Black Eagles eye win to snare top of the league
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Nisan 10, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - BeÅŸiktaÅŸ trails Turkcell Super League leader Sivasspor with a one-point distance and is aware that every victory will pile a little more pressure on the Central Anatolian side. Playing against Kocaelispor, coach Mustafa Denizli's boys will have that in mind
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ may take top spot in the Turkcell Super League tonight, even if only for a day.Â
The Black Eagles have the chance to top the league when they face Kocaelispor tonight, before leader Sivasspor plays tomorrow.Â
With seven wins and three draws in 10 games played in this calendar year, BeÅŸiktaÅŸ has enjoyed the best form in the league recently, and advanced to second spot after ending 2008 sixth.
Despite missing out on the chance to take the top spot when it had to settle for a draw in the game against Sivasspor three weeks ago, BeÅŸiktaÅŸ is still one point behind the league leader and will be trying to pile the pressure on the Central Anatolian team. Starting the weekend with a win tonight and taking the top spot to clarify that it is a neck-and-neck race will be important for BeÅŸiktaÅŸ, which is why a win at Kocaelispor is a must for the Istanbul side.
No time to talk
When he had hard times adapting the players to his system and Beşiktaş suffered a string of bad results, coach Mustafa Denizli kept on saying that there would be many changes in league positions, and insisted: "Let’s see where we are in the 26th week." Weeks went by, and Denizli seems to have been proven right with his team’s position. Known for his assertive talk, Denizli now says the time for talk is over and now’ the time to walk the walk.
"We are in a time of thinking too much and talking less," said Denizli at a conference this week.
Beşiktaş will have to play in the absence of some first-choice players tonight, as defender İbrahim Toraman and midfielder Serdar Özkan are suspended, while center-back Gökhan Zan and striker Mert Nobre are injured.
But Denizli is not losing any sleep over it and is confident of the players who will take the pitch.
"It doesn’t matter much for us that we lack a lot of players," said the coach. "That is what being a team is."
Denizli relies on his squad rotation system, in which he could use many of his players during his time at BeÅŸiktaÅŸ. When asked if being sidelined was ever a problem for star players, Denizli says no.
"Some say you shouldn’t make changes to a team that keeps winning, but I don’t agree with that," he explained. "If you don’t make changes to successful changes, you slowly start to build an unsuccessful team, because in the end you will not find a reserve team to be used in the future."
He added that it was a question of trust.
"When I substitute a player, he knows that it is not a result of negative feeling," Denizli explained. "I don’t care if my players like me or not, and they don’t have to. But it would be a problem if they didn’t believe in me. If they don’t lose their belief in me, we easily do what we want."
Surprise performer
Things may not be that easy against Kocaelispor tonight, however, as the Green-Black side has been a surprise performer in big games despite dwelling at 17th spot of the 18-team league.
In its first four games against "the big four," Kocaelispor managed to take the lead, but was beaten by Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor. In the second period of the league, it changed this unlucky streak with a stunning 5-2 win over Galatasaray, which was fired by a four-goal performance by veteran striker Taner Gülleri.
As a former Kocaelispor coach, Mustafa Denizli has feelings for the relegation-battling team. "There is a special place of Kocaeli in my football career," he said. "They started the second part of the season very well. They deserve better than where they are now."
The Black Eagles have the chance to top the league when they face Kocaelispor tonight, before leader Sivasspor plays tomorrow.Â
With seven wins and three draws in 10 games played in this calendar year, BeÅŸiktaÅŸ has enjoyed the best form in the league recently, and advanced to second spot after ending 2008 sixth.
Despite missing out on the chance to take the top spot when it had to settle for a draw in the game against Sivasspor three weeks ago, BeÅŸiktaÅŸ is still one point behind the league leader and will be trying to pile the pressure on the Central Anatolian team. Starting the weekend with a win tonight and taking the top spot to clarify that it is a neck-and-neck race will be important for BeÅŸiktaÅŸ, which is why a win at Kocaelispor is a must for the Istanbul side.
No time to talk
When he had hard times adapting the players to his system and Beşiktaş suffered a string of bad results, coach Mustafa Denizli kept on saying that there would be many changes in league positions, and insisted: "Let’s see where we are in the 26th week." Weeks went by, and Denizli seems to have been proven right with his team’s position. Known for his assertive talk, Denizli now says the time for talk is over and now’ the time to walk the walk.
"We are in a time of thinking too much and talking less," said Denizli at a conference this week.
Beşiktaş will have to play in the absence of some first-choice players tonight, as defender İbrahim Toraman and midfielder Serdar Özkan are suspended, while center-back Gökhan Zan and striker Mert Nobre are injured.
But Denizli is not losing any sleep over it and is confident of the players who will take the pitch.
"It doesn’t matter much for us that we lack a lot of players," said the coach. "That is what being a team is."
Denizli relies on his squad rotation system, in which he could use many of his players during his time at BeÅŸiktaÅŸ. When asked if being sidelined was ever a problem for star players, Denizli says no.
"Some say you shouldn’t make changes to a team that keeps winning, but I don’t agree with that," he explained. "If you don’t make changes to successful changes, you slowly start to build an unsuccessful team, because in the end you will not find a reserve team to be used in the future."
He added that it was a question of trust.
"When I substitute a player, he knows that it is not a result of negative feeling," Denizli explained. "I don’t care if my players like me or not, and they don’t have to. But it would be a problem if they didn’t believe in me. If they don’t lose their belief in me, we easily do what we want."
Surprise performer
Things may not be that easy against Kocaelispor tonight, however, as the Green-Black side has been a surprise performer in big games despite dwelling at 17th spot of the 18-team league.
In its first four games against "the big four," Kocaelispor managed to take the lead, but was beaten by Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor. In the second period of the league, it changed this unlucky streak with a stunning 5-2 win over Galatasaray, which was fired by a four-goal performance by veteran striker Taner Gülleri.
As a former Kocaelispor coach, Mustafa Denizli has feelings for the relegation-battling team. "There is a special place of Kocaeli in my football career," he said. "They started the second part of the season very well. They deserve better than where they are now."