m not that kind of manager who wants to be in the centre all the time, but on the other hand, I’m here for the fans.

“I’m here to do something for this club and for the fans, it’s not for me, and when they enjoy what I’m doing, I’m very happy that they show me love, because without them, why should it be fun to come here? Of course, it makes me proud; people want to feel loved, right?

“And I feel it from them. It makes me very happy.”

They head into the new campaign able to draw upon that energy, though Vilahamn knows that the good grace now comes with slightly different parameters – there is always greater pressure on a sequel after success the first time around. September has begun with the standout signing of ex-Everton and Manchester City wide forward Hayley Raso, bringing the experienced Australian international back to the WSL after a year at Real Madrid.

Fresh competition has also arrived at the back, provided by another Aussie, in Clare Hunt (joining from Paris Saint-Germain), and Southampton’s England Under-23 Ella Morris. Sweden left-back Amanda Nildén returns on a long-term deal following a half-season loan from Juventus.

Their business so far has been carefully considered, aiming to complement what their manager feels is already a potential-packed basis. Spurs have been as high as 5th in their five-year WSL history, under Rehanne Skinner in 2021/22 before the relegation battle of the following season.

Vilahamn notes ‘a clear pattern that it’s hard to stay up there’ for any team that starts to gain ground on the leading sides. He suggests that knowing when to stick rather than twist could be the key to Spurs mounting a sustainable challenge.

“When I look at the transfer windows for the clubs, there’s a lot of new players all the time, trying to find the best luck, and you can do that, but it’s quite hard in women’s football to scout different leagues, because the leagues are quite different levels, to be honest. It’s not really that clear yet, because it’s still a lot of progress (being made) in all countries.

“When I look at it, ‘Okay, should we go for a lot of new players? Should we go to this league and that league?’ and then I just realise that I think we should do the opposite. I think we should keep working on the environment we have and make it really professional, make sure everybody understands how we want to play, and keep the squad and make sure we find five, ten per cent more in that squad.

“I hope that we can take steps and not focus too much about the gap to the top three, because it’s a big gap, it’s bigger than I expected, but it’s still possible. I think the environment, the development, the core group we have here, could actually be the thing that gets us closer to them; when the time is right, we’re going to beat them as well.”

Not every hunch pays off, of course, and even the best-laid plans can fall flat. Before returning for pre-season, his summer switch-off with wife Sofi and their two children included a trip west that turned out more petrol-station pasty than authentic Cornish treat.

“I went to Cornwall first, and had terrible weather; it’s a beautiful place, but when it’s bad weather, it’s not so fun! It was raining and it was quite cold, but it was nice to be there.

“And then I went to Uganda (with his Vilahamn Soccer Academy) for a few days, and then Greece and Sweden.”

Fortunately for their 14-year-old twins, Alvina and Kaspian, football has been offering plenty to capture their imagination while away from home. Much more settled since finding a Swedish school in South West London with a familiar curriculum, visiting Dad at work also has its perks.

“My son was a really big fan of both Grace Clinton and Celin Bizet, he liked their style of play, and also Molly Bartrip. My daughter, she kind of likes everybody in different ways.

“It’s quite fun to speak with your kids and they actually have reflections on the players and how they play; it makes it more important for me that I’m doing this with my family. We were here watching the men’s first training game and they met all the players and shook hands with them, and they feel like they’re a part of the men’s team and the women’s team.

“It’s quite good to give your kids your workplace, because that’s why we moved, and I think it’s important for them to see why we are here.”

The link often drawn between his liberal-minded footballing ideals and that of men’s team manager Ange Postecoglou is not just a convenient comparison, but a choice of deliberate alignment by the club. Turning pro with two-time UEFA Cup winners IFK Göteborg at 16, Vilahamn made his way as a master marksman in Sweden’s lower divisions.

Coaching standout forwards at BK Häcken like Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius and Chelsea’s Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, the work done last season to improve the conditioning and ignite the potential of Spurs attacker Jessica Naz saw her go all the way to an England debut. While the year brought memorable flashes of the team’s creative promise, their standing as the WSL’s sixth-highest scorers (and the sixth-best defence) perfectly depicts the stage of their development.

Vilahamn’s commitment to entertaining play was the frequent focus of media questions, though it was actually not always his way.

“I tried quite early to find my pathway to become a professional coach abroad. My first year (at Ytterby IS men), we were winning 1-0, we defended very well and had counter-attacks, but then I realised not too many people will want to sign me as a coach if we have that style, because it’s quite boring.

“I started to realise if I want to find my way out in Europe, I need to develop players and I need to play attractive football; my profile should be ‘brave, attacking coach.’ Then of course, when Tottenham came around and we found a good match, I cannot go back from that!

“There’s no way back now, so it’s going to be even more attacking football.”

Their season’s headline WSL victory, a landmark first success (1-0) over rivals Arsenal, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December, had followed consecutive league losses – 7-0 at Manchester City and 4-0 at home to Manchester United. The former comes heavily into Vilahamn’s thoughts as he is asked of any ideas that he decided to rethink during his first year.

“I think I went too quick with the high press. We pushed quite a lot with the press and made sure we’re a brave team, and we had some good success in the first four, five, six games.

“That was good, but when we got a knock against Man City, I said at half-time, ‘No, we don’t go back, we keep pressing them,’ and then we lost 7-0. That was quite tough, because then you realise it’s not always about the identity and how we play, we also have fans and a brand that we need to take care of; we cannot show a Tottenham team that loses 7-0, that’s not acceptable.

“I needed to go back a little bit to my DNA with the low block and stay compact in some parts of the game, especially against the top teams. That’s good, though, because now we have that, and we can try to keep pushing again for the high press.

“I actually think I developed even more bravery in how we play. I think the way we played in some parts of the game was the best that any of my teams has played it.”

An unguarded approach is something he has no plans to pull back on in his media communication. While his warmth in interviews was evident from the season’s outset, he would also soon emerge as the antidote to press-conference mundanity, meeting every question with straight-shooting, calm honesty, and on numerous occasions, fascinating detail.

Reporters would quickly appreciate a manager willing to answer questions rather than concocting a technique to avoid it.

“I’ve been around football for many years, and most of the coaches…it’s really boring! Because they say the same stuff, they don’t want to open up, and I get it, because if you open up too much, you can get it back at you.

“I get that, but I promised myself from day one when I went into this work that I’m going to be myself, I’m going to be very polite, answer all the questions. I’m going to take criticism, I’m going to make sure I’m not getting too many emotions, and I’m going to still keep answering your questions, because I think both us and you guys want the same stuff – we want to make sure the product gets better.

“I want to make sure I speak with freedom and what comes on my mind, and if I make a mistake in that, that’s exactly what I want from my players (to be brave enough to try), and then you deal with that. I’m still going to keep pushing myself to be better and open, and I think you enjoy it as well, because then you also get some more stuff to write about than just ‘one game at a time, blah, blah, blah.’”

Pressure on managers to get results is an increasingly-pertinent topic in the women’s game, which can lend itself to short-term thinking. The casualties of such a dynamic are often a club’s youngsters; will a coach care about how good someone may prove to be in the future, when their job is on the line at this very moment?

In his commitment to working with bravery, one-time Örgryte IS (men’s) Under-19 coach Vilahamn is vowing to give Spurs’ prospects a platform to break through.

“For me, it’s very important, because you create an identity, how you are as a coach, and that’s me, that’s my personality in that, and I will never change that. I want to make sure we find more of a pathway, that’s why we signed Ella Morris, because I feel like she’s definitely one of those future Lionesses, and perhaps she’s quite close to that, if we can find the right way directly for her.

“We’re going to make sure that the squad should include players like Lenna (Gunning-Williams), so that the step to actually get minutes is closer. I want to control the development; I don’t want to just send them on loan and hope that they get better, I want to make sure I do it on my own.

“Man United did it with Grace (Clinton), and that’s good for them, she came here and was good, but I want to do it for my players. We’re going to develop players for the next stage and not just buy the players who are at the next stage.”

Hope and excitement at what may lie in store is a sentiment they hope will only increase in the coming months. The kind of euphoria sparked by reaching the FA Cup final, after Martha Thomas’ header sailed in slow motion into the Leicester net deep in extra-time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, resonated on a scale not yet seen in the women’s team’s history, opening the door to a tidal wave of added interest and coverage before Wembley.

The climb begins again in 2024/25 with faith in the set-up that they are shaping together, and a coach whose affable manner should not be misconstrued as satisfaction at simply smiling and taking part.

“I love people who love what they’re doing, so if you don’t have the passion, it’s very hard to work with me, because you’re going to take my energy instead of giving me energy. Because I’m trying to give energy all the time.

“This year, we’re trying to make sure we take it to the next level – how can we make sure that players push themselves to the next level? I don’t want to push them, I want them to push themselves, in the environment we create, so I’m calling it the self-determination environment.

“We’re going to give the players everything they need physically, mentally, and technically, so if they need something, they have it, but they need to take command of it. That’s the next step for this group, to make sure we’re not only happy and enjoying it, we need to push each other as well, because winning is also about the standards and daring to push yourself to the next level.

“I think that’s what you love being in, when you’re in that kind of group where everybody cares, but you can also be yourself, and you can play with freedom.”