“The result of the Turkish league was decided before the season started” – Mourinho reflects as Fenerbahçe lose out to Galatasaray in Super Lig
José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe have been left to endure another frustrating end to the season in Türkiye, after a 1-0 defeat to Istanbul rivals Beşiktaş on Sunday evening put the final nail in their title challenge.
Champions Galatasaray are now eight points clear with just four matches left to play, meaning Fenerbahçe will likely see their wait for a league championship extend to 11 years. Having also been eliminated from the Turkish Cup by bitter rivals Gala, there will be no trophy for Mourinho from the current campaign.
The defeat to Beşiktaş came at the hands of a former Mourinho player, with Gedson Fernandes converting a first-half penalty to give the points to Ole-Gunnar Solskjær’s team. The Super Lig has been a clear two-horse race this season, illustrated by the further 18-point gap to 3rd place Samsunspor.
Yet as far as Mourinho is concerned, there was never likely to be an alternative winner to perennial champions Galatasaray. The Portuguese has spent much of the season making insinuations about the power structures in favour of Fener’s rivals, stating that his team are “fighting against a system” in Türkiye.
Speaking after the defeat to Beşiktaş, Mourinho revisited the theme, suggesting the issue affects the confidence of his players during the gruelling demands of competing for a national championship, citing further incidents during Sunday’s match.
“Of course, I congratulate Beşiktaş for winning,” he said. “They played a very organised defense. In fact, we were expecting this today. I think we coped well with their quality and speed in the front zone. Talking about the same things over and over again, talking about the referee, the VAR referee…
“How many times have we witnessed that we were not given the same penalty that was given for them today? Or the penalty that wasn’t given to En-Nesyri… I’m really tired of talking about this because I have no power and nothing changes. But this is the situation, this is the reality. On the other hand, this also had an effect; when you are behind, time passes, the opponent tries to spend time intelligently, tries to control emotions positively. We actually cannot control emotions negatively because of course the players want to win, they feel the pressure of this, but as I have stated, I do not think we deserve to lose at all.”
“The league was already determined”
“I think the result of this league was determined before the league started. Of course, mathematically, the points we lost in the last matches at home were decisive in terms of the final decision, but as I have stated, the end of this league was already clear before it started.
“Galatasaray? I won’t talk about them, I can talk about the league, which I have done throughout the season. I am not changing a word of what I have said throughout the season. I think one of the problems Fenerbahçe has is the difficulty to mentally cope with this very strong structure. It is really big and very difficult to cope with. It is stronger than the quality or the will, it’s something really powerful. Of course, the players feel this. They know that it is impossible to achieve what they want.
“I can be critical of myself. We can be critical of my players, but one thing I always defend is my players’ effort. Today some bad individual performances. As a consequence of that, not an amazing collective performance. But the players gave everything. Even when emotionally the weight of the result, the weight of the frustration – the players were untouchable in the sense they tried to give everything.
“And sometimes during the season there are very difficult moments in the emotional side, because the players feel it. Even today in a match that didn’t decide anything, because we knew we will finish 2nd, but even in this game we had a couple of situations which decide the game. There is a huge penalty for us, and I don’t even want to discuss the penalty against us, because we had a dozen opportunities like that in the opposition box which were not given. The penalty (not given) against En-Nesyri is just one little piece of the puzzle.
“Today I don't think we deserved to lose. My players did enough not to lose. Our opponent also tried to do everything to get a point. But they didn't even have a shot that found our goal. Even if I don't say we played well, at least we created enough positions to score and have a different result. I am open to criticism because it is a part of my life. My players should be open to criticism because it is a part of their lives. But I defend my players in terms of professionalism and effort in the game.”
On speaking to Solskjær:
"Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been here for a few months now and he has enough experience and intelligence to learn what he has to learn. I’m nobody to give him any advice. We talked in the tunnel before the game. We talked about normal things between two guys who respect each other and have to play a football match after. It's the same after the game. I think we both have enough experience for him not to be on the moon because he won a derby and me not to be in hell because I lost a derby. So just normal things between two guys who respect each other, and I think we like each other too.”
On his future after negative fan reaction on Sunday:
“I will not talk about next season. These are things to speak about internally not with the media. If there is one thing I have been perfect with, it is the respect I have shown to our President and our Board, to not bring personal things to the public domain.
“The reaction from fans to myself and the players is normal in this culture because when the results are not the results people expect, there are reactions. I will never be critical about this because this is football. Especially Turkish football. Therefore, I cannot make negative comments about that of course.”
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By @SeanGillen9