Its like an old nightmare that just never goes away… Fenerbahce 4-1 Galatasaray

By: Musab | November 10th, 2008

Its a well known fact that Kadikoy is not kind to us. For the past nine years Galatasaray have traveled to Fenerbahce’s Sukru Saracoglu and have lost every league game there and have managed only one draw in last year’s Turkish Cup game. However this year was supposed to be different. This year we had a much stronger squad than them, and we were coming off a great victory against Benfica. And yet the curse of Kadikoy struck again.

FENERBAHÇE-GALATASARAY: 4-1

Stadium: Şükrü Saracoğlu
Referees: Hüseyin Göçek, Serkan Ok, Aleks Taşçıoğlu, (4. Referee) Süleyman Abay

Fenerbahce: Volkan Demirel, Gökhan, Lugano, Edu, R. Carlos (min.58 Vederson), Josico, Selçuk, Uğur, Deivid, Güiza (min. 73 Burak), Semih (min.55 Emre)
Manager: Luis Aragones

GALATASARAY: De Sanctis, Sabri, Servet, Emre Aşık(min.71 Aydın), Hakan Balta, Ayhan, Meira, Arda, Lincoln, Baros (min.46 Kewell), Ümit Karan (min. 46 Nonda)
Manager: Michael Skibbe
Goals: Lincoln (min.2) Selçuk (min.7) Emre Aşık (O.G)(min.28) Lugano (min.49) Deivid (min. 90+2)
Yellow Cards: Lincoln, Servet, Baros, Ayhan, Nonda, Arda (G.Saray) Selçuk, Josico, Vederson (F.Bahçe)

Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the 2nd minute, Fener was able to get back into the game from a miracle goal by Selcuk Sahin after the defense made a totally half-ass job of clearing a simple ball. After we scored the first goal and conceded Fener’s first goal, I knew that there would be no way for us to win this game. It’s just a classic Galatasaray match. Score the goal, try to put up a defense, concede simple goals, just like what happened against Eskisehirspor.

The game continued with Galatasaray throwing themselves forward half-heartedly, only to be denied by a ferocious Fener defense which did not allow our star players to make anything out of their attacks. Milan Baros seemed lost in the right wing, Umit Karan almost never met up with the ball, Lincoln disappeared under Josico’s makring. And fittingly, Fener got their second goal after Semih blindly threw the ball into the penalty box and Emre Asik managed to send the ball into his own net. In previous trips to Kadikoy, Emre Asik managed to see two red cards, and now he has managed to actually give Fener the lead. If the ball managed to move just a centimeter to the right, it would have hit the post and harmlessly ended up in de Sanctis’ hands. Such is the endless luck of Fener.

The second half saw Milan and Umit being taken off for Kewell and Nonda. And of course, their lack of speed and agility made the game a complete cake-walk for Fener as a third and fourth goal was conceded after more mistake on the defense.

I suppose this victory means a lot to the Kadikoy Mob. Its well known that Fener’s only real accomplishment in their 100 years of existence is defeating Galatasaray by these kind of shock results. Its not like they can say that they defeated Real Madrid after going down by two goals. Its not like they can say that they eliminated Manchester United after drawing 3-3 at Old Trafford. Its not like they can say that for two consecutive years, A.C Milan failed to defeat them, instead losing three time and drawing once. Its not like they can say they won any real silverware.

So who’s to blame for this loss? You could blame the defense for conceding such cheap goals or the forward line for not getting into goal scoring opportunities. You can also rightfully blame the footballing Gods for their damnation of this team. Perhaps dancing around a totem pole chanting phrases to the Gods might end this curse on us.

Or perhaps you can blame the manager as always. I have nothing to say against Skibbe’s starting 11. Quite frankly, I don’t think anyone expected him to change the lineup. However we now know that Milan Baros went to Skibbe before the game and specifically asked him to either play him as a forward or to let him sit on the bench, but to not play him on the right wing. Despite this reasonable asking, Skibbe insisted on him playing on the right wing, which Milan just couldn’t manage to do.

There is one mistake however that Skibbe has no excuses for. With the score at 2-1 at half-time, Skibbe needed to so something to get back into the game. It was already apparent that Milan couldn’t manage playing on the right wing and the Emre Asik was having a horrific game. However Skibbe decided to make Fener’s job easier by putting in Nonda and Kewell for Umit Karan and Milan Baros.

I would like someone to please come forward and try to explain this decision to me. Why put in our two slowest and least motivated players against a Fener defense that was tearing up any attacks we were putting up against it. I think it was very obvious that the best course of action was to pull Meira into the central defense, move Baros up next to Umit and put in Aydin for Emre and play him on the right wing. After this change, Fener would now have to deal with a stronger defense, a much more active and fluid right flank and two forwards running around and causing havoc. More proof that Skibbe still cannot understand the basic concepts of the Turkish game.

I think it’s obvious that Skibbe needs to go shopping this winter. Nonda and Linderoth must be sold and new players must be bought in their place. Nonda just seems so far from his old form and it looks like Linderoth’s injury problems will never end. As much as I love the Swede, we can’t keep him if hes going to just sit in the injury ward all year.

We need a new right back and perhaps even a new central defender, Both Ugur Ucar and Emre Gungor have been gone for so long and I doubt they’ll be ready to step in and be the cure this team needs. Aydin needs to be given more playing time and Kewell has to sit on the bench if necessary.

Despite the heavy loss I’m not as disappointed as I thought I would be. The victory against Benfica did more than enough to reinstill some confidence into Skibbe and this loss will be made up in May at the Ali Sami Yen. Trabzon are now ahead by six points (despite us defeating them) and Besiktas by five, while Fener is still one point behind us. This week Fener takes on highflying Ankaraspor as Besiktas heads to Bursa in a minor derby of their own.

The future is still bright for us despite this loss. In two weeks Besiktas must take on Fenerbahce at Kadikoy while Trabzon travels to Genclerbirligi and then takes on both Trabzon and Kayseri back to back. On the other hand, Galatasaray will be taking on lowly I.B.B, Hacettepe, and Ankaragucu. If we can get maximum points in the next four weeks, we have a good chance of getting back on top of the table.