Even before Covid-19 struck the entire football world, Turkish football had been undergoing a strange process. While the big clubs in Europe got richer and stronger every year and dominated their domestic leagues, the situation has been the exact opposite in Turkey. Although the big three won all the Süper Lig championships since 2010 until this year, the biggest stage of Turkish football became more unpredictable and competitive in the recent years. This year, İstanbul Başakşehir won the league with just 69 points, while Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga with 82 points, playing the same amount of games. In the Premier League, Liverpool reached 99 points with four additional games and in Serie A Juventus already has 82 with two more games to go. Thus, Süper Lig has slowly become one of the most competitive games in Europe and this season was the pinnacle of this new order.

Right at the start of the league, Beşiktaş and Galatasaray won only two games out of seven and at some point there were jokes about Beşiktaş’s possible relegation. Even Fenerbahçe which started the season with two wins in a row stayed with only three wins in the seventh week. It was once Alanyaspor who led the league, before Sivasspor came in with full force. Then Trabzonspor stormed the league until the break and seemed invincible with their hunger for championship.

However, it was always İstanbul Başakşehir, which low-key followed the race without getting noticed, kept their performance more or less stable. After a horrible start, no one expected Başakşehir to recover quickly and return to the race. Nevertheless, since leaders of the league changed so quickly and no team was able to maintain its dominance, Başakşehir slowly made its way to first place.

At the bottom of the league the situation was no different. Konyaspor, who beat Başakşehir and Trabzonspor in a row in the last three weeks of the season and stayed in the league, once could not win a game in ten games and was one of the favorites for relegation. Kayserispor, on the other hand, had only 22 points in 26 games and was also deemed to have relegated already. Robert Prosinecki’s team won three games in a row after Coivd-19 break, lost to Fenerbahçe and Çaykur Rizespor in the final minutes and got relegated with just three points below the safe zone. While the rest of Europe, except La Lig perhaps, had no such fierce competition for championship, the Süper Lig had not only a four-team race for the trophy for a long time but also an even crazier relegation battle. Almost all teams experienced a radical rise and fall this season and no one was able to predict long-term standings. Beşiktaş finished the league on third place despite their financial issues and terrible start, and Galatasaray finished the league on sixth spot, despite being one of the favorites for the championship before the break. If this unpredictable, strange nature of the Süper Lig is marketed correctly, it can change the financial dynamics of Turkish football.

As one of the best administrated clubs in Turkey, İstanbul Başakşehir finally won the championship that they have been chasing for years. This season, with the novelties manager Okan Buruk brought to the team and the empty stadiums after the Covid-19 break, Başakşehir had a better chance of winning the league. Still, with their balanced game and consistent physical performance after the break, they deserved the trophy by all means. They had the most reliable strategy throughout the season and had a clear advantage over their main rival, Trabzonspor, in terms of defensive stability. Combined with the individual contributions of the experienced players like Demba Ba and Edin Visca, they were able to solve almost all problems they encountered this season.

At the beginning of the season my ideas about the team were mostly negative, due to the radical changes the new manager Okan Buruk brought to the team. His predecessor Abdullah Avcı had already built a reliable system in four seasons but Buruk changed all the dynamics from the day one. Even though I respect the authentic approach of each and every manager, I thought it was completely unnecessary to make a revolution in a system which works fine.

However, after losing the Champions League ticket to Olympiakos and starting the league with two defeats in a row, Buruk noticed his mistake. He tried to play with high pace and intense pressing, but his team was the oldest in the Süper Lig. Then he returned to a more controlled approach with two strikers, having more possession and slowly reaching to the opponent’s goal. That was the plan which brought Avcı’s Başakşehir close to the championship in the last three years and through that Buruk’s Başakşehir slowly recovered from the bad start. First the victories in the Süper Lig and then the qualification to the last 32 in the Europa League arrived.

During this recovery period Buruk started using classical strikers, Enzo Crivelli and Demba Ba. This meant that the team was more bound to crosses and the real issue was to supply these strikers with lots of crosses. In exactly that part Avcı’s set pieces came in handy as Başakşehir was one of the best teams in transitioning from defence to offence. Basically, Buruk took Avcı’s organized, systematic approach and added a bit of chaos to the final third. In the end, both Crivelli and Ba contributed 14 goals and 4 assists, showing the consistency Buruk achieved in offensive plans. One other issue that made Başakşehir different than other teams was the similar performances it showed before and after Covid-19. Unlike Galatasaray, which lacked the great support of its fans and collapsed after the break, Başakşehir’s game stayed almost the same. They used the advantage of playing without fans even before Covid-19 and preserved their performance. With this consistency in performance, came the consistency in results and hence the championship. They were not the fastest, strongest or most talented team in the league, but they found the right balance. As it turned out, being the jack of all trades but master of none was enough to be the masters of Turkish Süper Lig.

If the 32nd week of Süper Lig was a scenario for a movie, it would be rejected as far-fetched. İstanbul Başakşehir entered the week with 66 points and had four points between them and their only rival in the race, Trabzonspor with 62 points. Başakşehir could have become the champions had Trabzonspor lost points and Başakşehir won. Both games, Başakşehir against Konyaspor and Trabzonspor against Denizlispor, started at the same time but they went in completely different directions. When the half-time whistle was blown, Başakşehir was losing 1-3 and Trabzonspor was winning 1-0, bringing the gap to only a point. In this shocking moment, everyone thought that Trabzonspor would return to the race with a blast. However, as it always happened in the Süper Lig, surprises continued with full force.

When the games ended, both Başakşehir and Trabzonspor lost against two relegation battlers. Başakşehir made a comeback and entered the final minutes of the game 3-3, only to concede one more from Konyaspor just before the final whistle. Although it was a surprising result, the comeback showed that Başakşehir did not demoralize but remained calm. That is why even though they lost three points, they passed the week without losing their confidence.

On the other hand, Trabzonspor completely collapsed against Denizlispor in the second half, something no one understood how it happened. They learned that Başakşehir was losing during the half-time, and everyone expected them to react positively to this. Nonetheless, the team became even more imbalanced, made simple mistakes and conceded a goal immediately after the start of the second half. The team simply lost control after conceding the equalizer and attacked very carelessly, leaving enough space and time for Denizlispor to launch counterattacks. As a result, Trabzonspor lost yet another three points in a game where it had the lead, making the total number of lost points in such games 27.

The last thing a manager wants in the final weeks of the league is an anxious team, and Trabzonspor’s inconsistent results point in that direction. Added to that, Trabzonspor, albeit being the most dangerous team in offence, still has not found a solution to its defensive problems. I think the manager Hüseyin Çimşir is not aware of his team’s structural problem that he thought changing central defenders would change something. What the team needs is a daring defensive strategy to match its offensive goals, but Çimşir could not deliver that so far.

Mentally, Başakşehir seems like a much more resilient team than Trabzonspor and the current forms of these two teams make Başakşehir the favourites of the league at the moment. As both teams will play against weak opponents in the following two weeks, consistency will be crucial to get three points and when it comes getting results without mistakes, Başakşehir has a clear advantage with its balance over Trabzonspor. Of course, Başakşehir has arguably the better squad and the better squad depth and they are also the oldest, most experienced team in the league. In contrast, Trabzonspor is made up of relatively new, young players who still need to prove themselves. I think this also explains the difference between stress levels and balance. Regardless, Başakşehir is only two games away from its first championship, just six years after it was founded!

Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced this Wednesday that it will enact a new foreign players limits in Turkish football. According to the new system, the number of foreign players in a club’s roster and match squad will decrease gradually. Currently the limit is having only 14 foreign players in total, but there is no limit on the number in a match squad. Nevertheless, from next year on, the total number of foreign players playing in a game will be limited to eight. Eventually in 2022/2023 season, the total number of foreign players a club can have will drop to ten, while the ones that can play at the same time will drop to 5.

So, as you can guess, this new regulation caused lots of eyebrows to raise, and almost no one in the Turkish football community made a statement that backs up the new regulations. Honestly, it is hard to disagree with people who protest the new regulation since not only is the reasoning behind it flawed, but also the execution is terrible. Teams made many three-to-four year contracts with foreign players at the beginning of this season and in the winter break, and now, out of the blue, they are told that cannot use some of their foreign players in the future anymore. Furthermore, they will not be able to use some of them each week and force teams to pay players just to stay on the bench. Thus, it is obvious that the method and timing of the new regulation does not help administration of the clubs, which are already in a tough position.

However, the mentality behind the new system is even more problematic than the execution, and it has been proven not only to be ineffective but also harmful countless times in the history of Turkish football. In the last decade, the foreign players limit has been changed several times, and each time it gave the same results: restricting foreign players does not create new Turkish talents. On the contrary, in the last four years in which teams could have 14 foreign players, talents like Ozan Kabak, Cengiz Ünder, Çağlar Söyüncü, Yusuf Yazıcı, Merih Demiral and Cenk Tosun proved themselves and went to Europe. The foreign players limit made things only worse since clubs were obligated to have mediocre, spoiled native players who knew that their place was secured by the regulation. Therefore, it is clear that the foreign players limit and the production of new talents have a negative correlation. The negative consensus among the Turkish football community shows that this new regulation is flawed and unnecessary in all aspects because it tries to solve a deep, chronic issue with a cliché, outdated method that has proven to be wrong. You cannot simply produce more talent by preventing foreign players to come to your country. Talents are produced in the academies, which receive almost no attention or investment from the elites of football. The way to have more talented Turkish players is to first give them proper football education and then put them into a competition among players from all around the world. Otherwise, limiting the number of foreign players would just create a financial bubble for Turkish players.

There were four possible championship contenders until last week. Sivasspor botched a huge chance for the championship as they lost to Denizlispor at their home, while all of their rivals lost points. Galatasaray, on the other hand, entered the 29^th week of the Süper Lig eight points behind their rival for the week, İstanbul Başakşehir. The game, which was a must-win for Terim’s team, ended 1-1. These results meant that the title race is still on, but not for Galatasaray and Sivasspor anymore.

Now, the race is between Başakşehir with 60 points and Trabzonspor with 58 points. A win against Galatasaray would have made Başakşehir the clear favorites of the league, as Trabzonspor will play against Galatasaray this week. Nevertheless, Başakşehir not only lost two points, but also lost Edin Visca, Mahmut Tekdemir and Daniel Aleksic in their next game against Antalyaspor due to suspensions.

Even though Antalyaspor is in 9^th place, they managed beat Beşiktaş in İstanbul in the first week after the break. They are also a classic counter-attacking team like Ankaragücü, the team came close to beating Başakşehir two weeks earlier. Especially without Visca and Aleksic, it will be a real test for Başakşehir to prove their tactical depth. If Okan Buruk’s team loses points in a week where Trabzonspor plays Galatasaray, they may lose the confidence they won in the last three weeks.

Trabzonspor’s slight advantage will be playing against a demoralized Galatasaray. Although Terim’s team still can get a champions league ticket and Trabzonspor’s possible ban from European competitions make the third spot very tempting, Galatasaray lost a significant portion of their thrust last week. The team gave its best against Başakşehir, but the absence of crucial players alongside with Başakşehir’s resilience broke their will.

However, if Trabzonspor cannot come-up with a better defensive strategy, this situation may backfire as well. Hüseyin Çimşir’s team lost twenty-two points in ten games where they could not hold on to their lead. This signals that there is a big problem with defensive organizations and actions. Even though Galatasaray lacks lots of its crucial players, they are still a capable team as their performance against Başakşehir shows. If Trabzonspor leaves enough time and space to Terim’s team, the results might be very bitter for the Black Sea Storm. As tensions rise towards the end of the Süper Lig, this week will be another milestone in the championship race. If Trabzonspor or Başakşehir gets the advantage, I do not think they will lose it again. Another crucial week awaits the Süper Lig.

As we enter the third week of the last eight weeks of the Süper Lig, the most crucial game in this quasi-tournament has arrived. The Süper Lig’s leader İstanbul Başakşehir will host Galatasaray, whose championship hopes cannot survive a defeat. Başakşehir enters this week with 59 points and Galatasaray follows the leader eight points behind, which means a potential Başakşehir win will widen the gap to eleven points with five games to go. Thus, the pressure will be on Galatasaray’s side, as Başakşehir would be happy with a draw.

However, Galatasaray’s needs and abilities are not yet aligned in the 29^th week of the season. The loss of critical players like goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and center back Marcao has hit the defensive performance hard. Galatasaray conceded only five goals in nine games in the Süper Lig between January and March, but it has already conceded that number in the last two games in June. 

Galatasaray has become a team that easily gives away opportunities to its opponents, mainly because the team is no longer moving as a whole in space. After two months of individual training or no training at all, Galatasaray has seemingly lost its collective action patterns. This affects both offense and defense, but since Galatasaray’s squad quality is worse on the defensive side, it is harder to cover for this with individual quality. Players give more time and space to their opponents, which is what counterattacking teams need the most.

In their last game against Gaziantep FK, Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim tried a different strategy to compensate defensive problems. He positioned Younes Belhanda right next to Jean Michael Seri, where Mario Lemina normally plays. This caused additional problems in defense as the Algerian offensive midfielder does not have the basic defensive skills. Although the team had numerous opportunities and scored three goals, they also conceded three goals and lost crucial two points. Apparently focusing on scoring more than conceding less has not offered the remedy to defensive problems.

Unfortunately for Terim, Başakşehir is one of the most dangerous in the league when it comes to transitioning from defense to offense. Although center back Ryan Donk’s and defensive midfielder Mario Lemina’s return to their original positions against Başakşehir will be an advantage for Galatasaray, it might not be enough. Başakşehir’s transition game shines against attacking, proactive opponents, just like how Galatasaray played against Gaziantep FK. They usually have troubles against teams like themselves, who play more reactively and leave less space for their opponents. That is why this week Başakşehir had serious problems against purely counterattacking Ankaragücü, who is at the bottom of the league. Therefore, there is no doubt that Galatasaray needs a unique approach against Başakşehir, as almost all parameters are in favor of the league leaders. Terim needs to prove his tactical expertise once again if he wants his team to stay in the championship race. If they can win, another victory against Trabzonspor just a week after might bring them back to the top. Nevertheless, if Galatasaray cannot win this game, it would be safe to cross the club off the list for the title race.