Fenerbahçe Manager İsmail Kartal believes in the championship: 'Everything could turn in our favor this weekend'

Fenerbahçe Manager İsmail Kartal, met with members of the press for a chat meeting.

At the meeting held at the Samandıra Can Bartu Facilities, the experienced manager stated that he believes they will be champions this weekend.

Stating that they will face İstanbulspor in the final week of the Süper Lig and that they maintain their belief in the championship, the 62-year-old coach said, "We will play our final match. As a team, we want to win. I have never lost my faith. God willing, I believe we will be champions on Sunday. I am waiting for all our fans at our match. To them, always "trust this team, trust these players" I said.

I believe we have not let our fans or our community down so far. We are behind due to external factors. Everything could turn in our favor this weekend. I live with the hope of winning the championship." he stated.

"SOMETIMES IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN"

Stating that they dropped points in the Konya away match and that GalatasarayEmphasizing that they could also experience it, the experienced coach said, "Galatasaray has lost their last 3 matches played away at Konya. I was there for one of them. Just as we dropped points in Konya, they could experience the same. We suffered significant damage in the Konya match. We created 11 chances, 8 of which were 100 percent goal-scoring opportunities. Sometimes when it's not meant to be, it doesn't happen. We had capitalized on the chances we created against them in the first match and won 7-1. In this match, however, we couldn't capitalize on them." he said.

"THEY DISRESPECTED OUR EFFORTS"

Explaining that while constructive criticism should exist, he was saddened by lies, inaccuracies, and expressions amounting to insults, Kartal continued as follows:

"We have been together for a year. I am an objective person. They tried to discredit me, my staff, and my players. Without learning the truth, some people spoke lies for their own sake, to secure different jobs in different places for their careers.

They slandered us and disrespected our efforts. There is a constant attack on social and visual media. I do not accept this. There should be criticism, but if it is constructive criticism, football will also develop. This is not criticism; it is hitting below the belt. I don't understand these things. Every time I have come to this club, I have shattered all statistics with the football I have played."

"THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY THE PLAYERS BROUGHT THIS TEAM HERE"

Reminding that he is in his third stint with the yellow-navy team, Kartal stated that they have been subjected to significant refereeing errors in every period.

İsmail Kartal also mentioned that they are currently among the top 3 highest-scoring teams in Europe, adding,"They are constantly making negative criticisms. They say the substitutions are wrong. In my opinion, 90 percent of them are correct. We were trailing 1-0 in Rize, and the moment I made the 3 substitutions, those 3 men won the match, but no one mentioned it. What happened in Trabzon is obvious, but no one talks about it."

"There are those who say the players brought this team here. The team played in a very different system last year, and 12-13 players have arrived. You have to train them, make them believe in your own system, and then such a strong game emerges. Furthermore, they have to play by staying loyal to this; these things are not easy." he assessed.

"FOOTBALL IS A BOTTOMLESS PIT"

Stating that his players have put in great effort and that success was achieved as a team, Kartal spoke as follows:

"We have records of everything we have done and how we have worked since the beginning of the season. Both the players and the entire team have put in a great effort."
Let's look at the budgets then. This was said to me, and they are still saying it. You saw the locker room at halftime during the Galatasaray match. After all, we are all human. Of course, we have our mistakes. Football is such a thing that even Guardiola or Klopp are not perfect. There is technique and tactics involved. Football is a bottomless pit. After leaving Fenerbahçe, I received offers from 7 clubs, one of which was the Iranian National Team. I was going to the World Cup, but it didn't work out.
I am not someone who promotes himself. There is hard work here. We worked very hard with our team. There are 5 pages of statistics. Club history, records. Turkish football history, records. This much criticism and attack is not pleasant. When I was unemployed from time to time, television channels invited me; did a bad word ever come out of my mouth on any of them? If I leave here and someone else comes in my place, would they want to be treated the way I was? I cannot understand if this is malice or jealousy."

"I DRAW MY STRENGTH FROM OUR FANS"

İsmail Kartal expressed that he has been able to stand tall against all the negativity directed at him by drawing strength from the yellow-navy blue fans.

Thanking his family for their support during difficult times, Kartal said, "My family and some friends within the community have always motivated me. They never left me; they always supported me. My greatest concentration, and what most enables me to stand tall, is the Fenerbahçe fans. This is my real poll. From the beginning of the season until today, not a single word has been said against my players or me. If there were any murmurs against me here, I would feel it; if such a thing were to happen, I would have asked for permission and left. They keep me standing, they trust me, they believe in me. I have always stood tall with the fans' belief in me. I draw the greatest strength from our fans." he stated.

At the beginning of the season Fred and SzymanskiKartal stated that he presented them to the president as essential transfers, and also noted that they discussed the game system with players like Tadic and Fred.

Stating that their opponents in the Süper Lig have made it a tactic to slow down the game against them, the experienced manager also provided information that they could not add a few wing players they wanted to the squad at the beginning of the season.

"THEY TALK AS IF I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING"

In the UEFA Europa Conference League against Olympiakos Explaining that he substituted İrfan Can due to injury in the match they played against Olympiakos, Kartal said, "We were demoralized after being eliminated and went to Sivas in that state. A team that has played 120 minutes of football can only do so much. Fred, İrfan, and İsmail held their own there. We couldn't rotate with the others; they played 120 minutes. When everyone was healthy, we already did what we could. We dropped points in Sivas, fine, criticize me, but look at the reason. Despite everything, we were leading 2-1, but it ended 2-2 due to a referee disaster. They talk as if everything is very normal, as if I am responsible for everything, but I do not accept this."

Stating that Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus also suffered greatly from referee errors last season, Kartal said, "We collected 96 points. One team will be the champion. In my opinion, we will not have been unsuccessful. Regarding the question about Fred laughing while he was speaking on the pitch before the Kayserispor match, Kartal replied, "Fred likes what we are doing there. When the intention is bad, everything is bad. Fred is actually saying, 'Look at what a beautiful thing we are doing, we are happy, let's go.' If you want to show the bad, you can make everything look bad."

WHY DID HE NOT CHOOSE RYAN KENT?

Touching upon the decision not to include Ryan Kent on the list due to the foreign player quota, Kartal said, "We had 15 people on hand and 1 person had to be removed from the squad. Kent received serious offers from Europe, Lazio was also there. We wanted to keep King in the squad. Kent said, 'I don't want to leave.' We made our choice this way. I would always prefer a healthy King. Kent has trouble with finishing. If King is healthy, he can go out and win a match on his own. It was bad luck that he got injured 4 days after we announced the list."

"KRUNIC IS A GOOD FOOTBALLER, HE HAS A LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE"

İsmail Kartal answered the question regarding the mid-season transfer process as follows:

"Lincoln Henrique hadn't played football for a year, which is a risk. You can't just keep experimenting after a certain point. We are playing for the championship with ready-to-play players. We said let's give Lincoln a chance and see. If we asked whether it should be Crespo or Krunic before he arrived, we would all say Krunic. He came, and in his second match here, he was booed. He is a good player, but he lacks self-confidence. We could sell him for more than what we paid for him right now. The man has a market everywhere in Europe. Lyon offered 1 million more than us, but he came saying, 'I gave my word to Fenerbahçe.' Currently, he hasn't clicked with the fans. I think if he plays well for 1-2 matches, he will improve with every game. Krunic's arrival has moved İsmail two steps further forward."