Domenico Tedesco: We were not good as a team

In the 20th week of the Trendyol Super League, Fenerbahçe defeated Kocaelispor 2-0 away from home. Fenerbahçe manager Domenico Tedesco answered questions at the press conference held after the match. When asked about the fact that Mert Müldür, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, and İsmail Yüksek grew up in this city, and about Talisca's position, Tedesco replied, "I know these names are from this city. There was a wonderful atmosphere. The love and passion for football were incredible. It is difficult to play here. They created difficult moments for us as well. We had trouble getting into the match. If Talisca had been sent off, it would have been difficult for us. We could have struggled if we had been left with 10 men. I don't know if it was a red card or not. İsmail was very good today. He has played a lot of 90-minute matches. He felt pain in his groin today. We are happy to have so many midfielders."

"I wouldn't have come if I felt I would fail"

Regarding the transfer agenda, Tedesco said, "Even though I didn't build the team that played in the first half of the season, I looked at the team the moment I received an offer from Fenerbahçe. If I don't believe I will be successful in a team, I don't go there. I believed I would be successful for this team. I wouldn't have come if I felt I would fail. From the moment I signed a contract with this team, it became my team. I am very happy with my team. The transfer window has not closed yet. I will share my final thoughts after the transfer window closes. I cannot comment on rumors."

"This atmosphere was difficult for us"

Touching upon the difficulty of playing away against Kocaelispor, the Italian manager said, "They have certain patterns as a team. The full-back passes vertically to the winger. We played against a good team. Petkovic plays like a pivot striker. He is like a fox in the penalty area. When you play 4-3-3, you play with one midfielder in the center, one number 6, one number 8. All the players are suitable for this game. The energy the fans reflected on the pitch was also effective. Before every match we play, we show our players the opponent's strengths. We always want to press high. As Fenerbahçe, we have a certain identity and we want to reflect this on the pitch. We always try to reflect our own DNA on the pitch. The first 20 minutes were difficult. It was not possible to reflect the things we wanted on the pitch. Man-to-man marking was not easy. This atmosphere was difficult for us."

"We were not good as a team today"

Speaking about the team's performance in the Göztepe and Kocaelispor matches, Tedesco said the following regarding tactical flexibility:

"We had a great performance in the Göztepe match. We had 82 percent possession and controlled the game. You all saw that the Göztepe match was difficult. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a good result. What matters in football is getting results. At the end of the season, everyone looks at how many points you have, not the percentage of possession. Today, we were not good as a team. We had problems with man-to-man marking, but there were solutions to overcome this. You need to be courageous to implement them. Of course, we want to have possession. We have a plan that we want from our players. If the players see something during the match, I want them to be smart. If we hadn't done it this way, the result could have been different. We are in a position to show tactical flexibility. We preferred long balls a bit with Youssef. If we hadn't done that, we might not have won."

"The new players are adapting very quickly"

"We always want to improve our game. At the end of the day, you have to adapt according to the player profile. Sidiki joined our team. He is a young and talented player. He is a player who can make runs behind the defense and play with his back to the goal. Matteo and Musaba have adapted to the team. We need to congratulate the players who have been here from the beginning. We are playing consecutive matches. The new players are also adapting very quickly. The team is helping with this as well. This shows that everyone on the team has a good character," he concluded.