The condition of the field affected the Huuhkajie’s plans.
Markku Kanerva watched Slovenia’s fireworks from the side of the field. EPA / AOP
Huhkaji’s extremely important European Championship qualifying match ended with a 0–3 defeat. The head coach Markku KanervaWe wanted clear answers to that.
In the opening period, Finland was badly beaten by Slovenia’s press.
How did the coaching react when it was noticed that the press could not be broken in the opening period?
– The purpose was to play over the press and get longer passes to protect our top players. The idea was to be able to play in the midfield, where with the help of Glen Kamara, a three-on-two situation would have been achieved. We didn’t succeed in that.
– Was the reason then the quality of the passes or the choices? It remains to be analyzed, Kanerva answered.
In goal kicks, Finland often looked for a long opening placed in the right intermediate lane Benjamin Källman towards. Even then, Slovenia took possession of the ball.
The weak natural grass of the Stozice stadium affected the game plan.
– Our backup plan was that if our opening play didn’t work, we would play in an empty area – for Källman. The balls didn’t always come to him, sometimes they went to the middle.
– The pitch was bad, so we didn’t want to forcefully open up the ground into the midfield. We knew exactly the solution model. A few times we played short, and then we were screwed.
A message to the team
During the break, the coaching emphasized that risks had to be minimized and boldly played a long ball towards the attackers.
Finland had hopes of a miraculous rise from the canvas. Slovenia defended low at times, and Huuhkajat tried to solve the block. Once it worked out great Joel Pohjanpalon and By Daniel Håkans with a combination.
Jan Oblak stretched out his hand in the way of Håkans’ shot, and the 1-2 reduction was not born.
– We talked about face washing, and we succeeded in that. One or two goals could have been scored from the spots.
That was also Kanerva’s message to the team after the match.
Nine points to come
Benjamin Šeško, who scored two goals, drove the Slovenian audience wild. EPA / AOP
The EC competition place is no longer in Huuhkajie’s own hands. The way the loss in such an important match came was a huge disappointment for the team.
– Of course, the coach bears the responsibility. Was the game plan wrong? Was there a mistake in the implementation? I bear the responsibility.
– Were the player selections wrong? You can always speculate. It’s the media’s job to speculate.
On Tuesday, Finland will face Kazakhstan at home. It’s the first of three forced wins.
At the same time, Finland needs help from others to overtake Slovenia. Slovenia still plays against Northern Ireland, Denmark and Kazakhstan.
– Our only seam is to win our next three games. It’s not easy, but it keeps hope alive.