Football Season Guide

HJK were Veikkausliiga champions in 12 of the past 15 seasons. They won the title again in 2023 but it was far from easy and in the end only their head-to-head edge over the level on points KuPS saw them triumph. HJK were also the only Finnish team in the last 2 years to play in the group stages in Europe. Despite, all that the winner of 5 titles in his 6 years in charge coach Kosken decided it’s time for him to look for a change and he left his role this winter. Inexperienced Ossi Virta is in charge now. Virta’s first job was to rebuild the squad as in the off-season many regulars left too. The 2023 Veikkausliiga top goalscorer Radulovic (18 goals) was sold in England for a record fee. Captain Tenho moved to Sweden. Veteran goalkeeper Mäenpää, wing-back Ollila and anchor-man Rogic were other regulars from last season that left. Some quality replacements were found for all those departures though. HJK still look impressive in terms of depth and quality all over the pitch. Centre-backs Tomas and Moros arrived and they are expected to form partnership in the heart of the defence. Pallas was signed to replace Ollila. Up front Luke Plange has joined on loan to be the new main striker. With the likes of Bande, Olusanya and Hostikka supporting him HJK still should look impressive in attack. The new head coach actually spent four years as an assistant at the club so he knows the squad well. It seems no drastic changes to the tactics will be made. One thing that seems likely is that the long-serving playmaker Tanaka is set to become an impactful substitute now he turned 36.