Finland was under severe pressure from England at Wembley. The opening episode with a positive tone changed to a painful second half. Two Huuhkajat players receive praise from ‘s expert.
Urheilu followed the match between England and Finland in this article.
A one-sided show. That’s what Urheilu’s football expert said Miika Nuutinen evaluates the second half of the English-Finnish Nations League match.
England captain Harry Kane settled his team’s home match at Wembley Stadium with two goals. The final scores could have been more for Finland than the 0–2 defeat seemed.
– The pressure grew big when Finland went deep and was unable to launch its attacks at all. However, compared to that turmoil, Finland defended its sixteen regions quite well. England was not able to create a big pile of top positions considering their control, Nuutinen describes.
– In the second half of the game, there was a classic increase in pressure for Finland, when the visitors could not be with the ball at all.
The change compared to the hearty performance of Huuhkajie’s opening episode was drastic. England still didn’t make big changes to their game that would have directly decided the match.
– In the game, England brought a lot of players into the middle and created challenging opportunities for their wings. The biggest problems arose in the opening period when, for example Adam Ståhl was left alone without a supportive defender Andrew Gordon against.
– For the second period, the home team did not make big structural changes, but perhaps increased the pressure a little by bringing more players into those situations, Nuutinen estimated.
The dark half of the neck
Instead, Finland made its own changes for the second period. The head coach Markku Kanerva brought to the other half of the field by Benjamin Källman and Ilmari Niskanenchanging Teemu Pukin and Jere Uronen off the field.
Especially for Niskanen, who plays in England’s third-highest league level in the First League, the England game was painful. The Finn, who became the left fullback, was involved in both of the home team’s goals.
In the opening goal, the Exeter City player gave a stray pass, from which England broke the Finnish defense and Kane pushed the ball irresistibly past Hradecky.
In the second hit, Niskanen rushed Noni Maduekea against and let the Chelsea gambler run behind him. Trent Alexander-Arnold the breaking pass released Madueke, who ran into the empty space left by Niskanen, who served Kane’s second goal of the night.
– Halftime substitutions did not improve Finland’s game. Niskanen in particular was in big trouble the whole episode, expert Nuutinen reflects.
Niskanen, who played a sad evening speech, collected a lot of criticism from the Finnish supporters for his performance. Head coach Kanerva justified his substitutions after the match in an interview with Urheilu and said that he wanted to see Niskanen play.
– I wanted to see Ilmari Niskanen in these circles. There’s nothing to it. Jere let go a few times, but played relatively well. “Immu” had difficulties. Those goals are sad. A sideline throw was missed. There was an unnecessarily aggressive press in the second goal. Those goals could have been prevented, Kanerva said.
Played against Greece Tomas Galvez was also an option for the left wing, according to Kanerva. However, Kanerva justified his non-use by acquiring additional information.
– Tomas played a good game against Greece. Jere and Ilmar now had a seam to show. More information was received for October, Kanerva said and referred to the next Nations League matches.
The reasons for the changes did not convince the expert Toni Koskelaa.
Hoskonen’s strong night and a functional counter-attacking tandem
From the opening period, however, one of the Finnish defenders put on a strong performance. Top player playing in the Polish main league Arttu Hoskonen played strongly against a world-class top player like Harry Kane, leading to many breaks and possessions.
– This game was a really tough performance from Arttu Hosko. He already performed many great defensive actions in the opening period, says Miika Nuutinen.
– He and Lukas Hradecky were the Finnish big winners of the game.
Captain Hradecky once again played to his high standard between the goal posts, pulling off several saves in the face of English efforts.
Also in the offensive direction, Finland’s performance in the opening period garnered positive marks from Nuutinen. Topi Keskinen and under the leadership of Teemu Puki, who was replaced at halftime, Huuhkajat was able to attack England’s goal.
See below the goal posts created by Puki and Keskinen.
– In my opinion, Finland got their entire top three involved in the counter-attacks. Pukki, in particular, is known to be in his element in those situations. Those situations were offered because of England’s ball choices. Huuhkajat created a couple of really good counterattacks through Keskinen.
The hunger of the young Aberdeen winger seems to have come to the fore, but composure would have been needed as well.
– Finland’s finishing in a couple of places was dependent on Keskinen’s last decision, Nuutinen summed up.
However, Finland had less room for explanation in its two opening games of the Nations League. In two matches, Finland did not get a single decent shot on goal.