It was wrong to start with Berkan-Torreira in the centre. | Uğur MELEKE Column

January 18, 2025 06:29

You are facing the giants of the world and you may want to keep the midfield strong in such matches. However, yesterday, I found Okan Buruk's choice of Berkan-Torreira in the center against Hatayspor, perhaps the most problematic team of the league, odd. It was a strange choice, because you don't have Bayern Munich! In fact, yesterday in Mersin, in the first 45 minutes, Galatasaray was on the field well below its normal line. Yesterday in Mersin, for the first 45 minutes, there was a Galatasaray on the field that had no tempo, passed the ball slowly, left big gaps in the balls it lost in attack, and therefore constantly ran back. Of course, Sara's absence is a critical factor. However, in Sara's absence, starting with Berkan instead of Kerem Demirbay at the center disrupted all the basic settings of the yellow-reds. By the way, another handicap that Galatasaray experienced in the first half yesterday (in the absence of Sara and Kerem Demirbay) was that Mertens ran for all set pieces. That's why Mertens came to the balls especially near the center line. With the entry of Kerem Demirbay in the 46th minute, this imbalance in the set pieces was eliminated for the yellow-reds.

OSIMHEN COULD HAVE 3 ASSISTS!

After Galatasaray threw away the first half yesterday without playing almost anything, in the second 45 minutes they showed a fast-paced, intense, constantly searching and biting image in Mersin, as if they were taking revenge for this. If his friends had been a little careful, Osimhen could have scored 3 assists yesterday, for example. Barış had one of the worst days of his career yesterday, he wasted many clear opportunities with bad shot and pass choices-misses. At the end of the day, Galatasaray left Mersin with 2 points and you can evaluate this loss from two separate perspectives:

1- Okan Buruk threw away the first half with the conservative 11 of Berkan-Torreira. It is possible to say that the good football in the second half was not enough for the victory.

2- Or it can be evaluated that “Galatasaray had enough opportunities in the second half, but lost 2 points due to the generosity in front of the goal”, which would not be wrong.