Long-term media expert Jukka Rönkä noticed the talents of a young football writer ten years ago. The attention of the editor-in-chief of the sports newspaper at the time was caught Jussi Leppälahten like breaking down the game in Jalkapallolehti.
– What caught Juss’s eye was that the level of analysis and the way he clearly structured things was brilliant. We started talking (in the sports magazine) that this is a fantastic guy, Rönkä recalls.
He liked Leppälahti’s style to such an extent that he published it in his own magazine. Rönga was not to be disappointed. Leppälahti’s productions aroused emotions and interest.
Now the same man is the head coach in the football Veikkausliiga. Leppälahti, 36, raised KTP to the league and is trying to keep the club up. As a coach, the man relies on the same thing as a journalist – a strong vision of the game and its details.
Cool titles and strong feedback
In the years 2014–2021, Leppälahti made Urheilulehti and later Elmo’s feedback channels sing. “Kyäna” strongly divided opinions: he was criticized as a self-loving wit, and praised for his intelligent and personal texts.
A few example headlines of old stories tell about the rabble-rousing style of the sports magazine of the last decade.
The best Veikkausliiga players Germany’s third tier – “Should we jump out the window?”
The level of basic playing of Veikkausliiga players is astonishing – “Below all quality criteria”
Why don’t coaches get fired in the Veikkausliiga? – “Damn good storytellers”
According to Röngä, Leppälahti’s detailed texts, which went deep into tactics and coaching, even hurt some coaches. The use of data analysis also annoyed the older generation. None of these were exactly what I was used to.
– We once met a coach who coached in the Veikkausliiga for a long time. He was of the opinion that we are doing a disservice to Finnish football when we use Leppälahti.
Rönkä laughs that Leppälahti did not need to be encouraged to write sharply.
– If the “Pen” was of the opinion that Jurgen Klopp doesn’t know how to coach some phase of the offensive game, so he wrote it because he genuinely thought so. He didn’t dramatize.
The editor-in-chief Konkari admits that Urheilulehti’s stories were sometimes deliberately spiced up, but there was no need for this in the case of Leppälahti.
Leppälahti feels that he has approached the work of a journalist like a coach approaches coaching.
– Maybe that’s why I wasn’t a very good journalist, but I was able to combine coaching with the work of a journalist and thus be involved in the sport. In some seasons, I got to know the activities of all the league clubs, followed the work of the coaches and watched the games in sick numbers, he said at the table of a cafe in Kotka.
– It was a great and educational time, but perhaps the work of a journalist is for more professional people than me.
The statement reflects Leppälahti. In addition to strong self-confidence, he also has an understanding of his own areas of development.
Again, a new screen location
Often when a significant sports career as a player or coach is over, many move to the role of an expert. Leppälahti’s path has been the opposite.
He does not have an extensive playing career behind him, but has had to clear his way to become a league coach through the juniors and lower leagues. Although there has been success in the lower leagues, the idea of a Veikkausliiga would not have sounded realistic just a few years ago.
– I wouldn’t have been able to imagine this, especially at such a young age, but this is great. I’ve seen that you have to have experience to get into the league, but here we are, and it hasn’t been a quick journey.
– In the lower leagues, the leagues had to be won to be able to move up. It’s pretty great when you’ve sort of played through the series and now you get to the league.
Coaching at different league levels and working as a journalist have helped to grow a thick skin.
– In 2015, I coached in the fourth division, and when it has gone up from series to series, it has always been said that now is the place for the screen. I’ve seen falls too, and my actions don’t waver.
“Even as a coach, you can’t go around”
Leppälahti does not find the situation in which he now faces colleagues who have been criticized over the years as a coach to be special. He understands that people are interested in playing KTP this season.
– If the job is to analyze playing and tell what is good and bad about it, even as a coach you can’t go around, but let’s deal with things as things are.
– The activities of other coaches are monitored in the same way as mine. Having written so much about football, and someone even read it, people may be interested in what kind of football my team is playing in the league now. It still doesn’t slow down daily activities.
In addition to the KTP, Leppälahti is also kept busy by the family, whose eyes are on their almost two-year-old daughter. There is hardly any time to study the current state of Finnish futs journalism, but he hopes for a more critical discussion.
– If KTP’s game is ineffective, it would be explained why it is ineffective. I believe there is a demand for in-depth football and sports journalism if done well. I don’t think I did it very well myself, and now others get to do it.
to learn English
In the years 2019–2021, Leppälahti coached JIPPO in Joensuu, and the trip included both the 2020 Serie A promotion and the following season’s relegation. In Kotka, KTP’s decision-makers were not moved by the relegation, but Leppälahti was hired on a 2+1-year contract in the stevedoring city.
The choice turned out to be the right one, as KTP, profiled as an elevator team, was promoted to the Veikkausliiga again at the end of last season. Coaching in Kotka is pleasant, because his parents are from the city and his grandfather won silverware in the ranks of Kotka Jänteva in the 1950s.
– The Kotka mentality is familiar. The people of Kotka are quite eccentric people, but the city is amazing, especially in spring and summer.
In 2017-2018, he coached in England at Birmingham and Northampton academies. He learned how fierce the competition is in the world, both among coaches and players.
– That’s the ethos of competing that I’ve tried to teach. When you play futs, it’s not a casual atmosphere, but things matter.
– I hope that the team and the players show that our players do everything to win. I don’t mean to shout, but the attitude is that things must be done well and properly.
KTP captain David Ramadingaye confirms that Leppälahti’s high level of requirements can be seen in everyday life.
– The stick comes from time to time if you don’t do certain things on the field. He is an interesting coach and a person who is knowledgeable but also tough. He has made a big impression.
Close-up football with the ball
Last season, in the first place, KTP charmed with its proactive and active attacking play. Now the challenge is a notch higher, but Kotka wants to stop the lift and stay permanently in the main league.
The team’s announced player budget of 685,000 euros is the seventh largest in the league. In particular, efforts have been made on the offensive end, but pitfalls may be found on the defensive end. The club signed a cooperation agreement with Venezia, which plays in Serie B, and KTP has received young loan players for the team from Italy.
In the league cup and in the opening match of the season against AC Oulu, which ended in a 0–2 loss, Leppälahti and KTP have seen where the team is in relation to the league opponents. The intense intensity has hit the eyes from time to time.
The traditional “aahtaajafutis” now has a nice spherical spice and know-how.
– We want to get the ball and be good with it, because we have strengths in that and a lot of skilled players. We try to play football so that we win games, Leppälahti line.
– The League Cup was a moderate performance, but these are always nonsense at the beginning of the season. The success of the preseason is measured by whether we get wins from the early season.
Leppälahti does not paint its own future very far yet. Long-term work has brought him from the lower leagues to the Veikkausliiga, but everyday life is lived moment by moment.
– Life outside of football is such that it can end at any time. I want to do things that are meaningful. If it goes well or badly, you can live with it, because you have put everything in the box.
When Jukka Röngä asks where he sees the future of his former protégé, the outlook is bright.
– It was one hundred percent certain that he would become a league coach. I am also fully convinced that he will coach abroad and also be successful there, Rönkä sees.
On Friday, KTP hosts KuPS in the Veikkausliiga match at 6 p.m.