According to Ari Lahti, the Finnish Football Association’s board will not discuss Markku Kanerva’s position at its next meeting.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The Finnish national football team lost the Nations League matches against Greece and England.
The Finnish team did not get a single shot on goal in either match.
Ari Lahti, president of the Swedish Football Association, emphasizes that the new project is aimed at the World Cup qualifiers in 2025.
Assistant coach Jani Honkavaara focuses on tactical skills, Tim Sparv acts as player manager and Teemu Tainio is responsible for special situations.
Finland the opening of the men’s national football team in the second tier of the Nations League was sad.
First came the 0-3 loss in Greece and on Tuesday evening the national team lost to England at Wembley. The expected goal for the London match was 1.93–0.09 in favor of the hosts, which reflects the final readings of 2–0.
The head coach Markku Kanerva stated a few weeks before the start of the Nations League that his job is to win games. In the first two matches, Finland did not have a single shot on goal.
It’s hard to score goals if you can’t get shots between the goalposts. And winning matches is then impossible.
How do you comment on Huuhkajie’s matches, President of the Finnish Football Association Ari Lahti?
“It’s good to understand that a new project has now started, the main goal of which is the World Cup qualifiers (starting in March 2025). In the same way as in the fall of 2018, a new project started, the main goal of which was the EC qualifiers. Since changes were made to the coaching team in the summer, we are now looking for something new, which was needed compared to the previous team. We’re rolling in a new game system, and of course it’s not ready yet. I am particularly disappointed with the game against Greece, where Luke’s (goalkeeper) crumbled after a good start Lukas Hradecky) to an unfortunate mistake.”
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We haven’t lost a single point yet in terms of qualifying for the World Cup.
Ari Lahti was dis
appointed with Huuhkajie’s performance in Greece, but is not about to fire the head coach.
What about the England match?
“I knew what the team tried, and it succeeded quite well, but it just didn’t last until the end. Opposite was the top country in the world. In summary, the Greece game was a disappointment and the England game was a reasonable performance. The most important thing is to remember, and this is what I told the team, that we haven’t lost a single point yet with regards to World Cup qualification. And that’s what everything aims for.”
When you did the coach survey in the spring and summer, what aspects did you pay special attention to?
“Our sports side analysts identified two weaknesses that needed to be changed. The first was that our attacking play in the last third was not at a satisfactory level, and the second was that we wanted to improve the intensity of the game.”
How was this change reflected in the Greek and English matches?
“Yes, playing in the attacking third still requires practice. It’s hard to judge the intensity, especially in the England game where we were in a different situation and had to defend. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions about the intensity of the Greece game, but I think the change was visible.”
The Finnish coaching team did not say very precisely how the team plans to play. In Sweden, head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson has brought with him a new way of playing, and in a media interview, he concretely highlighted three points that the blue-and-yellows are trying to implement on the field. Do we still live in a culture of silence in the Palloliito?
“During my time, Pallloliito has strived for openness and transparency. I knew about these things, but I don’t know why they weren’t made public. Maybe they wanted to be careful in the direction of their opponents, and they didn’t want to bring things up in the media too much.”
Markku Kanerva’s self-confidence was missing when Greece rolled over Finland at Olympiakos’ home stadium.
Huuhkaji has already been invited to Jani Honkavaara’s team, because he has taken a strong role in the development of the game process. What is the division of labor among the coaching team?
“The stories published in the media have been exaggerated. Yes, “Rive” (head coach Kanerva) leads the team and makes the final decisions. For the most part, the division of labor is such that “Honsu” (assistant coach Honkavaara) brings tactical expertise, Tim Sparv acts as a players manager between the coaching and the players and Teemu Tainio has been responsible for special situations. Rive is a team player who gives responsibility to others and gives them the opportunity to express their own ideas.”
Male choir Huahkajat. The current coaching four of the national team Teemu Tainio, Jani Honkavaara, Markku Kanerva and Tim Sparv.
Many people who have followed the national team for a long time have noticed a change in Kanerva’s body language. Self-assurance and relaxation have been conspicuous by their absence. Has the head coach’s grip loosened?
“I spent two days with Huuhkajie, and during them Rive seemed quite motivated and relieved. He clearly felt that he had made a difference. I wasn’t watching the exercises anyway.”
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The entire coaching team will participate in the analysis, and probably the leaders of our sports side, led by Aki Hyryläinen.
How are these two games analyzed in Balloliito?
“The entire coaching team and probably the leaders of our sports side participate in the analysis Hyryläinen Aki under. These are game-related matters that experts handle and it’s not my job.”
Sports Director Aki Hyryläinen plays an important role when the Huuhkajie’s sad beginning is corrected within Palloliitto.
So this matter belongs to Hyryläinen in the organization?
“This type of thing belongs to Aki. Akila is responsible for the sports side, and of course “Casa” (General Secretary Marco Casagrande) at the top. I am responsible for certain choices, such as head coach choices, but the athletic side belongs to Aki.”
Honkavaara is on loan from the national team from his main job, which is the responsible coach of KuPS. You are the main owner of KuPS. Isn’t it problematic when the head coach of the league team is away from his everyday work for ten days during the final match of the Finnish Cup and at the peak of the championship?
“Honsu’s absence is not an ideal situation, but there is an experienced (Sixteen) Boström as second coach. It is not a decisive issue, because the work has been done throughout the winter and summer. If Honsu is with the national team for a few days, it doesn’t matter.”
He’s gone for ten days.
“The team got a week’s vacation at the beginning of the international break, so the absence doesn’t matter.”
Is Huuhkajie’s weak opening on the agenda of the next meeting of the board of the Finnish Football Federation?
“In the spring, our strategy for the years 2025–2028 was announced, where one of the goals is for Finnish teams to make it to the final tournament of the prestigious championships four times during the strategy period. At the October meeting, the game will not be prepared, but the situation will be reviewed. If things do not go in the desired direction, the Huuhkajie’s proposals can be discussed in the board.”
Finland’s under-21 national team beat Romania in the European Championship qualifiers and kept their chance to win the group. How do you comment on Pikkuhuahkajie’s prospects?
“The win was a super good thing. If the youth team can keep up with the top Europeans, the more ready they will be for adult national team duties later on.”
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