AIK must change and rejuvenate. The person who has that task on his desk is the 48-year-old Spaniard José Riveiro.
The soccer channel meets him at the players’ hotel in Benidorm shortly after the last training session of the first week has ended. He talks about an intense start to his new job, but is also careful to point out how satisfied he is with how the club – especially the players – have received him and his thoughts.
– So far, it feels very good. There has been a lot to do. A new project to start and many new faces to get to know. But already after a week of training, I think that me and the players have become close to each other.
The very first thing he did when he arrived was to thoroughly introduce who he is and what he stands for.
– I’m an ordinary man with pretty good skills for coaching football teams. Since I was a small child, I have had a great passion for football and am very determined. I always do my utmost to lead a group of people to achieve great things together.
Then he adds what he thinks is most important.
– Above all, I am a father. Being a father is the first thing I am. And as I said to the players the other day, I’m a very ordinary person but I know the meaning of my job and the role I have to play in this group. I’m ready to help them with whatever they need and I’m ready to be honest with them to help them become better players so that ultimately we become a better team.
Riveiro realized at an early age that he would not become a professional footballer. When he was 18, he became a trainer. By the time he was 19, he had completed coaching training to obtain the B license and the following year also the Uefa A license.
– After that, I have taken small, small steps on the way to reach here at AIK where I am today.
The career started at home in Celta Vigo as a youth coach and then continued with eight years in Finland where he represented several different clubs. It was also when he started hearing about Stockholm and AIK for the first time.
– It’s not like you need to take up Google Maps to find out where Solna is or where the club is. AIK is a well-known club in Europe. It is a big club with a good structure, a powerful history and which is important for Stockholm and for all of Sweden. So I feel very lucky to be in such a club that so many people care about.
– It feels extra good to be around people who want to make things better than how things were before. And hopefully together we can make the club’s history even better.
It’s common for coaches to have mentors they look up to or other successful coaches they want to emulate. Riveiro believes that he rather draws inspiration from several different sources.
– I don’t have a style or person that I like more than anyone else. I’m lucky to be part of the Spanish coaching school which, you know, has a very good reputation worldwide thanks to coaches like Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and so on who are doing great things.
He watches an extremely large number of football matches from different places in order to constantly develop.
– I very rarely watch the matches live. I’ll wait until they’re finished, then I’ll download them and check them out later. Then I know final results and everything, but I also don’t watch football to be entertained. I check because it gives me the opportunity to develop. So these days it’s almost only for work purposes.
When AIK attracted the Spaniard to the club, there was a clear desire: Give young players the chance to a greater extent than before. That requirement fits well with what Riveiro himself wants to achieve and how he himself has worked over the years.
– What AIK said was the truth. They told us about the place they have been, that they want to take a different direction in the short and long term. That plan sounded good to me. I want to develop young players so that they can play elite football, improve the history of the club, fight for titles and go to Europe. But it is not easy to achieve such success so we need to be ambitious but also humble.
He tells how he sees the squad at his disposal.
– We have players with a lot of experience in football in general and Allsvenskan in particular mixed with young players who want similar careers. These young players will make sure that no one sleeps in training, because they want to advance and make a bigger name for themselves in the football world. And I want to help them succeed in that. AIK has chosen this path now and it suits me very well.
Are you missing a piece of the puzzle in team building?
– It is always possible to improve a squad and it is the club’s obligation to always keep an eye on the market. I think the squad is interesting and quite complete but as the transfer window is open there is always a possibility of players coming or going.
Exactly how AIK will look under Riveiro remains to be seen. He belongs to the category that believes formations like 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 are just a numbers game.
– I don’t believe in systems or formation in that way. We have to make sure that on the pitch we become superior in certain areas and to succeed we always need to correct things. Football is a complex sport in that way. I never think systems. We will play an organized game but we will adapt according to what is required.
In any case, it is clear that Riveiro is not in AIK to play park-the-bus football. There will be no handbrake. When he is asked if he prefers to win 1-0 or 4-3, the answer comes in a flash:
– 6-3!
He laughs.
– I hope the team will play the same way I would have liked to see them play if I was standing in the stands. That’s my dream. We must play attacking football and not be afraid to make mistakes. But above all step into every match to win. Every time you play a game you have to do everything to win it.. It’s one game at a time and we have to make sure we deserve to win every chance we get.
AIK is a major club in Sweden with passionate and demanding supporters. Do you like being in an environment with a lot of outside pressure?
– Yes, of course. When it comes to pressure in football, I don’t see it as something negative. If the pressure means the supporters want us to win, that’s only positive.
He is convinced that peer pressure is a must for success.
– I don’t think you can be a successful club over time without that pressure. It means that we will always want to show our front feet. If there is no pressure, there is a risk that you will become safe. Then you stand there and have finished eighth in the table and think: “okay, we’ll try again next year”. Of course, the press must be respectful and logical. But we have to understand that people care because they want us to do our best. If we do our things right and do our best, that is usually enough.
He is used to working in a club with a lot of pressure from the outside. For four years, he led the South African major club Orlando Pirates, where he lifted the team after a few years of adversity and, among other things, won three straight cup titles. Something that has meant that he is still very much appreciated by the team’s supporters.
When AIK unveiled Riveiro in early January, the club’s social media was flooded with comments from Orlando Pirates supporters wishing him well. Several of them called him “padre” (father).
Riveiro laughs when the nickname comes up.
– I don’t really know why they call me that. It just happened that way. I have a good connection with the supporters there. They are extremely numerous. We are talking about several million followers. Maybe it happened because me and the staff managed to lift the club to good results after a tough situation.
He continues:
– We managed to make the people feel hope again. In South Africa, football is very, very important and the people there really live for the club. But the nickname, I don’t know if it’s because of my age, the way I look, or maybe they see me as a father figure. Regardless, I feel a great love for the people there. The time there is among the best I have been part of.
Perhaps the AIK supporters will catch on and start calling you “padre”?
– Who knows. I just want to do my job as well as possible and take care of the players in a good way so that the supporters are proud of the team. The relationship with the supporters is something that needs to come naturally. No matter what, I will do everything to make them proud of us.
Where will AIK finish in Allsvenskan 2026?
– Where we deserve to stop.
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