Huuhkaji’s EC qualifying games in October were rough in terms of results and performances. It’s not yet time to give Markku Kanerva a shoe, but Kanerva also needs to look in the mirror, writes sports reporter Samu Saatsi.
Samu Saatsi sports reporter
Two shocking results from October. A direct EC competition place in one blow to the winds of heaven. A herd of sheep grazing on the field in two matches.
The last two games of the Finnish men’s national football team’s European Championship qualifiers against Slovenia and Kazakhstan were, to put it bluntly, terrible.
In Slovenia, the Huhkajat were driven into the ground by a naive Game Plan and coercion. At the Olympic Stadium, Kazakhstan was favored by luck, but also the weak finish of Finland, which was successful in the opening period, and a clear discouragement in the second period.
The head coach Markku in Kanerva and his Huuhkaji only have two non-stakes EC qualifying games and January’s practice matches to turn the course before the further qualification in March.
The development of the Kanerva team’s game has become boring and it is pedaling in place. Finland has become predictable. Huuhkajat has also given up its strengths of previous years. Partly with the changes in the players, but partly because of Kanerva’s game choices.
The line of three top players, pawning player substitutions, lack of reaction during matches and leaving young players in the process out of the lineup. There is a list of criticism that Kanerva has received. Many of these are for good reason.
The final results have changed thoughts about the previously worshiped “Rive”, which led Finland to the prestigious games for the summer of 2021 for the first time. Now football people are already stating a couple of words more seriously than before:
“Ripe out”.
Not yet
It is completely understandable to think that the revival of the team would happen by firing Kanerva and putting a new name in his place on the list. “Let’s shake the group up a bit.”
However, Kanerva still has the strong confidence of its players, which can be deduced from what the team’s players have said. There is no reason to think that the Finnish players have abandoned their head coach and his project.
The continuation of Kanerva should be considered from the point of view of whether Huuhkajat is wanted in next summer’s European Championships. Regarding the longer process, you have to look at the matter from another angle. If the sight is moved further away, then it is the right time to change from “Rive” to something else right away.
Who in Finland would even be able to turn around with the “Kanerva team” and save a place in the competition, if not the current head coach himself?
Considerable Finnish alternatives for temporary head coach would be in my own papers, perhaps only at their maximum Jarkko Wiss. And would the person from Tampere, who is concentrating on the duties of FC Inter’s head coach, have time to jump into that new, very demanding situation so that results would come? Would two competitive national matches and training games in January be enough for that?
The right kind of foreign head coach, who would have time to get to know the Finnish players and win their trust right away, is definitely not found for Huuhkaji in this time window. From the best to the best Finland has no money and no status. A temporary coach bought as a panic solution could only be a Hansbacke-like disaster.
An almost impossible task
The mapping of the future long-term head coach option (foreigner or Finnish) must be started immediately in Palloliito. Even if Kanervaa isn’t kicked out of the head coach’s lot now, his time will be up after next summer at the latest.
Criticism towards Kanerva is deserved. As the last example Glen Kamaran playing as a winger against Slovenia caused wonder on the subject. Teemu Pukki has been almost a forced choice in the starting line-up, although the level of his game has dropped considerably.
The drop in Puki’s level is also an example of how Finland’s players have changed since 2019, when the first place in the European Championships in history was achieved. In addition, every injury to a key player affects Huuhkajie’s chances of success, when the quality of the player material is not particularly extensive.
I think Kanerva still deserves the chance to finish his project.
He has a big Savotta in front of him. It may even be impossible. There should be some way to restore the players’ confidence and be able to look at themselves in the mirror.
At the moment, nothing but the result matters to Finland. Kanerva has to be able to determine which things don’t work game-wise, what he’s stuck on. A distasteful approach to what you do on the field is the only way.
Current Finnish players and fresh young faces could be included in the national team now at the latest.
The players must be allowed to play in their own places, without ambiguity about what they are supposed to do on the field. There must be clear changes to the opening of the game, when with the current model we are drifting into panic every now and then. The most important thing is to create clearer frames on the field, in attack and defense.
Above all, the ability to play football as a collective should be dug out of the national team. It has happened every time when Finland has played its best football during Kanerva.
Kanerva must therefore be allowed to continue to the further qualifiers – it is then up to “Rive” how he uses his place.
It seems difficult in terms of the race venue anyway, regardless of who is standing in front of the Huuhkajie bench.