Middlesbrough striker Marcus Forss was responsible for last weekend’s and perhaps the most beautiful Finnish goal of the entire season. From a difficult position, Forss acrobatically took possession of the ball and with this second touch, the ball went straight out of the air into the Sunderland net.
The goal was not enough to win, as Sunderland drew. On a personal level, Forss already stretched his goal streak to three league matches after injuries.
– A very good first touch. And another one too! A couple of times when you looked at the goal, you can see how successes feed self-confidence. A very purposeful finish. The fact that you even dare to try something like that shows that you are in the right mood, Urheilu’s expert Antti Pohja describes Forssi’s goal.
Pohja already wondered two weeks ago if Forss could be the Huhkaji’s Wildcard in next month’s European Championship qualifier against Wales. Recent successes improve Forss’ positions even more – especially since he can play both up front and on the wing.
– The setting is interesting. How are the other forwards in the moment when the match approaches? Markku in Kanerva of course, he has his own favorites and trusted players upstairs, who will start in such a so-called death match. How much do old screens talk compared to current screens? Forssi can be used by at least one active player.
About the attackers of the howlers Joel Pohjanpalo has found his goalscoring streak and scored again at the weekend, even though Venezia suffered a bitter defeat to Parma in the top game of Serie B. Teemu Pukki will not open its season in North America until a couple of weeks later after several months off.
– Interesting to see Puki’s mood. Welsh players play at a good level all the time on their home islands. In that sense, it is important that Finland gets players with a good feel for the game on the field, says Pohja.
2) Robert Ivanov and the fall troll
Robert Ivanov matured into a national team level player only at a later age. After breaking into the national team, the pace has been incredible and today he is the undisputed leader of the defense line in Huuhkaj.
At the club team level, the current season has been confusing to say the least. In the summer, Ivanov transferred from the Polish Warta Poznan to Eintracht Braunschweig, which plays in the German 2nd Bundesliga. Ten years ago, the traditional club was in the main league, but in recent years, it has seen the gap between the second and third league levels.
The fallout looms again. The coach changed in November, when the win column showed exactly one. The situation showed a new head coach by Daniel Scherning already better in the lead with a four-game winning streak, but last weekend’s loss to another relegation-fighting club, Schalke, was a bad setback.
As a rule, Ivanov has played full minutes as a starter. However, the situation is not ideal from the point of view of whiners.
– A twofold situation. The number one thing is that he is a starting lineup player. However, let’s get to the certainty of playing, especially as a defender, when playing in a team that has a lot of setbacks. Even in the national team, it would be easier to find a rhythm if the team was balanced, says Pohja.
In Huuhkaj, Ivanov has been a certainty himself for a long time, but in October, in the middle of Braunnschweig’s endless losing streak, he was overlooked in an important position. Finland lost the most important match of the qualifiers ugly in Slovenia and Ivanov apologized for his mistakes to the entire Finnish people right after the match.
– In his style of play, the importance of self-confidence on the ball is enormous in opening the game and in other executions as well. The infancy of the club team does not at least support playing where ball leadership is expected, says Pohja.
Braunschweig is second to last in the 2nd Bundesliga, but only one point away from the relegation line.
3) Lukas Hradecky’s handsome record
Finnish football’s talking points have been collected in this series of articles for the third week now, and if anyone thought that Lukas Hradecky it wouldn’t fit in this time, is wrong.
Hradecky, 34, became the foreign goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the German Bundesliga over the weekend. The record 80th clean sheet came on Saturday in a 2–0 away win against Darmstadt.
– He was at the top for a year. Quite a few of the clean sheets are ones where he specifically won with his saves and didn’t just lean on the post and dig his nose. Year after year, Hradecky is at the top of the world with his saves, leading the game and opening the game, says Pohja.
The most anticipated match of the season in the Bundesliga is coming up next Saturday. Leverkusen will host Bayern Munich, who are two points behind in the championship race.
– After all, it is a gigantic match. Now it will be weighed how mature Leverkusen is at the moment when they have to show against the big and mighty, how much is enough in terms of play. I think that’s enough.
In September, Hradecky played a top match when Leverkusen sought a valuable away point from Bayern’s home cave. Even now, a draw would be a great result because of the two point lead.
– One more clean sheet, wouldn’t that be great? The team as a whole is in good shape. In the past, Leverkusen’s games could end 6–5, but with the new way of playing and coaching, the game is more balanced. You don’t always have to make ten saves for a draw, Pohja thinks.
– It supports that winning the championship can be possible. You can’t win championships with fireworks alone.
A new episode of the 11 friends soccer podcast is published every Tuesday. You can find all the episodes in this link!