'Sometimes coaches want to feel like God.' Henrik Rydstrom has rejected the idea of positional play, winning the title with Malmo by doing it another way.
The story of how Malmo's Henrik Rydstrom became Europe's most innovative coach begins in 2006. He is playing for Swedish side Kalmar against Dutch club FC Twente in the third round of the now-defunct Intertoto Cup. They have won the first leg 1-0. The trip to the Netherlands for the return match will end in defeat. A humbling defeat, as Rydstrom remembers it. 'We did not have the ball at all,' he tells Sky Sports.
' Malmo fooled plenty of teams in 2023, regaining the Swedish title in Rydstrom's first season in charge. But he has still experienced resistance to his ideas. 'The biggest challenge has been the supporters and the media,' he says. 'Especially when you don't win.' Rydstrom has not been testing out his theories in academy football or on a computer game. 'Winning is important otherwise I lose my job.