The next home match against Tampereen Palloilijat (TaPa) is going to be a different one. Not so much because of the teams or players involved, but because of the venue. The match will be played in Kauppi, a football park where fields are lined up right next to each other, and there are no facilities for spectators. On the field right next to us another club’s youth team will be having a practice session while we play for important three points. It is what it is. Luckily we usually get to play in Kaukajärvi or Pyynikki.

Word from within the team is that the coach is back from his short holiday, and there is a renewed focus on football. July is the main holiday month in Finland, and it has shown in absences in matches and in training. I imagine that head coach Mika Suonsyrjä has allowed this because the reality is that our players are not professionals, and even though this is a club that takes its competitive goals very seriously, players inevitably have other priorities in life as well. Besides, the team has been training on a weekly basis since January and plans to go on until the end of October. A period of lighter training was probably needed both mentally as physically, and will benefit us in the long run. There is still half a season to go, albeit without cup distractions.

Early indications are that we are going to have an almost full bench for this match. I did ask specifically about one player from the coach, and he told me that Jacin Dakkaki is in full playing condition. It appears that the back pain he felt during warm-ups last week in Lammi are gone. Fingers crossed. His work rate is without comparison, and much needed in our high pressure 4-3-3 game. Plus he scores a lot of goals too.

The opponent TaPa is a bit of an unknown for me. We played a training match against them at the end of February, and they looked pretty good. We ended up winning 2-1, but only with the aid of a first-half own goal and a late winning goal by Mika Kytöviita. Since then TaPa has not gotten many better results, as they sit just below the relegation threshold with just eleven points in as many matches. Our play, on the other hand, has taken several leaps forward since February. That is probably true for TaPa as well, but still it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that this is going to be an easy match for us. However, I would expect TaPa to improve in the second half of the season, and from their point of view, taking on the team at the top of the table would be a great way to kick that off.

Kickoff on Thursday takes place in Kauppi (field 1) on Thursday at 8:30 pm. Hopefully there will be a lot of hungry TamU-supporters there, as I hear that the new barbecue will be lit up as soon as people start trickling down to the field. Sausages and three points is the plan.