Galatasaray Football A Team Technical Director Okan Buruk made a statement to the broadcaster after the Young Boys match.
Our teacher’s evaluations are as follows:
“What we imagined and what happened in the match do not match up for me. There is an incredible difference in quality and value in terms of players. We could have performed better here. I will compare it to the Molde match we played last year. At times, we acted as if we had five or ten kilo weights on us. Whether it was due to pressure or something else… Sometimes our players prepared themselves too much for this match. Sometimes you prepare too much, and that suspension on you also has an effect. We had the ball throughout the match. Here, neither our game speed nor our passing speed nor our vertical play were good. We tried to divide the areas correctly, but here too, we made many passing mistakes. We always gave our opponent a chance to pass. Our opponent was successful against us in many actions.”
“WE FEEL SORRY ON BEHALF OF OUR FANS”
“We balanced the game a little more in the second half. We created more chances. Towards the last part, we tried to create more chances by going to the opponent’s goal. We also caught the position that could have turned the match. Icardi’s shot was deflected by the opponent. The position where we could have scored a goal turned out to be a goal for us. Then a red card and we were reduced to 10 men. The game went as we wanted.”
“Of course, the responsibility here is mine first. The technical director who prepares for the match and selects the players. So of course, the first responsibility is mine. My players tried to do their best. The thing that will upset us the most here is that there was a magnificent fan. They supported the team before, during and after the match. The only thing that will upset us is that we could not bring the game and victory that they wanted and dreamed of. That is why we are very upset. There is also the fact that this team played in the Champions League play-off here, fought this fight with these players. These players won. From now on, these players will win the championship again, and these players will fight on the way to the championship. First of all, I would like to thank you for the support today. It upsets us not to be in a very important, prestigious tournament. On the other hand, our goal is to win the league championship again, play in the final of the Europa League and win. We need to set this goal again. We have the potential and power to do this.“
“We are unlucky. An important player like Davinson Sanchez getting injured in his second match… Abdülkerim’s red card, Kaan’s absence. We couldn’t put very important players on the field in defense. We had a hard time today when we were building the game from the back. Davinson’s absence was one of our biggest shortcomings in pushing the team forward and being fast. Of course, it’s not an excuse. Galatasaray needs to move forward with all its squad. With the return of the players we have, and a couple of reinforcements we will make, our team will compete for the championship and for Europe. Our only sadness is not being able to make our fans happy. We have always gotten used to happiness for two years. We have always won. There is also losing in football. You have to accept that. We need to recover very quickly after losing and prepare for the match we will play this weekend. Afterwards, we need to set a target for ourselves in the Europa League. My players and I will get the team together as soon as possible and continue on our way. We have many matches ahead of us. These players have made us successful for two years. We will support and trust them again. We will try to move towards greater success together with them.”