Without further ado, let’s dive into the lessons learned from both teams. Let’s start with this year’s champions, my favorite team, Galatasaray.
GALATASARAY:
1) The team’s late form recovery: Foreign players, in particular, return late from their holiday destinations. Galatasaray also has a significant number of Latin American players. Some of them joined training camp late. We experience this every year. A team that can’t work together as a team is slow to form. When they do so late, they don’t start the league well. Just like Galatasaray’s previous championship, their performance wasn’t good in the first 10-15 games this year. Later, when they regained form, they joined the championship race with consecutive wins and finally secured the victory. This year, Galatasaray needs to instill in its players the motivation to attend training camp on time. Despite the European Championship, discipline must not be compromised.
2) Seeing the championship within reach: After lagging behind in the standings for a while, Galatasaray overtook Fenerbahçe in the second half of the season, and at one point, the gap stretched to as high as six points. After that, Galatasaray fans generally developed a sense of “we’ve become champions.” This sentiment rubbed off on the players, and we lost to Fenerbahçe at home. There was a blatant foul on Muslera in the goal, meaning Fenerbahçe won unfairly; that’s a separate issue. But the real problem was that Galatasaray couldn’t play their usual game in their most important game. You can never underestimate anyone by saying, “I’m done.” Then, you get the most unlikely results and suddenly find yourself in a difficult situation.
3) Transfer mistakes and delayed transfer moves: Galatasaray’s first transfer wave, which brought in Mertens, Torreira, Rashica, and Sacha Boey, was successful. However, serious transfer errors were subsequently made, resulting in the signing of players like Tete, Vinicius, and Serge Aurier, who contributed next to nothing to the team and created a significant financial burden. Furthermore, Rashica, a player who had performed very well for Galatasaray, was abandoned, and he was lost to Beşiktaş. Furthermore, paying Icardi €10 million annually, by far the highest wage in Galatasaray’s history, is a serious financial error. Instead, two or three quality players could have been acquired for forwards, midfielders, and even defense. Of course, these errors were compounded by the statements and attitudes of some managers involved in these transfers, which were likely to cause confusion for Galatasaray while they were about to leave. This led to a decline in form and a lack of motivation, starting with Galatasaray’s recent game against Fatih Karagümrük. Let’s note this as well.
4) Late substitutions: Okan Buruk is by far the best manager in the Turkish Super League. His interpersonal skills, dominant soccer, excellent analysis of the opposing team, and overall excellent reading of the game are some of the reasons why Okan Buruk is the best manager. However, no one is perfect. What drives us all crazy about Okan is his late substitutions. Sometimes he gets lost in thought. Okan clearly sees when things aren’t going well, and when he intervenes, he can often directly change the flow of the game. However, he makes these substitutions far too late. It’s unfair to expect players who come on in the last 10-15 minutes of the game to have an impact on the game overall, given the substitution made in the 80th minute. If a substitution is necessary, I think it should be done at halftime or at the latest in the 60th minute. Otherwise, we’re seriously jeopardizing the game. Excitement in the final minutes doesn’t motivate any of us. I’d like to emphasize that I’ve won many games, but I feel like we never won.
5) Allowing Fenerbahçe’s provocations: Fenerbahçe’s management, realizing they were losing the championship, became seriously nasty towards the end of the season, both on and off the field, and their tone worsened with each passing week. Of course, the management’s constant blaming of Galatasaray and the federation, without taking responsibility for any of their own mistakes, led their own fans to collectively attack individuals and institutions because of their provocations. Galatasaray management also made strategic mistakes that facilitated these attacks. For example, when former Minister of Environment and Urbanization and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate Murat Kurum caressed the Galatasaray President’s cheek, it not only provoked outrage among sensible Galatasaray fans but also served as a weapon for Fenerbahçe fans, who are constantly inclined to attack Galatasaray. From my perspective, I can interpret this action as follows: Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek likely didn’t want to find himself in such a situation. However, he tolerated this behavior to avoid conflict with the government or drawing criticism. Otherwise, Murat Kurum’s cheek-stroking gesture is unbecoming of the Galatasaray president’s gravitas. Furthermore, creating the perception that this gesture “supports Galatasaray’s government” is a grave misrepresentation, and constantly repeating this would be considered bad faith.
6) Good performances, poor results in European competitions: We’ve generally had a good run of games in European competitions. The Bayern Munich games were a real shame. We gave Bayern Munich, one of the favorites, a complete thrashing both at home and away. But ultimately, the team we played was Bayern Munich. They came through on goal three times and scored in all three. We were able to capitalize on the chances we created. I’d also like to highlight the Copenhagen and Sparta Prague games. These games demonstrated that Galatasaray, one of Turkey’s best teams in terms of physical conditioning, wasn’t up to par with Eastern European or Scandinavian teams, which rely on physical strength for their soccer. We can learn a lot from this. If we want to be successful in Europe, we absolutely must improve our physical capacity above European teams. Let me share some concrete statistics to help you visualize this. While the average running distance per game in Turkey remains at 11-12 kilometers, in Europe, and especially in England, these averages exceed 15-16 kilometers. That’s why soccer is played slowly in Turkey, and when we watch a game in the English Premier League, it’s “one goal at a time,” and we all enjoy watching Premier League games as if we were watching an entirely different game. Okan Buruk and his team need to work on increasing Galatasaray’s physical capacity by at least 30%.
7) The Icardi syndrome: I disagree with the general consensus here. I think Icardi is doing more harm than good to the team. Now you might say, “He was top scorer this year, scoring in crucial games, saving Galatasaray…” I previously wrote about this topic under the title “Icardi syndrome”: https://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/icardi-sendromu . Let me recap why Icardi is harming Galatasaray.
a) His salary is 3-4 times the team average. This creates a serious imbalance within the team and disrupts budget discipline. After managers who sold Gomis, who won Galatasaray the championship, to Saudi Arabia for a low transfer fee to avoid a €1 million increase in his salary (from €3 million to €4 million, if I’m not mistaken), we’re talking about a management style that has increased Icardi’s salary burden to €10 million annually.
b) He was absent from our most important games this year and the games where he was needed most (Copenhagen, Sparta Prague, Fenerbahçe, etc.).
c) His personal life continues to be a hot topic, setting a bad example, especially for the younger players on the team.
d) As a soccer player, he finds it within himself to protect a former manager. This is interfering in Galatasaray’s internal affairs and exceeding the limits of a soccer player.
e) The team’s defense is weak. Because of him, the players who work like dynamos in the middle are burdened with additional pressure.
f) He’s practically legendary (though I don’t think he deserves to be praised to such an extent), and these excessive displays of affection are a disgrace to other players and can sometimes disrupt the team’s concentration.
We could have recruited two or three very good players to replace Icardi this year. Two of them could have been forwards. A tall, high-running, aerial, and finishing center forward would have been a great choice. The other would have been a physically strong, explosive, and durable forward. Okan Buruk doesn’t like to field two forwards, but a team with two forwards like this would have been more effective.
FENERBAHÇE:
1) Constantly choosing the path of manipulation: Unsuccessful Fenerbahçe managers adopt the “blaming others” approach we’re accustomed to seeing in dirty politics. This involves portraying something that didn’t happen, making false statements, and engaging in manipulation. They have no shame or embarrassment when making these statements. They manage to incite their own fans anyway; the rest doesn’t matter to Fenerbahçe managers. However, they fail to grasp this. These games they play behind the scenes, communication games, and an attack culture, etc., have a boomerang effect. All sorts of injustices and misleading behaviors come back to haunt them. At the very least, such rhetoric exacerbates the pressure on the players and creates very difficult situations to deal with. That’s why Fenerbahçe struggles even in games they would normally easily win. Everyone needs to focus on their own work and work to improve their performance on the field rather than off it.
2) Not playing the Super Cup game: Fielding the U19 team instead of the senior team and then withdrawing them from the field in the first minute was a serious strategic error. From my outside observation, this situation damaged the team’s morale and motivation, dragging them down. I believe Ali Koç and the board of directors made this the most strategic mistake of the year. After these events, Fenerbahçe first lost to Olympiacos and was eliminated from the European Cup, then dropped points and suffered a heavy blow in the championship race. Ultimately, Galatasaray won the championship.
3) The pressure from the fans on their own players: Fenerbahçe fans, like many soccer fans in Turkey, are overly passionate. Fan support is essentially a force for igniting and motivating the team. However, when overdone, this fervor can burn the team. Constantly harassing players and their families on social media, sending messages before and after games, and protesting when things go wrong on the field are some examples of this negative support. However, Fenerbahçe fans need to be patient and inclined to act in ways that truly win games. To achieve this, they must always support their team, adhering to the classic motto, “Whether we win or lose, your fans are always with you,” and refrain from protests. The negative energy of the fans, in the opposite direction, cost the team points in crucial games. In many games, the referees came to the rescue of the Fenerbahçe players, who were in disarray, and they won the game on penalties in the final minutes (many of which were in fact completely unrelated to penalties). Let’s remember once again that Fenerbahçe is the team that has conceded the most penalties this season and won most games with them in the final minutes.
4) Coaching Choice: Fenerbahçe built a good team this year. Personally, my three favorite players at Fenerbahçe were Osayi Samuel, Fred, and Batshuayi. These three players made a difference in every game they played. The rest of the team also maintained a certain standard. Appointing İsmail Kartal, who had no tangible success in his career, to manage a team built with such a large budget was, in my opinion, one of the biggest strategic mistakes. Alexander the Great famously said, “I fear not an army of lions commanded by a sheep; but I fear an army of sheep commanded by a lion.” Fenerbahçe’s situation perfectly reflected this dilemma this year.
5) Persistently retaining players with flawed character: The constant introduction of players with problematic personalities, such as Mert Hakan and goalkeeper İrfan Can, to provoke the fans and the opposing team during games has continued to fuel the antipathy towards Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe’s management and coaching staff must abandon the “anything goes” approach and entrust the team to players with good character. This will increase their chances of winning. Players with flawed character negatively impact not only the opposing team but also the decision-makers involved in the game. Even if these players aren’t penalized in that game, the referee of the next game observes what’s happening and may prejudice Fenerbahçe for their own game. Therefore, it’s crucial to eliminate these problematic players from the team as soon as possible.
6) The constant belligerence of managers, in particular: Managers who constantly fight with everyone transmit that negative energy to the team. Just as players with a lack of character fuel antipathy, belligerent and manipulative managers similarly fuel the situation negatively. Fenerbahçe fans then resort to rhetoric like “everyone is against Fenerbahçe” and “they’re dealing with us as a group.” Beyond their rhetoric, we’ve clearly observed through their actions that Fenerbahçe managers can resort to aggression when they’re desperate. After the Galatasaray game, Fenerbahçe President Ali Koç, acting like a mafia leader, entered the stadium with 30-40 security guards. The subsequent assault by Fenerbahçe managers, players, and administrative staff, along with the security guards, assaulted Galatasaray’s general secretary and stadium manager, and attempted to forcibly unfurl the Fenerbahçe flag in the middle of the field, demonstrates the extent of their despair. These actions are criminal acts, punishable by imprisonment. In a country with a well-established legal system, you can’t bully and assault people like this. Unfortunately, this happens in a country like Turkey, and people always get away with it. We expect Galatasaray Club to follow up on these incidents. Let’s not let anyone get away with it anymore.
Let’s consider the opposite. Don’t create such a conflicting, noisy, and negative environment, don’t try to intimidate everyone, but instead, instill a positive attitude whether you’re winning or losing, and even more so, applaud the opposing team even if you lose. Then see how it reaps in return. Then you realize you’ve won the championship in a season you least expected. After all, that’s life. You reap what you sow.
7) Inconsistent performances in European Cups: Fenerbahçe, like Galatasaray, has truly reflected Turkey’s character in terms of inconsistency in European Cup games. One moment, they’ve won a game expected to be difficult with a superb performance, and the next, they’ve lost a game that could have been considered a “Fenerbahçe wins anyway.” These inconsistencies need to be eliminated, and European soccer needs to be brought to a certain standard.
The above are my personal opinions. I’ve shared the first things that come to mind above. Of course, this list could be expanded. The important thing here is for our soccer teams to improve themselves and represent our country in the best possible way next year, especially in Europe, and achieve success.
I wish all our teams success in the European Cups in the 2024-2025 season.
Tag: memoir
