Scoutmania

Ilves handed KuPS their first defeat in 2025 with a 3-0 victory.

Ilves, managed by the impressive Joonas Rantanen and featuring multiple Finland U21 players such as Kalle Wallius and Oiva Jukkola, played with a 3-2-5 in possession, where the back three and midfield two were well-drilled to maintain possession and five players in between the lines. In Ilves’ variation, there were many intricate passing and attacking patterns where players displayed neat techniques in tight areas. KuPS, managed by ex-Inter Turku coach Jarkko Wiss and featured Finland U21 player Doni Arifi, played with a 5-4-1 out of possession, where the front 5 pressed together as a unit (the winger and CM shortened the distance to defend as shown below), and the back 5 worked together as a solid unit.

KuPS played with a lopsided right-hand side in possession, where the right centre back Arttu Lötjönen is positioned as a right back, allowing the right wing back Saku Savolainen to push further forward and the creative attacking midfielder Otto Ruoppi to drift infield, with the attacking players gathering in central positions as Wiss desires. Ilves adopted the man-marking strategy to force KuPS players to receive the ball under pressure, a common theme seen in this year’s Veikkausliiga (for example, when teams press Stevie Grieve‘s SJK). Though the first half was cagey, Ilves’ pressing scheme worked and they had a slight territorial advantage.

2nd half goals

With Ilves having an advantage, they looked for ways to capitalize on their advantages based on the slight successes they had found in the first half. They recognized opportunities to press and transition as KuPS did not clear the ball far enough, and Oiva Jukkola broke the deadlock with a precise strike past Austrian keeper Johannes Kreidl.

Ilves also had some corners in the first half and looked to capitalize on these set pieces. For the second goal, a well-designed set piece saw Lauri Ala-Myllymäki move away from the substitute keeper Aatu Hakala to the far post area, where he won the first header unmarked and Matias Rale pounced on the ball to score the 2nd goal (see image below). Marius Söderbäck finished the game off with the 3rd goal as KuPS was trying to chase the game.

Here is the player who stood out in this match:

Oiva Jukkola (Ilves), left wing-back (born 2002)

The Ilves wing-back scored the crucial first goal to break the deadlock. He was very dangerous running forward with the ball and often found the right passes. Defensively, he was part of the back 5 and marked the opponent well, though he was susceptible to the inside run.

With many technical players on the Ilves side, his robustness, strength and speed will allow him to stand out and make the next level – I project that he will be in the Swedish Allsvenskan next year. The question, however, is which of these Allsvenskan sides will buy a right-footed left wing back. We have seen the likes of Kaoru Mitoma succeed in this role at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, where he attacks as a winger and defends as a wingback in a lopsided system.