Is the pitch bad, Coach İsmail?

Fenerbahçe dropped two points in the Antep away match.

It can happen.

In fact, it is quite normal.

The Gaziantep away match is not easy. Antep also started the match well. In football, every big team drops points away from home. Manchester City drops them, Real Madrid drops them, and Fenerbahçe drops them too.

That is not my issue.

My issue is what İsmail Kartal said after the match.

When asked about the performance difference between the Fenerbahçe in the Champions League and the one in the league, the coach says:

“We are focused there, but when we come to the league, the opponent closes down in these types of matches, and on a pitch like this, this is as much as we can do.”

Hold on, Coach.

Let's stop there for a moment.

Isn't the “there” you are referring to the Champions League?

Dear Coach İsmail, the question inevitably comes to mind:

You have come to manage Fenerbahçe four times and left four times. Your fifth arrival was the kind that will go down in football history; you left, and before you could even properly pack your bags, you were back.

Now you are explaining to us the difference between the Champions League and the league.

But Coach...

How many matches have you played in the Champions League that you are explaining the sociology of the Champions League to us by saying, “it's like this there, and like that here”?

It is easy to find excuses.

The pitch is bad.

The opponent closed down.

The concentration is different.

The conditions of the match are different.

So, where is the head coach?

Because I also know that the opponent will close down.

Even the fans in the stands know that Gaziantep will not play open-field football against Fenerbahçe and say, “Go ahead gentlemen, the corridor to the goal is all yours.”

Who is the person who should solve this?

Is it me?

Is it the Fenerbahçe fan in front of the television?

Or is it the Fenerbahçe Head Coach?

And then there is this “pitch” issue.

Coach, let's take a look at the squad you have.

Ederson in goal.

Kanté and Guendouzi in midfield.

There is Greenwood.

Up front, there is Vedat and Lukaku.

There is a team consisting of European-level stars on which millions of euros have been spent.

With this squad, you are explaining the pitch to us after an away match in Gaziantep.

But Coach İsmail...

Did the Gaziantep pitch deteriorate just for you?

Did the opponent play on a different field?

Did your players run in the mud while the Gaziantep players ran on a carpet?

Fenerbahçe fans no longer want to see a pitch report; they want to see a head coach's touch.

What did you do when the match got tight?

How did you change the game?

What solution did you produce for the opponent closing down?

Which substitution changed the fate of the match?

With which tactical move did you make people say, “There, the head coach won the match here”?

Creating two chances is not the same as making Fenerbahçe play well.

Especially not with a squad like this.

Then we turn around and talk about the Beşiktaş match.

Other stories were told there as well.

If you want, let's also talk about the red cards that were not given to Fenerbahçe players in that match.

But if we open that door, we have to talk about other things too.

We would also put on the table how Fenerbahçe went into the Beşiktaş match and which decisions changed the course of the game.

That is why the referee, the pitch, the opponent closing down, the fixture list...

The moment you start hiding behind these, you stop talking about football.

You start finding covers for failure.

The head coaching position of a club like Fenerbahçe is not a place to produce excuses.

It is a place to produce solutions.

Let's get to the main issue.

I still don't know which sentence of İsmail Kartal we should believe today.

Was the İsmail Kartal who resigned telling the truth?

Or is it the İsmail Kartal who returned 24 hours later and said, “I will make Fenerbahçe the champion”?

Because these two are not the same story.

In one, the conclusion is “I cannot do this.”

In the other, there is the claim, “I will make this team the champion.”

If there are 24 hours between the two, one inevitably asks:

What changed, Coach?

Fenerbahçe?

The squad?

You?

Or was it just the decision?

More importantly, what do the players think?

Their head coach resigns.

Then he comes back.

Then he promises a championship.

And now, after dropping points, the pitch, the closing opponent, and concentration are being discussed.

A football player is also human.

He thinks too.

“Why did our coach leave?”

“Why did he come back?”

“Has the problem that caused him to leave been solved?”

If you think these questions are never asked in the locker room, you are watching football too romantically.

In front of the Fenerbahçe fans, there is another reality.

They look at this team's squad.

Then they look at the scoreboard.

Then they look at the football on the pitch.

Then they listen to İsmail Kartal.

And they inevitably scratch their heads.

Because if the head coach of a squad that includes Ederson, Kanté, Guendouzi, Greenwood, Vedat, and Lukaku is talking about the “pitch” after the match, bad things come to mind.

For example, this:

Is the problem really the pitch?

Or is the managerial ground that Fenerbahçe is walking on slipping away?

I think this is the question that needs to be discussed as we enter the international break.

Not why Fenerbahçe dropped two points in Antep.

It happens in football.

The real question is this:

Does İsmail Kartal still provide the confidence to be the head coach of this Fenerbahçe?

Because the two points lost in Gaziantep can be recovered.

The league is long.

But if the head coach loses the trust in the locker room...

His ground is truly bad.

And it won't be fixed by changing the grass.