Football Season Guide

KuPS yet again came agonisingly close to the title in 2023 but failed. For third year running Yellow and Blacks finished in second place, this time they missed out on the title only because of their worse head-to-head stats in the duels against eventual champions HJK. The two sides ended up level on points. The big issue was the very slow start to last season. It forced the club to change managers only 5 rounds into the 2023 campaign. Honkavaara did very well after his appointment. He knows that in his first full year in charge his main focus has to be on a fast start. KuPS lost numerous regulars from last season. The most notable area that was weakened was the defence with 3 of the main centre-backs in 2023 no longer in the team. The only new centre-back so far is De Graca, so in this area KuPS might struggle. There were changes of personnel in midfield too. Bispo, Popovitch and Elton are no longer part of the team. However, re-signing start playmaker Petteri Pennanen and adding Honka’s main inner midfielder Jerry Voutilainen for free after Honka’s bankruptcy in the winter made this part of the squad very impressive again. KuPS are destined to dominate possession in most matches with this duo on the pitch. The unconvincing strikers in 2023 Yengi and Tuominen were let go. Instead, another free agent from Honka Muzinga was signed to be the new main weapon up front. He failed to impress much last season but at his young age he’s likely to be much more productive this term.