The view from Finland: Hosts' style shift adds intrigue to task for Heimir Hallgrimsson's Ireland in Helsinki

It's not all too long ago since the Republic of Ireland faced Finland in the UEFA Nations League.

Four years ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the early part of Stephen Kenny's reign, the Boys in Green took on the Nordic nation in the 2020-21 edition and suffered identical 1-0 defeats home and away.

While Kenny's reign may have given way to the Heimir Hallgrimsson era which remains in its infancy, Finland still have the same man in charge who led them to their first major tournament appearance the following summer at the delayed Euro 2020.

But while Markku Kanerva - national team manager since 2016 after being assistant and Under-21 boss consecutively for 11 years before that - remains at the helm, plenty is changing around him as the Finns prepare to welcome Ireland to Helsinki in the third round of Nations Legaue Group B2 fixtures on Thursday.

Like Ireland, Finland are coming off the back of a September window which saw them lose to Greece and England.

But in contrast to Hallgrimsson's aim of bringing Ireland "back to basics" after the more stylistically expansive Kenny era, the Finns have been going in another direction, sparked by drastic changes behind the scenes as Finnish football journalist Ari Virtanen of the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"The last European (Championship) qualifying campaign was a disappointment," he explained.

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"Obviously, Finland played in the play-offs against Wales but that match in Cardiff was a huge disappointment