“Playbook discussion is a negative thing for many”

The game of the Young Lions had improved by leaps and bounds after two losses.

– Right from the start, it was striking that the game looked different. The break was spent going through the playbook, Iltalehti’s expert Pekka Virta thank.

Finland practically decided the game already in the first period.

– If Finland fell down, the attackers continued to move again. It produced superior powers and the lead of the game, Virta times.

The structure of the game was best seen in the defender Jesse Pulkkinen finishing and I flew to Hämeenahon as well as the captain who collected top powers 1+3 Jere Lassilan in the priming 2–0 hit.

– Defense with five and a counterattack goal from that, Virta describes a stylish hit.

– The piers came from an exchange. They didn’t stop when they didn’t go straight up but picked up speed from the bottom.

Pulkkinen rightly squeezed himself into the attack front and was able to shoot Hämeenaho’s wonderfully timed cross pass into the roof of the puck’s goal.

The principles of the game

Even after the loss against Germany, Virta had to state that it was “really hard to see” what kind of game Finland wanted to play.

Now the principles of the game came out well.

– Tight five-man play, defending together, quickly grabbing the puck and putting pressure on it with five players, Virta enumerates.

– The opponent becomes even weaker. Latvia even seemed to be in the wrong lineup and still haven’t scored. It was not able to attack when Finland defended closely, and when they attacked closely, there were no oops situations.

Virta reminds us that even a good game structure does not necessarily produce a goal right away.

– But it changes the rhythm of the game to your advantage. The game slowly builds to the point where you get the upper hand and the opponent has to kill the underpowered. It then produces the result and the run of the game.

An echo of the playbook

Many in the home audience surely concluded that Finland’s better performance was more due to the weakness of the opposition.

According to Virra, that is not nearly the whole truth, and he praises the head coach Lauri Mikkolan the work of the coaching management led by him.

– I would also translate this so that, for one reason or another, the discussion of playbooks is a negative thing for many. In Finland, many people have got the impression that it means trampling or something like hockey.

– The way of playing has received such an echo that it would shackle an individual’s chance to succeed better.

This is not the case at all.

– Every team has the playbook they want to make. What is essential is that there is a so-called playbook and mutually agreed upon things that the team can rely on in a situation of great pressure. When playing a game together, it eases the much-talked-about banter, pressure, bad mood, frustration and tension.

– The world’s best individuals and winners are the hardest at demanding the right kind of play from other players and coaching, so that the game enables ultimate success and winning.

A cooperative game

When the structure of the five-a-side game is in order, individuals are able to give their best within it, because they get help and support from their fellow players.

– Exactly, Virta confirms.

– If you play with insufficient support from your teammates against a team with strong support, you will lose no matter how skilled you are. Similarly, with the help of others, you will be able to excel and beat an equal or stronger team. That’s why we’re talking about a cooperative game. The team wins in the end.

– Now this had been taken care of, which of course was pleasing to the eye. Now we went right head first, and on top of this it is possible to build things that win them, such as fighting games, special situations, individual skill games, feeling, relaxation and the we-spirit.

What kind of starting point does this give for Sunday’s match against Sweden?

– The hall is full there. Hopefully the Finnish management team at least got a sense of how it feels when Sweden plays in that full hall, Virta refers to Friday night’s Sweden-Canada match in Gothenburg’s legendary Scandinavium hall.

After the victory in Latvia, there was talk about the eased condition of the Young Lions, about which Virta gives his opinion. He reflects on the matter for the upcoming match against Sweden.

– It’s hard for me to believe that anyone goes on the ice feeling relieved when the real pressure starts.

Virta remembers an example from his own playing career.

– Some coach said in a rather harsh place that there are a billion Chinese people who don’t know anything about this game. That don’t worry.

– This is talked about a lot, whether it is such an important matter. But it doesn’t work when it’s a really important thing and a cool place for those boys.

– But the point here is of course that after negative things you are the underdog and have gained a bit of your wings. Then the we-spirit and such a now-shown-spirit can rise. Let’s do all the agreed things together on top of the last one and win those little things in the game.

Virta knows that small things turn into big things in the game.

– Those are things that are not written about in the next day’s newspapers. The goal scorers are written there, but not the ones where the game will be decided. Of course, it comes down to goals, but also individual moments, turns of the game, blocks and saves.

The underdog position has often suited Finland in value competitions.

– It is now also the only starting point, so it must at least be translated as such.

The Sweden-Finland match starts on Sunday at 15:30 Finnish time.