Interview: Jesse Joronen

Venezia have a new leader at the back in Finland international goalkeeper Jesse Joronen. Since joining the club this summer from Brescia, the 29-year-old has quickly found his voice in the team, and has backed it up with superb shot-stopping ability.

Now three rounds into the 2022/23 Serie B season, Joronen, speaking from home, opened up to veneziafc.it about his friendly competition with Finland teammate Niki Mäenpää, his communication style within the team defense, and his mental and physical approach as a ‘keeper.

What was your first reaction when you learned that Venezia were moving to acquire you?

When I heard the interest, straight away it was a project that interested me for the sporting possibilities and the potential for the future. Our goals require a lot of work, personally, team-wise, and club-wise, but it’s a project that has tremendous potential. It’s going to be an amazing thing for everyone. We are trying to build a culture of doing things a different way. I was over the moon when it was finalized and I arrived in Venice. It’s an amazing opportunity to further prove myself at this level and hopefully in Serie A once again as well.

Your friend and Finland teammate Niki Mäenpää has been between the posts in Venice in the last two seasons. When you were being recruited to come in and take the gloves as the number 1 ‘keeper, what did Niki say to you? How has the relationship been so far, in terms of competing with yet supporting each other?

Most of all, I’m very happy for the competition that Niki is able to give. From the first time I went with the national team, Niki was the first choice. I’ve always looked up to him and he looked after me as a young ‘keeper for the national team. I have a huge respect in working with him. It’s great to have that going again, but here in a club setting. We’re very good friends, and I enjoy spending time with Niki and Joel (Pohjanpalo). It’s a good thing, and very rare you get that in your club.

As a goalkeeper, it’s critical to be in sync with your defenders. When you’re coming into a new team, what steps do you take to get to know the guys as quickly as possible, and how is it going so far?

It’s always about communication. Whenever I join a new team, I try to learn the language as quickly as possible. At a very young age, I moved to London to play for Fulham, and it was very much encouraged there for a goalkeeper to be vocal — that’s probably one of my strong points as well.

You do things in training and in games, you talk about the stuff that happens with your line of defense, and you try to figure out together what’s the best way to handle it. No two football games are ever the same, but there are some situations that tend to happen in a similar way, and if everyone is on the same page, you can always deal with them better. It’s about communication and keeping the best interests of the team in mind.

How do you dish out and receive constructive criticism from each other? Especially as a new player, how do you build the connection that allows for that?

In training or in games, it can be very direct or very harsh, but it’s never anything personal. I’ve always viewed it as, if it’s constructive and meant to help the team — not about the ego of one player, but actually to help the team — then it’s always allowed, no matter how loud and direct that information might be. It’s always more than welcome and part of the culture that we want to create here — that you’re able to do it in a way that helps the team in a very fast manner, but also helps the team grow culture-wise. That’s expected.

Whatever shouting I may do in training or in games, I want to win. I want to help the team with that information, and I expect the same from everyone else in the team.

How important is accountability within a team?

We are building a culture of commitment. It’s about giving to the team: giving your abilities, giving your mental capacity, for the best of the team. That’s huge when creating a winning culture — not only for the football team, but for the entire club. It’s about putting yourself aside — not in the sense that you don’t matter, but in the sense that everyone should be committing themselves for the best of the club.

You’ve won a league championship in Denmark, and now you’re chasing a promotion. Are there any similarities or differences between these two types of races? How do you, and how should the team collectively, manage the psychological aspect, of remaining steady over a long season, of watching what other teams are doing, and so on?

It’s the same thing, trying to win a championship and a promotion. We need to create a culture, a style of play, and develop it all. For each individual, you need to look to develop your method every single day. You can get carried away with the goal, and the most important thing for a player is to stay on point regarding the task at hand. This takes a lot of mental discipline, which is extremely important regardless of the result. You just need to focus on your method — what’s your next repetition, what’s your next task, what’s next your training, what’s your next game — that’s the only thing that matters. You need to execute those on an everyday basis at a top level. If you do that, the goal will take care of itself.

How did you develop your mental discipline? You’re 29 and in your prime now, but when did you realize you needed to operate at a certain level to stay at the top of your game?

When I was in England, at Fulham, that’s when my footballing persona started to form. I had a lot of injuries — two knee injuries, and in eight years there I was out of action for a total of three years. During that time, I got into the psychological aspect of the game and my own development. I became conscious about myself, my teammates, and the well-being of the team.

From that time, once I was able to recover from the knee injuries, I started preparing for first team football, and I got the opportunity with AC Horsens in Denmark. It felt like I was liberated because I had prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally for that challenge. It worked out well, because, after five months at Horsens, I was able to sign with FC Copenhagen, which is the biggest and most beautiful club in all of Scandinavia.

How did you manage your mental health while you were injured for so long during a formative time in your career?

You need to find ways to deal with it. I found tools with the help of our sporting psychiatrist at the time at Fulham. He introduced me to meditation, breathing techniques, and visualization. That was able to keep me occupied during a time when I was not able to apply my craft. I was able to develop through rehabilitation and do some work on my mind as well. That was a massive thing.

You can build up resilience, but it only develops if you have challenges. People tend to gravitate toward things that are comfortable, and you need to be conscious about that. If you become too comfortable, you stop developing as well. You need to push yourself, and your coaches are there to push you as well. That’s the kind of culture that we want to build here.

This is your fourth season in Italy, and your third season in Serie B. How does your knowledge of the division help you this season? What are you passing along to teammates?

You can ask my teammates — I’m very vocal. Even at times when they probably don’t want to hear something, I will tell them, 100 percent. There are things that we talk about to help the team. It’s fundamental to find out as much information about the opposition so you feel prepared to take them on.

Your shot-stopping ability has been evident straight away in Venice. For you, how much of it is studying and preparing for your opponents, and how much of it is reading and reacting to the situation in the moment?

It’s a mixture of both. Your brain is a computer, and if you put a lot of images through it, then you’re able to find certain patterns to react quicker in the game. As a goalkeeper, when you get more experienced, it’s more about reading and less reactive. It’s about seeing tendencies, seeing them build up, and smelling the danger.

We’ve seen a shift in how football is analyzed and how we intake information. How is your preparation different from the beginning of your career?

To be honest, there were not many video tools when we started — at least not for me. If I had those tools, I would’ve done it the same way I do it now. I look at the attacking players, the set plays, and their tendencies, like how they press and play as a team, and what kind of shots they prefer. From there, I go into individual players and what they like to do. I’ve done it now for a good part of my career, so I wouldn’t change it.

How has your training routine evolved as you’ve matured as a player? Is it true you get to training an hour early just to stretch?

It was integrated within me at Fulham when I started. We had a great setup and training complex, so we had all the facilities — breakfast and lunch even — all the things like that. I saw myself as very fortunate to play football as a profession. I also observed all the people working in the offices; whether at the club or anywhere else in the world, anyone who works, you’re working for eight hours or more a day. I thought, for me to give one more hour before training and one or two more hours afterward, it’s still a shorter day than most people. But even at other times, I’m still trying to improve myself.

As I’ve matured and grown my knowledge of the physical aspects of my body, I’m able to be the best version of myself in training or when the match starts. To help the team, I need to take care of my body. It doesn’t feel like something special, but it’s about hunger. I want to develop. Even though I’m 29, I want to get better and find the answer to that question when I left home.

What is that question?

How good can I become?

When will you find that answer?

On the day I stop, I’ll know.