Okan Buruk's comments on Fred ahead of the Fenerbahçe derby

Galatasaray defeated Fatih Karagümrük 1-0 at home in the 17th week of the Süper Lig.

Speaking at the press conference held after the match, Galatasaray Manager Okan Buruk said, "Overall, today's performance was below our previous matches in terms of tempo, creating positions, and pressure on the opponent. It was perhaps a bit better in the first half. We went into the break with a 1-0 lead. The opponent also had good players. They are a team with good positioning on the field. They found positions from time to time. I said at halftime that we wanted to find the second goal and carry the game more comfortably. We couldn't find the second goal. A 1-1 result could have emerged. Such matches can be difficult before a derby. The card situation, injuries, and thinking about the next match can pull this performance down even further. There was a Galatasaray that was below its previous matches. There were many positions we didn't finish. In general, we need to do better than this. We played one or two such matches last year as well. I likened today's match to those. Winning was important. We continued our winning performance at home. We are entering the derby with the same points. The good part overall is a 3-point victory," he said.

"WE NEED TO CONNECT ICARDI WITH THE BALL MORE INSIDE THE PENALTY AREA"

Responding to a question about the performance of Argentine star Mauro Icardi, Buruk said, "We have 2-3 players who are not playing at 100 percent. Recently, Zaha had the same problem. He also played with injections from time to time, played with pain in his wrist. Icardi is getting better every day. He trains without injections from time to time. They try to do their best when they go out on the field. As a team, we need to connect Icardi with the ball more inside the penalty area. There are many balls we don't deliver to Icardi in the final pass choices here. Compared to last year, it is sometimes better in terms of play, and sometimes we fall short. Last year we were fresher, we had more chances to prepare. With the Champions League, there is less chance to prepare. Turkish teams playing in the Champions League have largely performed poorly in the league. We broke this too. It is more valuable this year in terms of carrying both sides successfully, this is the biggest difference from last year," he replied.

Stating that Karagümrük is a good team, the yellow-reds' manager said, "They played well against us too. They played very well away against Fenerbahçe. One must give credit to Karagümrük here. We were more happy with the victory than a 2-3 goal difference. They are one of the teams that concede the fewest positions. It is important to win against such a team. Here, 3 points are ahead of everything," he said.

"THERE WAS AN INCIDENT LAST WEEK THAT WE ALL FELT VERY SORRY ABOUT, EVERYTHING RETURNED TO NORMAL 2-3 DAYS LATER"

When reminded of recent events in Turkish football, Okan Buruk said, "I don't think there is much of a solution regarding the subject. It's not just about football, we can also ask how we got to this state as humans. There was an incident last week that we all felt very sorry about. Everything returned to normal 2-3 days later. Attacks started on social media. Nothing changes in this country. We need to do something. We also have mistakes here. Those who feed this chaos also get ratings in this country. We all need to take responsibility here. There are times when we go outside our own stance to win. If everyone blames one segment, of course, there is no result here. We will do our best. We will do this in the most correct way," he stated.

DAVINSON SANCHEZ STATEMENT

Regarding the condition of the injured Colombian footballer Davinson Sanchez, Buruk said, "He is a very important player for us. We used him in the Copenhagen match. We played him because he felt good. He had pain again during the match. We are resting him. He has started his treatment again. We will try to see what his condition is like in a few days before the match," he expressed.

"WE WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY THE SAME GAME WE HAVE PLAYED UNTIL NOW IN THE FENERBAHÇE MATCH"

When asked how the fact that Fenerbahçe's Brazilian footballer Fred will not play in the derby due to a red card will affect their game, Okan Buruk replied, "For the Fenerbahçe match, we will continue to play the same game we have played until now. Our opponent has a quality squad. Fred is an important player there. They also have quality players to play in his place. This doesn't change much for us," he said.

"WE WANT TO PLAY THESE TWO DERBIES AND THEN DECIDE ON TRANSFERS"

Stating that Spanish left-back Angelino is a high-profile and very good player, the yellow-reds' manager said, "When we brought him here, we thought we were doing a very important job. He was effective when he played. This is an adaptation process. Sometimes it takes time. There are difficulties in coming to a new country, a new team. The pressure of Galatasaray is also a very different thing. Sometimes they struggle to adapt to this. Angelino is a very good character, a very good professional. We benefited from him in the last Champions League match as well. Today we chose Barış. We also used Abdülkerim there in one match. We used 4 players there. Regarding transfers, we want to play these two derbies and then decide which position we will make a transfer for. We are happy with our squad. There are also players we give little time to, like Bakambu and Halil. Ndombale has come up a lot physically and in terms of training tempo. We saw that on the field today too. Our goal is to make a transfer only if we need it in a very small way. We are making our preparations. We will make the final decision after the two matches," he concluded.