With Mika Väyrynen’s transfer to Leeds United complete, what kind of player have the Yorkshire club signed, and after being left out of the starting line-up for Finland’s last two matches, what is his future role in the national team?

I must confess, I am a big fan of Mika Väyrynen. When following a small club or country who are not expected to win very often and who do not have players of great technical ability, like Finland, one begins to appreciate the players who work hard, do the simple things well, and at least make things difficult for the opposition. Väyrynen is definitely one such player, and I have enjoyed watching him play for the national side. Looking back at what I have written about him before, over the course of the past year, I have variously described him as strong, combative, and having a good presence in the midfield. In short, he’s a scrapper.

Väyrynen’s football career began at the youth level with teams from Lohja and Kirkkonummi, but his senior debut came for FC Lahti, alongside his future Finland team-mate, defender Petri Pasanen. He was only 17 years old at that time, but quickly established himself as a regular first-team player, playing 36 times and scoring 11 goals in two seasons for his club. Those statistics reflect that he has played most of his club football in fairly attacking roles, whereas nowadays he usually plays in a more central position for the national side – see comment.

For the 2001 season, he moved to FC Jokerit, who had finished six places above Lahti in both of the two seasons Väyrynen had been playing for them. The move did not pay off for him, however, as the Helsinki-based Jokerit finished second from bottom and were relegated, despite Väyrynen’s 30 appearances and four goals. The team’s performance was not a reflection of Väyrynen’s own ability, and after relegation he secured a move to SC Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie, a big step up in his career. Interestingly Heerenveen held negotiations to buy out Jokerit in 2004, but Väyrynen’s former club was eventually bought out by HJK and reformed into their reserve team.

Väyrynen’s career continued its upward trajectory at Heerenveen, where he made 40 appearances in his first two seasons and then 61 in the two after that, when the club finished fourth and fifth in the league. He played in a variety of positions, including behind the strikers and on both wings, scoring a total of 17 goals. It was as a Heerenveen player that he was first called up to the national team, making his debut in 2002 in a 2-0 friendly defeat to South Korea. He broke into the Finland first team about a year later, after being considered one of Finland’s best players in two important qualifying matches for which he had originally been omitted and was only called up due to another player’s injury. He has represented his country at least six times in every year bar one since then.

His performances for club and country were enough to secure him a transfer to PSV Eindhoven, one of the Netherlands’ three biggest clubs alongside Ajax and Feyenoord. Things did not get off to the best of starts with PSV, as he picked up an ankle injury in his first match which kept him out for four months. He managed only 11 appearances in his first season with the Eindhoven club, and unfortunately never managed to cement a first-team place after that. A potential move to Derby County fell through due to another injury, this time to his calf.

The move to PSV was an opportunity for him to play at a much higher level, but it didn’t materialise, primarily due to factors outside his control. His time there drew to an end after he was asked to vacate the number 7 shirt ahead of the 2008/09 season, even though there wasn’t another player to take it. He was then quickly sold to his previous club, Heerenveen. Three seasons there went reasonably well, though not spectacularly, and he succumbed to yet another injury, to his knee.

That brings us up to the end of the last season, when Väyrynen’s contract was not renewed, despite playing 30 matches and scoring eight goals for Heerenveen. He took his time finding a new club, waiting until after the transfer window had closed before going for a medical, as he was permitted to do as a free agent. He seemed to be on the verge of re-joining his Finland and former Lahti team-mate Pasanen at Red Bull Salzburg, travelling to Austria to have a medical with the club. That move was so advanced that Heerenveen even published a story about it on their website, before it fell through due to Leeds United’s interest.

Väyrynen’s move to Leeds has now been completed, meaning the midfielder joins up with Finland striker Mikael Forssell, best known in England for a prolific goalscoring spell with Crystal Palace and Birmingham City in the first few years of the previous decade (I have also written a profile of Forssell, if you’re interested). Suddenly Finnish football fans have two reasons to follow Leeds’ progress in the Championship.

Without wanting to stereotype them completely, Väyrynen’s new club Leeds United have something of a reputation for being, let’s say, tough. Stronger and more unpleasant words have been used, but they have their origins in the past, and I have a suspicion that they are somewhat unfairly used these days. Nevertheless, on the surface at least, Väyrynen would seem to be a good fit for Leeds, and vice-versa.

As for the national team, Väyrynen came on as a substitute in both of Finland’s two recent qualifying matches, perhaps indicating that head coach Mixu Paatelainen wants try some younger players in central midfield. I am quite sure he will return to a regular starting position once he has found his feet again in club football. I have suggested he could captain the side before, and I still believe that. At the very least, he will continue to be an important part of the squads, and at 29 years old, he’s still some way short of retirement.

In summary, Väyrynen’s long career has taken him to the Champions League and international qualifiers, playing alongside such illustrious team-mates as Patrick Kluivert and Phillip Cocu at club level, and Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä at international level. He has been all-too frequently the victim of injuries, which have been the main thing holding him back and which could yet return to hamper his career as he approaches his 30th birthday. He is an able and willing box-to-box midfielder, and once he has regained full fitness, I fully expect him to succeed at his new club.

And just how do you pronounce his name? Finnish players tend to have their names mangled by English fans and commentators, so here’s a guide to make sure you don’t make the same mistake. Admittedly it’s not an easy name, mainly because of the “äy” vowel combination, but try saying it like this: Mick-a (not Mee-ker, the short “a” at the end is like the “u” of “udder”) Vow-roo-nen. Emphasis is on the first syllable in all Finnish words, and roll the “r” for extra points. If you want to hear me saying it, you can listen to this short MP3.

With the national team searching for a striker to fill Mikael Forssell’s boots in the near future, one candidate making a splash in the domestic league is 21-year-old Teemu Pukki.

Teemu Pukki was one of a few Finnish players to catch my eye during HJK’s 5-1 demolition of RoPS last night. He scored one goal, HJK’s third, by keeping his cool in a one-on-one situation when the opposing goalkeeper did not, and he set up two more. His movement was causing problems for the RoPS defence throughout, though his service was limited in the first half by some wayward midfield passing.

In fact it’s been a good start to the season for Pukki, who has now notched up five goals and four assists in eight matches, putting him third on Veikkausliiga’s “power list“. This marks the best period of his career, after a couple years at KooTeePee and a fruitless spell at Sevilla in Spain.¨

Pukki’s senior debut for KooTeePee came at the age of 16 against HJK, the team he now represents. In two Veikkausliiga seasons he made 29 appearances and despite scoring only three goals, he did enough to convince Sevilla to whisk him away from his hometown club, aged 17, to join their youth set-up. Chelsea of England were also reported to be interested. The signing of such a young domestic player by a relatively big European club made the headlines in Finland, and created some excitement about his potential.

At Sevilla, Pukki first appeared for the reserve side, known as Sevilla Atlético, in the Spanish second division. His debut was marked with a stunning long-range goal that won the match for his team and only continued to build the hype surrounding him. In a further 16 matches that season he only managed another two goals, as his team were relegated.

The next season, 2009/2010, did not go at all well for Pukki or his team, who would have expected to finish near the top of the table, but ended up 15th, just one point and one place above a relegation play-off. Pukki did make his first team debut in that season though, in January 2009. That turned out be his one and only appearance for Sevilla, and his playing time for the reserves dried up when a new coach was brought in mid-season.

In the summer of 2010, with the Spanish league season over and the Finnish one a little over half-way complete, Pukki moved from Sevilla back to Finland, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract to play for Veikkausliiga champions HJK. He was immediately involved in their matches, making seven appearances in the remaining part of the season, scoring two goals. This season he had already doubled that figure after the same number of matches.

Pukki has also represented Finland at senior and youth levels. He was the leading scorer in the qualifying stage of the 2007 European Under-17 Championship, and went on to represent Finland under-21s 21 times. His full debut came in February 2009 in a friendly against Japan. He has three senior caps, the most recent coming in May last year, but only 74 playing minutes in total and no goals yet.

The curve of Pukki’s career was at its lowest point around the start of 2010 when he wasn’t playing any competitive football at all, but since his return to Finland it’s taken an upward turn and is now at roughly the same level as before he left. It’s hard to assess his future potential: perhaps he has benefited from his training at a top club, or perhaps he has suffered from a lack of playing time, highlighting the danger of young players moving away too early in their careers. But if he maintains his current level of performance over the course of this season, I can’t see him being anywhere other than in the Finland squad when it comes to the three home matches to be played by the Eagle Owls this autumn.

The other contenders to be Mikael Forssell’s successor as Finland’s number one striker are Mika Ääritalo, on the scoresheet today as TPS won the Turku derby 2-1, his club team-mate Berat Sadik, and the slightly older Roni Porokara of Germinal Beerschot. Of those four, Pukki is definitely the one I’m most excited about.

It feels like it’s been a long time since I updated this blog. Primarily, I found it difficult to work without my laptop, which was being repaired for the best part of a month. But I would have made more of an effort to write on here regardless, had there been anything notable to report about the Finnish national team. As it happens, it’s been a quiet period.

It’s now just a little over a week before Finland taken on San Marino at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, a match they must win, should win, er, will win. I’ll be providing my usual preview and analysis pieces to go with the match, but first, it’s time to take a look at a player who seems to have come to the end of the international road.

If I may cut to the chase, Sami Hyypiä has quite simply been one of Finland’s greatest ever football players. As well as being their joint-second highest capped player ever, he has won the most coveted prize in club football, the Champions League, with Liverpool in 2005. On an individual level, he has featured in a UEFA Team of the Year, and holds a special place in the hearts of the fans at every club he has played for.

But it wasn’t always going to turn out that way. As a boy, Sami was a keen ice hockey player, despite both of his parents being footballers. His mother was an amateur goalkeeper, while his father played in central defence for Pallo-Peikot, a team from the nearby city of Kouvola. That would also be the younger Hyypiä’s youth team, after he had finally been persuaded to follow in his father’s footsteps, swapping pucks and ice for balls and grass.

Hyypiä’s first professional club was MyPa, whom he joined in 1992. The team won the Suomen Cup that same year, and did so again in 1995. His performances in the latter season were enough to earn him a trial with Newcastle United in England, at the age of 22. He has been quoted as saying that he just went “for the experience”, and after the Magpies declined to sign him permanently, he joined Dutch side Willem II instead.

Within four years in the Netherlands, Hyypiä had gone from being a junior player to his club’s captain. 1999 was his final year there, but he went out on a high, leading Willem to second position in the Eredivisie and earning them a precious Champions League spot for the following season. He wasn’t to take part in the competition with Willem, however. Greater things awaited: Gerrard Houllier’s Liverpool signed him for a mere £2.5m – cheap even then.

Hyypiä would go on to repay that investment many times over, and has been described as “Liverpool’s best signing in the last 10 years“. Much like he had done at Willem II, Hyypiä rose quickly through the club hierarchy and began occasionally captaining the side from central defence in the 2000/01 season. The role was given to him on a full-time basis in 2002, and he kept it for two years until it was handed to a young Steven Gerrard.

A string of team honours came Hyypiä’s way at Liverpool, including an “alternative treble” in 2001 of the League Cup, the FA Cup and the then-UEFA Cup. In 2005, Hyypiä was part of the Rafa Benitez side which so dramatically clinched the Champions League after being three goals down at half-time, becoming only the second Finnish player to win the big prize, after Jari Litmanen had done so with Ajax exactly ten years earlier. He played a key role in the second half, when Liverpool switched to a 3-5-2 formation in an attempt to claw back the deficit.

Years passed, and as his legs aged and slowed, younger centre-backs like Daniel Agger came in to challenge Hyypiä’s position in the Liverpool team, and his appearances became more limited. The 2008/2009 season was to be his last with Liverpool, after “nearly a decade of unblemished service“, winning every trophy except for the Premier League. The players and fans gave him a warm send-off as the season came to a close.

Hyypiä continued his career with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. While Liverpool plummeted from 2nd to 7th in the league in England, Leverkusen became one of the toughest teams to score against in the Bundesliga, and Sami was named as the defender of the opening half of the season (before the winter break). He has continued to play for Leverkusen since.

It’s almost easy to forget that, during such an illustrious career, Hyypiä has still managed to make over 100 appearances for the Finnish side. His achievements with Finland haven’t mirrored those at his clubs, but he has still been a towering central defender and an inspirational leader. It’s no surprise that he’s captained Willem, Liverpool and Finland; he is an intelligent footballer whose “first yard of pace is in his head”. He’s also been a consummate professional for his entire career, always making headlines for the right reasons and never for the wrong.

Sadly, his career seems to be winding down now. He has a year left on his Leverkusen contract, after which he intends to take up a coaching role there, despite rumours that he could become Finland’s assistant manager. Hyypiä has called for younger players to be brought into the national team, but I doubt he will be the one to oversee their introductions; at least not yet. I expect he would have played next week against San Marino, if only to say goodbye to the home fans in a game Finland will be expecting to win comfortably anyway, but he suffered an ankle injury a couple of weeks ago and now faces a race to be fit. As I’ll be going to the game, I hope he makes an appearance, even if it’s not with football boots on his feet. Should he decide to retire from the national team, the crowd will want to give him the farewell he deserves.

The second player to be profiled on this blog, reflecting his strong performances in Finland’s two recent qualifying matches, is Roman Eremenko.

Roman Eremenko is part of a footballing dynasty, or at least what passes for one in Finland. His father Aleksei Borisovich Eremenko, more commonly known as Aleksei Eremenko Sr, was a professional footballer in the Soviet Union before signing a contract with Finnish side FF Jaro in 1990 and moving to Finland with his family. After a season on loan with OLS Oulu, Eremenko Sr spent most of the remainder of his playing career in the Finnish Premier Division with Jaro and HJK, and is now the manager of Jaro. His two sons, Roman and Alexei Jr, both grew up in Finland and began their footballing careers there.

Roman and his older brother have achieved something their father did not, however: they have played international football. I don’t know whether or not they would have chosen to play for Russia had they been given the opportunity, but their Finnish citizenship has allowed them both to have solid careers for their adopted country. Alexei Jr, aged 27, has picked up 46 caps and 13 goals, while Roman, 23, has 30 caps and one goal to his name.

It is Roman that I wish to focus on here, though, so impressed have I been with his displays in a Finland shirt since I began writing this blog. The national team has managed only one victory in that time, in a friendly against Belgium, but that hasn’t stopped a few players, including Roman, putting in impressive individual performances.

Playing in a defensive midfield position, his tackling and passing abilities have been in evidence, but the thing that has impressed me most has been his composure. Even when others around him have been giving the ball away and making mistakes, he just seems to keep his head, which is not something that can be said of many 23-year-olds. If you watch the videos of the Moldova or Netherlands matches again, compare his performance to that of Tim Sparv alongside him and you will see what I mean.

But enough of my gushing. Roman began his playing career with Jaro, unsurprisingly. After coming through their youth system, he made nineteen league appearances for the Veikkausliiga side, becoming an important player for them in the early 2005 season, before being snapped up by Italian side Udinese for an estimated €300k; big money for a relatively small Finnish club. As is so often the case, he found first team opportunities hard to come by after his move, getting onto the pitch only 13 times in four years at the club.

A short-term loan to Siena in 2007 was a little more productive for the midfielder, and he was rewarded with a new contract at Udinese upon his return. That was still not enough to seal a first team place with the club that held his registration, however, and another loan move followed, this time to Dynamo Kyiv. After a year in the Ukrainian capital, during which he helped Dynamo to their thirteenth league title, he sealed a permanent transfer there with one week remaining on his loan deal. The fee was undisclosed but thought to be around €5m.

He has remained with Dynamo since then, and has now entered the second year of a five-year contract. By all accounts, he has acquitted himself well in the Ukrainian Premyer-Liha – he is a regular starter for the most successful club in the country, and is usually amongst the highest-rated players by the fans on the club’s website (except when Andriy Shevchenko plays, obviously) – and is now emerging as a key member of the Finnish national team too. He looks to have a bright future ahead of him.

NB: Estimated transfer values are taken from transfermarkt.de.

The first player in (hopefully) a series of player profiles on this blog is Finland’s main striker, Mikael Forssell.

Mikael Forssell has become a fixture of the Finland side. His talent was recognised at an early age and he made his debut for the Huuhkajat at 18 years old. That was eleven years ago, in 1999; only injuries have kept “Miklu” from picking up more than his 68 caps in that time.

After coming through HJK Helsinki’s youth system, Forssell made his first appearance in the Finnish Veikkausliiga aged just 16, and a year later he was already on his way to Chelsea in England. As is so often the case with young talents moving to “big” clubs, he found his playing time limited, making it very difficult to break into the first team. This led to a number of loan spells, first with Crystal Palace, then Borussia Mönchengladbach and Birmingham City. In total, Forssell spent four years playing at other clubs while still in Chelsea’s employment.

Despite flitting between clubs and suffering from a recurring knee injury, Forssell managed to make 33 appearances for the national side while he was a Chelsea player, scoring 11 goals in the process. One of his best performances in a Finland shirt came in June 2001, as he scored two goals in the first half of a World Cup qualifying match against Germany which ended 2-2.

In 2005, Forssell completed a £3m transfer to Birmingham City, but he was unable to replicate the same form he had produced for them while on loan, and his contract was allowed to expire in 2008, paving the way for the striker to move to Hannover 96 in Germany, the country of his birth. His debut came in a remarkable pre-season match where he scored 10 goals in a 23-0 victory over an amateur side, but he was unable to find the same scoring touch in the Bundesliga, scoring only seven goals in 32 matches over the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Forssell’s next 38 international appearances resulted in only eight goals, three of which came in a 5-1 demolition of Macedonia in Tampere in 2005. That match aside, seven goals in 37 appearances gives a strike rate of one goal every five-and-a-half matches, significantly down from the one in three he achieved in the first half of his career.

That brings us up to date. What should be made of Forssell’s career overall? Unfortunately, Forssell hasn’t been able to fully realise the huge potential he showed for the Finnish youth teams, and in one season at Birmingham in particular where he scored 17 goals. It would be harsh to blame the player himself, as injuries and a lack of playing time during his formative years at Chelsea have been big potholes in his path.

Forssell’s main strength is, or has been, his ability to convert chances into goals, and he remains a highly important player for Finland. As I discussed in my team analysis, Finland don’t have a lot of options up front, so Forssell’s international career looks like it is far from finished. The team will be hoping he can rediscover his form to help them through their Euro 2012 qualification campaign.

A story that broke today is that Rapid Wien of Austria have made an approach for Forssell, who has fallen down the pecking order at Hannover and is unlikely to feature regularly in their starting line-up unless other players succumb to injury. If he is to reach full fitness and sharpness, he needs to be playing as much football as possible, and so the move would seem like a sensible one. It seems that the biggest stumbling block is (if you read my previous post, you can probably guess:) money. Rapid cannot offer the same pay as Hannover, so unless the German club subsidise Forssell’s wages after he leaves them, he may well stay put. I shan’t go as far as to criticise him if he does stay where he is – how many of us could honestly say we’d move to a new country to receive less money for our work – but I really do think he would benefit from the extra playing time. Rapid are also in the qualifying stages of a European competition – the Europa League – which is more than Hannover can boast.

I follow Mikael on Twitter, and in the last few weeks he’s made two particularly interesting tweets. One said he sat on the bench for 90 minutes in Hannover’s first league match of the season, and one before that said that he missed a penalty while the team were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal, a domestic cup competition, by lower-league Elversburg. Could that have been his last action at Hannover? We should find out by the time the transfer window closes in eight days’ time.