Veikkausliiga 2016 preseason is now over!

Veikkausliiga preseason is over!

Another exhaustingly long preseason is now behind us. A few friendlies left, but as the season kicks off in two weeks time there are basically only competitive matches left, and we can take a look at what has happened since October 2015 when SJK guaranteed their historical title for the first time. All the signs are out there that it was not their last but time will tell.

I will talk you through what is going on here club by club, but I am not going to go into detail in transfers as it is a boring project, and not all the clubs are  even nearly ready! Surprised?

However if transfers are of your interest here is the best unofficial link to follow them.

This is how Veikkausliiga 2015 ended. Take a good look as it does reflect rather well the truth. To find the best odds at one glance you should join a betting broker called Sportmarket!

	Club	P	W	D	L	G	Pts
	SJK	33	18	6	9	50-22	60
	RoPS	33	17	8	8	44-29	59
	HJK	33	16	10	7	45-30	58
	FC Inter	33	13	10	10	45-35	49
	FC Lahti	33	12	12	9	38-36	48
	IFK Mariehamn	33	11	12	10	30-36	45
	HIFK	33	10	13	10	42-42	43
	Ilves	33	11	7	15	32-48	40
	KuPS	33	9	11	13	32-40	38
	VPS	33	8	9	16	36-43	33
	FC KTP	33	7	11	15	27-44	32
	FF Jaro	33	6	11	16	27-43	29

SJK

So it was the “new-comers” SJK  from rural Ostrobothnia who took the title. It both was and was not a shock as they were ranked 2nd before the season, but anything but a HJK title was a massive surprise and they were priced at around 10 to win. A price which did not look too appealing. Saying that they took the title is a bit misleading as HJK threw theirs away and it was for someone to grab. Anyone really, but it was SJK who sealed it on the final round in their last derby match vs relegated Jaro. A match which could had gotten the other way and in that case we would still be wondering how RoPS was the winner of the messy season of 2015!

Since October SJK have continued their professional approach. A few players have come and a few - including top scorer Pelvas - have gone, but in the big picture SJK seems to be a serious title contender also this season. A season everyone is calling a two-horse race with HJK.

The preseason results overall this year have been even more mixed than usual as the clubs did start it later than usual and the lineups have been from silly ones to serious, but in general SJK has been a steady performer and they also reached the final of the league cup which will be played this Sat at Seinäjoki vs FC Lahti. Among SJK results there is also a 5-2 loss vs Jaro, and a 2-0 defeat vs HJK which is the first sign of anything this season.  In the long list of transfers Eremenko Jr and Meite are the first ones to attract.

In the cup they were drawn to Kemi PS away and that match is scheduled for April 5th.

SJK are definitely ready for the season, but perhaps they take things too defensively to win all the matches they should and several 1-0 wins are to be expected. Verdict, 2nd.

RoPS

In hindsight it was RoPS who were the best team for most of the season and all those 3 first matches of the season 2015 which they lost cost them a lot, especially as there was a 1-0 loss vs SJK.. and another one vs HJK. The title was decided early! It was also still a time for defensive experiments by the wizard coach Malinen, RoPS played with 3 defenders only but as they lost in total 5-6 matches in a row with that system it had to renewed and they came back to 4-5-1.

This preseason RoPS have been poor, they lost their most important players Yaghoubi and Obilor and top scorer Kokko is always in the hunt of something better, and even if there are replacing players one has to worry where RoPS will end up this season. Somewhere in the middle I guess.

RoPS will face an easy Kakkonen class opponent in the Cup and the match should take place before the away trip to PK-35 on April 2nd.

HJK

HJK were the laughing stock of everyone who love to see BIG clubs struggling. A lot of mistakes were made both in players coming in and in training. On top of that they also hit super massive injury crisis in August and were kicked out of European competition after some dramatic turns. HJK never looked like a champion the whole season, yet with their basic class they finished in top-3, and could had won the title in their last match vs SJK which they dominated at times, but lost in the end.

This preseason they have fielded half a dozen kids in most matches and the results tell absolutely nothing of how good the team is right now, and once again they are the big favorite to win the league. They might even have a surprise Golden Boot contender in Taiwo, who is a full-back at left!

In the cup next weekend they will visit Honka reserves and this match makes no sense at all, some 10 goals class difference out there. In the league they will be the first to start and they will entertain Mariehamn IFK.

Inter Turku

Inter were the 4th in the place, but they could had been anywhere between 4th and 10th and the same pretty much is the case with the rest of the clubs apart from the bottom-3. At times they were brilliant especially at home, at other times they were very weak and mortal. Inter is a club where the manager perhaps has stayed way too long time, and the only few fresh moments of air come when new foreign signings open the door. There is no reason to believe in top positions this year either.

In the cup Inter will visit Kakkonen club KäPa on 22nd of March, before and after that they have a friendly in Sweden which unfortunately will again highlight the class of Veikkausliiga 2016. It is not any better than 2015. Inter will finish somewhere depending on a lot of stuff, but top-2 definitely out of reach.

Lahti

Lahti had a rather good squad on paper but those supposedly best players were either injured or way behind their best days and the dreams of any silverware were just a pure fantasy. Now Lahti is younger, cheaper, less experienced and what ever the manager and club try to fool us it is also a worse version of 2015. The Brazilian signings will lead the way and determine where they belong, but probably not very high. Personally I am no big fan of the coach Korkeakunnas, but the same applies to most of these conservative football-killing dinosaurs we have.

In the cup they will have a club from 4th highest tier, Atletico Malmi, and they will give a test to this once more poorly built Lahti side. Relegation perhaps not likely in the league, but not out of the question.

IFK Mariehamn

I call them MIFK for practical reasons. They do hate it for some reason still non-understandable for me, but perhaps it is the fresh sea breeze which makes them so super-sensitive? Last season they won the cup and finished somewhere in the middle and no better success from there to be expected this season either. New manager too now as one the Europe's longest-serving coaches Lyyski stepped out after 2015. Basically a good squad who can fail anywhere against anyone but can also perform esthetically well.

In the cup they will visit one of the few interesting lower league clubs Legirus Inter, and even if everyone seems to know by now that Legirus have to be taken seriously MIFK probably will lose that attitude as they only are a 4th tier club.

The season opener away at HJK could not be more difficult and they will finish again somewhere half-way table.

Ilves

They kept their place in top league which was their goal, and despite being openly a semi-professional club they did it rather easily. New manager this time around - Wiss - and there are some hopes of some better football this season. Top-6 out of reach though.

In the cup they will visit local rival Haka from Ykkönen, and it remains to be seen if they can perform any better than in the hard fought cup win 0-2 over SalPa with two late goals.

In case you are a stadion hopper visiting Finland it is Ilves you should see, at their home Tammela.

KuPS

One of the big jokes of Veikkausliiga. The biggest actually this season. There is money available from the owner, but as he keeps on sticking his nose into footballing affairs too KuPS is constantly a mess and giving out a lot of mixed signals. Officially they say they give chances to youth players from their own club, in reality what happens is that they will sign Nigerian players almost blindly. Needless to say that the KuPS performances vary wildly even if the manager Rajamäki seems to have a very limited arsenal of means in his disposal. I mean the long ball.

If things go badly enough wrong it would not be be a massive surprise to even see them get relegated, which would just be about right for them. Easy looking path in the cup though and it has been their priority for years, a chance to win something. Super weak preseason behind them, and not all new signings have yet arrived, if they now ever will. And are they fit and willing to work?

VPS

Most boring club most of the years and this season does not seem to be an exception. Oh there is something new, their absolute key player gk Sillanpää retired and that causes a big problem. Perhaps they survive again but they would surely not be missed anywhere outside Vaasa. I have nothing against them and there is a new stadion to be built which is always good for the conditions in general, but if they drop now there will be no tears from me.

In the next cup round they have local derby vs Jaro and it would be a nice start to lose that one too.

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More about the promoted clubs PK-35 and Kemi PS in the near future.

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Feel free to comment and have your say.