“Players need to be made to work better together”

The Finnish men’s national football team suffered its second consecutive defeat in the League of Nations. At home in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina won an eventful struggle from 3 to 2. Star striker Edin Dzeko made two of Bosnia’s goals. Sports Experts Miika Nuutinen and Markus Halsti raised three essential points about the match and the June crunch of the League of Nations.

Defending the Owners’ own territory raised questions already after Saturday’s match in Romania, and the same questions also hung in the air after the Bosnian factory scored three goals for the Finnish network.

– The big picture is that the games we see now are kind of different from football Markku Kanervan used to see. More is happening at both ends, Nuutinen says.

For example, in the winning goal finished by Dzeko from Suomen Toppare Richard Jensen flowed really deep and partially covered Lukas Hradeckyn field of view. The ball hit Dzeko’s shot still in front of Jensen Miro Tenhon to the foot and from there to the finish.

– In such co-operation between toppers and goalkeepers, Finland has previously been good and has managed to eat the finish line with blankets and blocks so that part of the paint is nailed down, Nuutinen describes.

– It requires organization, but also synergy between players. They need shared experiences to find interactions with each other.

Last fall, the Owners quit Paulus Arajuuri and Joona Toivio formed the top pair of the national team for years. Due to the traffic jam and injuries, Finland used as many as six different toppers in the four games in June, not all of whom had played together before. According to Markus Halst, a former Huuhkaja topper, it also has a significance.

– Of course that needs to be raised. If you take Tenho, for example, it’s not easy to get into it when there are new players next to it and, in general, the Owls are in the process of talking about a more active game.

The most prominent new player on the Huuhkaju team in the June matches was strong in midfield against Montenegro and away against Bosnia Lucas Lingman24. The midfield player from Helsingborg impressed the experts with his selection of passes.

– I looked at his game really positively. He is clearly grown up from what he was still a couple of years ago. I myself knew his ball skills and it was great to see the discipline and how he is able to hold the ball and make timely passes, Halsti says of last season’s HJK teammate.

– His left leg is an x-factor, you don’t always know what’s going on. He was definitely the biggest success in my eyes.

Nuutinen sees Lingman and who joined the national team last fall Urho Nissilän as a natural part of the gambling transformation of the Owners.

– Lingman and Nissilä are strong ball players. It is not uncommon for Finland to visit Romania or Bosnia and control the ball 60%, forcing the home teams into a low block. These player selections support it. Lingman and Glen Chamber are such a good duo that Finland is able to control the games against countries that are tougher than themselves, Nuutinen says.

The winners of the Bosnia match also included Benjamin Källman, 23, who has returned to the national team after a break of a few years. The skillful goal and the goal-scoring at Zenica was a hard work by Inter’s player.

– He’s making a dun mindlessly. It is really important that new winners are added to the national team Teemu Pukin and Joel Pohjanpalon behind, Halsti says.

Bosnia will advance to the September line-up of the League of Nations with a win. When Montenegro unexpectedly hit 3-0 in Romania’s away team, the Owls are in a difficult position to win the group. There are now four points for Bosnia and three points for Montenegro.

The next Romanian match ahead in September is extremely important, as the loss could slip into Finland’s relegation to the C-League. According to Nuutinen, the game path now chosen must be continued despite the pressure of the result.

– I expect the Owls to continue in this same way. A lot of information and many pain points have been obtained from these matches. Now we must not change everything, but start to develop the chosen things for the better. I believe this is the right path for these players. You just have to make the players work better together, Nuutinen says.

The exceptional start of four matches forced the teams to make even major line-up changes, which created a unique challenge for the coaching and also for the players. All players from the Finnish team got a three-minute goalkeeper Carljohan Eriksson except for.

The block solving games are ahead in September. The owls meet first in Helsinki, Romania, and then in the Montenegrin guest field in Podgorica.

– I hope to get all the best on the field in the last two games. Now we are digging the data, looking at where there is room for improvement and continuing on the same path, Halsti says.

Highlights of the matches of the Finnish national football teams can be found in Areena here.