Thomas Dennerby: ‘My Thailand home, best place for relaxation’

After the African Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana, Super Falcons  coach Thomas Dennerby would most certainly turn his attention to a befitting  holidays with members of his family.

Work without play can, after all, make Jack a dull guy and no wonder, the Swede squealed that the perfect place to recharge his energy away from the sometimes maddening football pitch is nowhere  than his country home in Thailand .

“Trying to take good care of my family (is one of my  hobbies),”  the 59-year-old who already has grandchildren says without equivocation about his DIY ( Do It Yourself) attitude.“ I´m not a carpenter or painter but there is always something to do when you have your own house.

“When I´m home, there is always something to take care of. During wintertime I like to go to my house in Thailand; it´s a perfect place to get good recreation.

“In Sweden, I have my wife, all the children and grandchildren. Sometimes it´s tough to be away but we always trying to have quality time when I am in Sweden.

“This winter, everyone will come to Thailand. So I have the opportunity to be together with them all for about two to three weeks. Very nice.”

There is nothing like having a nice family and Dennerby is undoubtedly proud of his kinfolk.

“My wife is working with the Swedish FA and she is the team coordinator for the national team U-17 boys’ team; she is also head of office and reception. She is working full time.

“Our daughters; one is working at the economic department, the other working at the bank. My son is also working with a government regulatory department. My grandchildren are small but the older boy is playing in the 17-year-old team while the younger ones are playing just for fun.”

But life is not all about fun for Dennerby who is adroit in his chosen coaching profession.

He led the Damlandslaget-Sweden women’s national team to two FIFA Women’s World Cup and finished in third position at the 2011 finals held in Germany. He was also in charge of the team at the 2009 UEFA European Women’s championship finishing as quarter finalist as well as two Olympic Games football tournament where they reached the quarterfinals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Dennerby is the second expatriate to handle the Super Falcons – after Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere led the team to their maiden appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991.

“No problems at all,” declared  Dennerby  after being probed about the challenges of coaching Super Falcons prior to the AWCON loss to South Africa last weekend.“ I have been in this business for a long time (since 1989) and I`m aware of all the challenges that can show up. But you need to be experienced to live in another culture and handle some issues you do not normally do.

“I´m used to have a budget to follow. Within this budget, I am used to being able to decide by myself where and when to go to camps, where and when to monitor players and so on.

“Now everything takes a little bit longer time because I cannot decide anything by my own. The things I´m not used to are all administrative things. In other words, the longer processing time. I accept it and trying to focus on the team.”

Incidentally, Dennerby’s debut with the Super Falcons ended in a crushing 8-0 defeat to France   international friendly in Le Mans last April but the girls rebounded with a 7-0 spanking of Gambia over two legs to secure a berth for the defence of their title in Ghana 2018.

But before travelling to Ghana for the 11th AWCON, Dennerby gave insight into his personae and work ethics in an interview with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN. Excerpts…

From Le Mans to Cape Coast

I really don´t care so much about that game (against France). It was the first time the team came together for 17 months. Long trip, late arrival and so on. I hope it was a wakeup call for everyone involved in Super Falcons. You can´t bring the players in after so long a time and think they will perform as a team. The players are human beings, not machines. It doesn´t matter how talented you are, you need to practise and play friendly games to create a really good team. Of course I know all about the history of the team (Super Falcons). And of course I want us to be one of the best teams in Africa. But I’m also aware that women’s football is under strong development. Other countries are putting in a lot of efforts to develop their national teams. To consolidate our position, we need to bring the squad together on a regular basis. Absolutely every time there is a FIFA open window. And my mission is to come closer to the best teams in the world.

Between coaching men and women teams

For me, no difference at all. I´m a professional coach with professional players. I don´t care if I´m working with men or women. I only care about how much effort they put in to develop themselves and the team. I´m very strict when we talk about defending. You need to know exactly what your team mates are doing. It´s very important for the individual and the team. We use zonal defending and zonal marking. Offensively, we have a ground plan, but it is also very important for players to feel free to use their own creativity. The ground plan and the philosophy is the same every game. But we change the match plan and tactics depending on the opponents. I think they follow the template very well. Always trying to improve.

Nigeria at France 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup

To come to the quarterfinal is definitely okay. It´s getting tougher and tougher for every championship. More teams are coming up and develop very quickly. Defensively, they played very well the first three games, maybe they struggled a bit against Spain in the quarterfinal. The attacking play was okay. Not so many scoring chances and creative attacks. But you need to know that they played against very good teams. Definitely, there are some really good and talanted players in the U20 squad. And you will probably see some of them when we pick the next squad for the Super Falcons.

Lessons from  the WAFU tournament in Cote d’Ivoire

It was a young inexperienced team; players from U20 and a few players from the domestic league with more experience. No abroad/professional players in the team. I think it was a really good tournament. Five games, not defeated over 90 minutes. The only team in the tournament that didn´t lose any game. We only lost on penalties against Ghana. The most positive was to give young players experience for the future.

AWCON qualifier against Gambia

First of all, our defending was outstanding. Only one scoring chance against over two games. Very, very good. The team really worked hard to stay compact and follow the match plan. Our attacking play was also good, I think we have more than 15 attempts in each game. The difference between the first leg and the second leg was that we were sharper when finishing in the second leg. I also think it was an advantage for us to play on turf/artificial grass; the crucial passes were so much better in game two.

Past experience going to AWCON 2018 

I have been to two World Cups; two European championships and Olympic Games with Sweden’s women national team, so I have the experience about playing at big tournaments on how to work and how to show up. You must have plans for every possibility because sometimes you start well but finish badly or sometimes you could start badly and end well. We have to make the players relax and focus on the next game without putting them under unnecessary pressure.  Of course, we have 11 players on the field at a time and what should be the responsibility of each player is how to make my team better from my position. They just have to be relaxed to do their jobs and trust their teammates. There won’t be any problem if they have such attitude and mentality at the tournament. Our ambition is to win the tournament but importantly to secure our ticket to the 2019 World Cup in France. Of course, we know it is never going to be easy because there is a big improvement from many teams; so it is important to have preparation if you want to win games.

Feel good factor about coaching

I really like meeting young people every day because it makes me feel young also. It is nice to see if you can help them with development and improvement of their performance; and I always like to tell them positive things that can help their game. I am open-minded and I make sure players can come to me any time. I will answer them and help them; so I am here to support and coach the players.

Handling pressure

There is always pressure for the head coach and you have to live with that. I am old and I’m 59 years now but I am lucky to have experience from two world cups, two Olympics, two European championships and as head coach for so many clubs as well as playing in the Champions League. I have won a lot and I know my own feelings; what can I do for the team before the game, during the game and so forth?  But we can just focus on our jobs and do not speculate too much; I think we are going to have a good tournament in Ghana.

Keeping fit

It is my job to be a good example. Though I am 59 this year, I try as much as possible to be fit and healthy.  At my age, you can keep yourself fit by going to the gym every morning to do some sit ups, push-ups and jogging. If I look unfit, I  will not be a good example when I’m on the field.