– I think we have taken some steps! That’s what Håkon Grøttland, head of coach and player development in the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), says about the prediction he presented at the job interview in 2013. Before the U21 boys kick off the EC, the first U21 championship the men have qualified for since 2013, Grøttland found the documents from the time he convinced the NFF that he was the right man for the job. He remembers the interview well to this day. On the other side of the table sat Stig Inge Bjørnebye, then head of development in the Norwegian Football Association, and had asked him to prepare a speech in English about his thoughts on the future and potential of Norwegian football. Håkon Grøttland is happy that Norwegian football collectively takes player development more seriously, as he experiences it. Photo: NFF “Take care of that powerpoint” Bjørnebye wanted to check whether he took up a challenge and that he could speak well for himself in English. Up for grabs was the job as professional manager for player development in the NFF, one of the most important roles in Norwegian football. – I really wanted that job, I’m passionate about Norwegian football, but I didn’t think I could get it. But I went there with great faith that we could achieve something if we agreed on the course, Grøttland says today. In the interview with the NFF, which was a second interview, Grøttland explained what he thought was needed for Norwegian football to realize its potential and speed up the development of Norwegian football players. – At the time, I felt that there was a lack of clarity about the Norwegian model and how we should work. I think the interview went well, and afterwards Stig Inge told me that I should take care of that “powerpoint” so that I could take it out in a few years. I happened to do that now, and it’s fun to read in 2023 what I hoped 2023 would look like, says Grøttland. List best case points for 2023 At the job interview, he listed a number of points that he thought must be key values in Norwegian player development. news has gained access to the document. Photo: NFF It was clear: the NFF was completely content to develop players who could meet the demands that would come in 2023, he stated in 2013. And ten years later, Norway has produced world stars on both the women’s and men’s side – and from behind there will be a number of enormous talents. – I am proud on behalf of Norwegian football of the work that has been done, because it is not about me, but Norwegian football has managed the resources and expertise in a good way. We are in a good place when it comes to player development now, says Grøttland. In the job interview in 2013, he also listed four “best case” points for what Norwegian player development would look like in 2023. Photo: NFF – I think we are there today, says Grøttland when news reads out the four points. He takes us through point by point: Point 1: The NFF has ownership of the model, but the top clubs play the main role – We have a very clear course and a clear model where things are connected. That is what is unique, as a whole we have managed to place the role of the wider clubs, the role of the top clubs and the role of the football association in the middle. We have defined how we will work together, and there we are. Point 2: They take care of the most dedicated players – We manage this as a result of having a broad model and taking in many players when they are 12-13-14 and giving them challenges and inspiration. I think we have found this, we are giving the dream a chance for many. How do we define a talent? We are very concerned with ownership of our own development and that it must lie at the bottom, they must take responsibility themselves. We have been good there. Point 3: NFF develops players with different qualities – There were alarm-alarm ten years ago, then we were in the Barcelona fog and we mostly only produced midfielders. Now I think we get a much greater variety of player types, he says. Point four: – Some of the crudest Uefa has seen This, which is about interaction and interplay between clubs, circles and confederations, is part of the reason why he dares to state that he has succeeded in his vision. The NFF recently had a visit from a delegation from Uefa. The European football confederation visits all the nations to carry out a survey of how each individual confederation works, he says, – They said bluntly that “the model they have for player development is one of the crudest things we have seen”. – Did they say it outright? – Yes. Because it is based on interaction, and that width and top go hand in hand. I will be careful not to use too many words in my mouth, but when it comes to interaction and sharing expertise, Norway is at the top of the world. Interaction between the club, association and ring, that everyone moves in the same direction and agrees on the course, he says. news has contacted Uefa for a comment on the Norway visit, but so far without success. – But someone will probably say that Norwegian football has stopped producing and developing good defensive players in recent years, and especially stoppers. What do you think yourself? – I think we are in the process of bringing out more exciting types, and especially backs. But there is still work to be done, undoubtedly. The centre-back role is not what it was 10-15 years ago either. There have been fewer entries in the box, and the demand for speed and ball skills has become greater. We must become better at identifying and developing more stopping pairs with speed in their legs and who contribute actively in the attacking game, he believes. Erling Braut Haaland has gone the way most people dream of. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – Player development revolution Today, ten years after he had the aforementioned job interview with the NFF, the head of player development in the Norwegian Football Association states that Pila is seriously pointing in the right direction. – We are in the midst of a player development revolution in Norwegian football now, and now we are really starting to get paid, he states. Grøttland believes that the 90s was a playing style revolution in Norwegian football, the 2000s was a facilities revolution, while the period we are now in will be looked back on as the time for a player development revolution. The top clubs have earmarked 90 million annually of the media money for player development over the next six years. There has also been a fivefold increase in the number of coaches in the football academy. In 2010, there were 42 full-time employees. Now there are 202 full-time employees plus 52 in part-time positions, Grøttland says. – And this will increase further. At the same time, we now have over 130,000 children and young people playing in a broad club which is certified by the NFF as a “quality club”, and the women’s side is well on its way to structuring its investment in player development, says Grøttland. Hugo Vetlesen is an example of a player who has been cultivated as a result of increased investment in player development in Norwegian clubs. Although it’s bleak for the A national team, things look brighter further down the line. Grøttland is looking forward to following the 2000 cohort in the upcoming U21 EC, a cohort that has done something that no other cohort in Norwegian football has managed, to qualify for the U17, U19 and U21 EC. At the same time, only four nations have managed to qualify for both the U19 and U21 European Championships this summer. These are Portugal, Spain, Italy and Norway. That makes U21 national team manager Leif Gunnar Smerud proud, and Smerud, like Grøttland, is confident that the arrow is pointing in the right direction. – I am very happy that Norwegian football is moving in that direction, says Smerud to news. U21 national team manager Leif Gunnar Smerud is looking forward to the future. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB U21 manager believes the progress at U-level comes from a combination of many factors. – Klubbane’s increased focus on talent work, in collaboration with the national team academy from central Hald, is one part of that. I also think the way we have played with the U-national team in recent years has had a lot to say. We see that we are bringing out better players and have let them develop and exposed them to more difficult tasks. We may not have beaten the best very often, we do that from time to time, but we have dominated and outplayed quite a few teams with whom we are actually historically equal, says Smerud. Take self-criticism It is also not the case that the Norwegian Football Association beats its chest and just says it is satisfied with the work that has been done in the last ten years. They also admit that they have failed in some areas. – For ten years while I’ve had this job, I’ve had a bad feeling and conscience that we don’t give the dream a chance to everyone, says Grøttland with a sigh. He states: We still have a job to do in smoothing out the differences on the boys’ and girls’ side, and furthermore that we have taken too lightly the growth and maturation of young players. – We had a gut feeling, but never really went into that matter. We haven’t given the dream a chance with those players who are late physically developed and physically inferior. Many of them disappear in our model. They have now decided to do something about it. They will soon introduce “future teams”, which are their own national teams for late-developed players, as VG recently mentioned. – If you are physically developed a little earlier, it goes without saying that you have some advantages in the game when you are 14-15-16 years old. We have been aware of that, but have not gone into it properly. We are now doing that and introducing a so-called “future national team” which will be a national team for players we have a lot of faith in, but who at the moment are not fully up to the mark physically. They should be given the opportunity to challenge themselves, says the NFF boss. Who hopes that measure tolerates time and age as well as the one he presented at the job interview ten years ago. news broadcasts Norway’s matches in the U21 EC on TV and radio. Norway opens the group against Switzerland on Thursday evening at 18:00.
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