COMMENTARY: Time to measure Stuart Baxter's boldness

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By Heikki Miettinen in Gothenburg
     
      The UEFA Under-21 European Championships in Sweden provided an opportunity for the young Finnish contingent to add to their experience.
      The secretly-held hope that the side might progress from their rather tough opening group proved a vain one.
     
Whether the opponents from England, Germany, and Spain were too strong or whether the Finns turned in a poor performance in losing their three encounters - 2-1 to England and 2-0 in the other games - will be a source of enduring ifs and buts.
      It may be that it was a bit of both.
      In any event, the Finnish play lacked bite where it counted, even if the spectator was occasionally taken by some stylish touches on the ball.
     
The tournament will go on without the Finns' presence, but the event will not be marked down as a complete washout.
      It is not often that Finland gets this sort of publicity in Sweden for positive things, and not just in Sweden, either.
      Football opens up these pathways better than almost anything else on the planet.
     
With the tournament having left little room for general Finnish jumping up and down in excitement, the eye turns to individual performances by the members of the squad.
      Unfortunately, the breakthroughs in this department, too, could have come with a bit more of a bang.
      The head coach of Finland's senior side Stuart Baxter must certainly have had something to think about from what he saw.
      He has spoken forcefully of the need to develop Finnish football and devise a programme to take the game forward.
      Now comes the moment to measure the sincerity of Baxter's comments and his boldness in giving the members of the Under-21 side a chance with the grown-ups.
     
Just how many of those on show in Sweden deserve to be given a chance to demonstrate their ability in Baxter's squad is the first question on the table.
      The answer to this one would have been a sight easier if Finland had sailed into the semi-finals on the back of a couple of tasty victories over "big" opposition.
      Since they palpably did not, we are almost at the same point where we were before the competition started on June 15th.
     
As a general rule of thumb, one or two members of any given crop of Under-21 players will find a home in the senior side.
      And this does not even always mean that they will be among the first names pencilled in on the coach's starting line-up.
      The boys who played in Halmstad and Gothenburg showed that they are good, but by no means a "golden generation" of Finnish football.
     
The youth side now coming home will not resolve Stuart Baxter's tricky change-of-generation situation at a stroke.
      The senior coach's problems are not going anywhere.
      Whether or not the new blood comes from the Under-21s, Baxter has to revamp the Finnish team's look in the near future, and to do that he will have to use Finnish players in some shape or form: thus far the outsourcing of the international side is not an option.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 23.6.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  TIMEOUT: Change of generation in prospect after Russian knockout (16.6.2009)

See also:
  Under-21 European Championships opener brings disappointment (16.6.2009)

HEIKKI MIETTINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
heikki.miettinen@hs.fi