Jose Mourinho, the coach of Fenerbahçe, who beat Trabzonspor 3-2 away in the 11th week of the Trendyol Super League, reacted to the VAR referee of the match, Atilla Karaoğlan, and said, “It is really difficult to play against the system, and today the system had a name: o And Atilla.” he said.
In the press conference held after the match, Mourinho stated that he started looking at the matches after the situation of coming to Turkey occurred and continued as follows:
“But my perspective was different. While watching the matches, I focused more on the players in order to get to know the players I will work with in the future. I did not focus on other things. I was completely focused on the team. Of course, these were mentioned to me when we met with our president and sports director before I came here. Even before that, as you know, there were other things. “I also met with an important and respected Turkish club. These were mentioned to me, but I couldn’t believe it when I saw the size. I can say that it is really dark and smells bad.”
“Of course, this is my job. I will give everything to my club,” said Mourinho, “But I want to say this clearly, I have absolutely nothing against Trabzonspor. There has been a rivalry between the two clubs over the years, but this rivalry is not with me. I also played here with Roma. It is a very nice stadium. The fans always support their team. The team does its best to get results. But there are some players who know very well that when you play against Fenerbahçe, the system is on your side. “Therefore, these players are also adapting to this situation. Some players from Trabzonspor knew this and used it wisely.” he said.
Mourinho reiterated that he had nothing against Trabzonspor and said, “I wish them the best. But it is really difficult to play against the system, and today the system had a name: Atilla.” he said.
“We knew there would be a tough fight in the midfield”
Noting that they played with 2 strikers last week, Mourinho continued as follows:
“We started the match with Edin Dzeko En-Nesyri. Then Cenk Tosun entered the game. Therefore, this means, of course, this is something we prepare and think about. From time to time, we can do this according to the results and strategy in the matches. Today it will be a tough fight in the midfield. Of course, I couldn’t follow it from the local newspapers because I don’t speak Turkish, but when people within the club followed the local newspapers, we knew that they would not play with the classic number 10. If they had played with three physically strong midfielders in the midfield today, this time Mendy would play in the midfield. So we thought it was a risk for us to play with two midfielders.
Emphasizing that they somehow managed to control the game in a difficult match, Mourinho said, “I always like to give credit to the opponent. As I mentioned, we controlled the game and went 1-0 ahead. Until the VAR referee Atilla woke up. He was probably drinking tea in the first half, of course.” I can’t say that he was drinking alcohol, but he was probably sitting and drinking Turkish tea because it was a clear red card to Bright. If the Fenerbahçe player had made such a position, he would definitely not be afraid to give a card on the field. But if it happened against us, the referees are afraid to make a decision. “The first penalty was actually Atilla’s penalty. I saw the second penalty from the bench and immediately thought, yes, it is a penalty. I did not watch it on TV afterwards, but my opinion was that the second one was a penalty.” he said.
“The biggest scandal is the penalty not awarded in our favor”
Mourinho stated that when the opponent wins a penalty, the possibility of scoring increases and they get closer to scoring a goal, said:
“I had to take Bright off the game. Because he had a yellow card. Because the great Atilla would be a big risk for us. While making changes, we put good players on the field. We put good players on the field such as Kahveci, Dzeko, Kostic, İsmail to turn the match around. But to me According to him, the biggest scandal is the penalty that was not awarded in our favor. As I mentioned, not many people watch the Turkish league abroad. My son is probably the only one watching the Turkish league matches in London. But I will put this position on Instagram, although not much. “They will see that position and what the Turkish league is.”
When asked by a journalist how out of 10 he would rate your performance with this squad, Mourinho answered ‘Zero’.
