Jose Mourinho: I need to adapt to Turkish football

In the second week of the Trendyol Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe drew 2-2 away against Göztepe. Fenerbahçe manager Jose Mourinho made statements at the post-match press conference.

Expressing that nothing in football is a coincidence after the 2-2 score, the Portuguese manager said, “I could call this bad luck. I could say it just happened. But nothing in football is a coincidence. This is the third time it has happened. We think there is an obvious reason for this third incident that has befallen us. The first is that we are not killing the games, meaning we are not finishing them off.

The opportunities to kill and finish the games are coming our way. In the second half of the match, we found the spaces we couldn't find in the first half. We found opportunities to score the third goal and finish the game. After the match reached 2-1, we had clear chances. One was the ball Cenk Tosun sent to the back post. There was also a position Maximin got into on the left before that. Therefore, I can point to this as the first reason. We cannot finish the games. We cannot capitalize on the opportunities to kill the games. As another reason, I can say this: We are not acting smart enough on the pitch.

Just like our opponents do against us. Today, I answered the lady's first question like this: I need to adapt to the nature of Turkish football. Turkish football does not need to adapt to me. I need to adapt. Therefore, my players also need to do what the opposing players do.

They need to waste time, they need to lie on the ground if necessary. They need to stop the game. They need to waste time. They need to fake injuries if necessary. Just like everyone else. If we do these things, even if the referee gives six minutes, we will have found the opportunity to kill the game. Therefore, we also need to make good use of the opportunities to kill the game. You could call this being too naive, or you could call it acting too poetically in a league that is not very poetic.

But the players need to think about this. I talked to my players about this at halftime when we were ahead. I said we must be ambitious. We must capitalize on the opportunities to finish the game. I said this at halftime today as well. I am not a magician, I am just experienced. But this is what I told my players.

If they score a goal, if they find a goal, the fans will be behind them. Therefore, the match becomes an open contest. As I said, that's what happened in the second half. There was incredible support. Therefore, we can call the reason a mixture of these two. Both not having the ambition to finish and kill the games, and not acting smart like the others. In some countries, this is called anti-football. In some countries, it is called acting smart. We need to be like them,” he said.

"I DID NOT SEE THE INCIDENT"

Stating that he did not see the incident involving President Ali Koç at the beginning of the second half, Mourinho said, “The only thing I saw was a very large crowd. The players saw it, but they didn't understand what it was. I didn't understand what was happening while the referee stopped the game. I was just trying to get my players to focus on the match,” he said.