Another Disappointing Result for Fenerbahce: 1-1

Another Disappointing Result for Fenerbahce: 1-1
By Ozgur R. Nazilli

At home in Kadikoy, against the team conceded the most goals in Turkcell Super League, with a roster that adds up to millions of euros. This equation should guarantee Fenerbahce's success, right? Well, apparently not so.

Fenerbahce has lost another 2 points, making the grand total 7 points out of the possible 15 in 5 games. While it is still early in the season to start despairing, it looks like Fenerbahce will miss these points in the weeks to come.

The Yellow Canaries started the game with a very different tactic, namely the 3-5-2. Zico looked like he was finally heeding Kezman's cries of despair, and he let Kezman have his partner for this game. Onder, Lugano and Edu got the back, helped by two defensive midfielders Aurelio and Selcuk. The rest of the team was built for attacking, with Roberto Carlos on the left, Ali Bilgin on the right, Alex in the middle and Kezman and Deivid playing as strikers.

Maybe the best moment of the game for me was the beginning, when the Rizespor players came on the field with a banner that said "We hope you succeed in the Champions League games". That is what futbol is all about: Sportsmanship. The habitants of Sukru Saracoglu responded with a well-round of applause. So the game was played in a positive atmosphere.

Fenerbahce started off well, with some strong and quick attacks. Roberto Carlos was being especially efficient on the left side, and showed us once again why he was "THE" best left back in the world. His counterpart on the right side, Ali Bilgin was much less efficient, and gave somewhat of a disappointing performance. Alex was, unfortunately, non-existent in this game, other than some efficient passing. Alex has been troubled for a while now, at least looks like it, and I am at a loss as to why that could be. I hope he will be his usual self against Inter this week, because we will need him.

It wasn't long before 3-5-2's weakness became apparent: 3 defenders is not enough, not even against a Turkish team, let alone against our opponents in the Champions League. Caykur Rize came on with a quick counter-attack, and with some smart passing, scored an early goal less than 15 minutes into the game. Zafer Biryol, an ex-Fenerbahce player, started the attack with a pass to Emrah, Emrah sent a curved ball towards Leandro, and Leandro passed the ball into our goal from close range. The sole reason for Fenerbahce conceding this goal was that 3 defenders by themselves is a very inefficient defense system when not supported by the wingers. Hopefully, if we continue to use 3-5-2 in the future, our wingers will be more supportive of our defense. Or, maybe we should abandon this tactic altogether? That is for Zico to decide. But I must say, if it was up to me, Kezman would always have a partner up ahead with him. Even if it does not help his performance, which I think it will, Fenerbahce will have two strikers ahead instead of just one, which means double the chance of scoring.

At 10 minutes to half-time, a great display by Fenerbahce was awarded with a goal. A strong offensive move including Alex, Deivid, Roberto Carlos and Kezman came up to Caykur Rize's goal, and Kezman hit a wonderful header to Deivid's high ball, leaving Gonzales hanging in the air. The goal signalled the start of a strong 10 minutes for Fenerbahce, but Gonzales pulled of a miraculous save to another amazing Fenerbahce attack capped by a fierce shot by Kezman at 45th minute, and that ended Fenerbahce's onslaught at the half time whistle.

As is the custom this season, Fenerbahce's only goal came in the first half (which was the 5th goal that Fenerbahce scored in the first half. Interestingly enough, Fenerbahce has yet to score a goal in the second half this year.) and second half was not as exciting as the first.

The man of the match was Gonzales in my opinion, ending at least two very dangerous Fenerbahce attacks, and batting away Kezman's strong shot at the end of the first half.

The Caykur Rizespor was the latest in the string of poor results by Fenerbahce this year. I do not blame any individual players, or even Zico for this poor performance. Inter game was what was on everyone's mind, even the fans, who decided to save their money and use it to come to the Inter game instead. However, I fervently hope that this game will be the last, and Zico and his students will go uphill from here.

(photo courtesy of www.ligtv.com.tr)