Sports writers evaluate the Fenerbahçe-Adana Demirspor match: 'Mourinho has met Turkish referees'

Hosting Adana Demirspor in the first week of the Super Lig, Fenerbahçe started the season with 3 points by defeating their opponent with a single goal. Sports writers evaluated the match in which Fenerbahçe beat Adana Demirspor 1-0.

There was a different Fenerbahçe on the pitch compared to recent years... Mourinho’s team is entirely results-oriented. We can say that they leave the game itself more in the background. Instead of constantly pressing high, suffocating the opponent, and scoring goals, they aim to play more solidly. Because when you play high up the pitch, you leave gaps behind the defense and give opportunities to the opponent. Mourinho wants to win the match without giving these opportunities to the opponent and without falling behind on the scoreboard. Once they take the lead, they control the game in a similar fashion. Instead of pressing for a second or third goal, they aim to make the opponent take more risks and then capitalize on those. (Senad Ok | Milliyet)

Valkanis’s students still defended their fortress with all their might yesterday, using two blocks of 5+4. However, defending against St. Maximin is not very easy. Like Yattara or Baljic, Maximin is a special player who excites the stands when he gets the ball at his feet and from whom you expect a dribble. Yesterday, he fought tooth and nail for a while on the left flank against Semih and Manev. But the French footballer managed to make the difference once he started meeting the ball more in the center. (Uğur Meleke | Hürriyet)

Both arch-rivals, who swept the board last season, won their first-week matches by a single goal. They share the same pain. One's number 8 has just arrived, while the other's is injured... Naturally, after Lugano dominated the game, especially in the first half of the first official match in Kadıköy, the expectation yesterday was a much more productive Fenerbahçe in attack ahead of the Lille match... It is not very reasonable to demand all of this from the very first week following a grueling summer training camp period. (Bülent Timurlenk | Sabah)

Fenerbahçe finished its first home league match with a one-goal victory, but its performance throughout the 90 minutes was far from satisfactory. They suffered from serious productivity issues. There was only one name who stepped up and did a great job in attacking attempts: Saint-Maximin. He acted almost like a locksmith opening up the opponent's crowded defense. He was also the creator of the goal scored by Dzeko. However, because he was not physically ready, he faded from the game after the 60th minute. Mourinho then substituted him out. So, one might ask: Why did Fenerbahçe play so sluggishly and fail to provide sufficient attacking efficiency? (Ömer Üründül | Sabah)

Since Mourinho has been on the bench, Fenerbahçe has started every official match like “the Terracotta Army made of clay of the first Chinese Emperor Huang”... Magnificent but motionless. Each one is a priceless work of art as a player, but inactive. At the very least, Fenerbahçe has always spent one half like this, only managing to come to its senses in the second halves. This cannot be a strategy. Especially not a strategy imposed by Mourinho on a Fenerbahçe opening the league at Kadıköy. (Ercan Güven | Milliyet)

And it happened; Mourinho met the "Turkish Referees." A position-ignorant official who allowed a team that wouldn't get up from the ground, wasted time, and played slowly to do so, while forcing a Fenerbahçe side trying to use the ball quickly to retake a throw-in. He has no idea what to call a foul on—or what not to. The Special One got rid of Bitigen, but there is still HUM (Halil Umut Meler) to deal with. (Gürcan Bilgiç | Sabah)

Fenerbahçe won its opening match... But we can say it was a very strange game. It is very odd, but apart from the goal Fenerbahçe scored, they didn't have a single chance where you would say, "Oh, how could they miss that?" In contrast, although Adana Demirspor rarely came to the Fenerbahçe goal, they had one or two significant chances. For instance, in the final minutes, if the Demirspor player had struck Çağlar's short header well, the match would have ended in a draw. Especially in the first half, the tempo was very low. It is clear that Mourinho told his players, "Keep the tempo low, don't tire yourselves out too much, avoid injuries, because we have a vital Lille match in three days"... (Ahmet Çakar | Sabah)

Fenerbahçe was on the pitch, but their minds were elsewhere. It was clear they were thinking about the other side, not this match. The Lille match was on their minds. The second leg on Tuesday had inevitably taken its toll. For that reason, we can say it was a match where Fenerbahçe played in neutral, both mentally and physically. Adana Demirspor, on the other hand, tried to challenge Fenerbahçe with man-marking. (Mustafa Çulcu | Sabah)

This time, Mourinho had written Djiku, Osayi, and İrfan Can into the starting 11, while sitting Mert Müldür, Çağlar, and Krunić on the bench. With İrfan Can on the right and Maximin on the left, Tadic had moved to the position behind the striker. Tadic, who played exclusively on the left last season, is both struggling to adapt to his new position and unable to play his effective brand of football. As Szymanski's performance has regressed, the burden in the midfield has fallen squarely on the shoulders of İsmail Yüksek. It is certain that Fred is sorely missed. (Faik Çetiner | Fanatik)

Fenerbahçe's best-functioning area last season was the left flank. With Ferdi and Tadic having built a solid left side, making a move in that area was bound to bring some risks. Since the day he arrived, Mourinho has been building his left-wing plan around Saint-Maximin, trying to return Tadic to the role he plays for the Serbian national team. Following the Lille match, Fenerbahçe's attacking organizations last night against Adana Demirspor also progressed through Saint-Maximin. Saint-Maximin is a talented player who has a good relationship with the ball and creates wonders when he times his passes correctly. He had a fantastic first half last night. Aside from providing a delicious assist to Dzeko, he opened up new horizons for the entire Fenerbahçe attacking line with the balls he received with his back to the goal. (Serkan Akcan | Fanatik)