week 2 match preview v Istanbul Büyükşehir BSK

By: j | August 29th, 2008

Week two has the Yellow Canaries welcoming Istanbul Büyükşehir BSK to Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

While Abdullah Avcı’s squad were a mid-table team last year, with one of the worst road-records of the Süper Lig they fought Fenerbahçe to a 2-2 draw in January as well of opening the campaign with a 2-0 victory. Simply stated, they had the Yellow Canaries number and revel at the chance at bringing them down again. Whether Luis Aragonés has been informed of this little fact is difficult to know but you cannot under-estimate the visitors motivation and tenacity. Manager Abdullah Avcı has put together a solid club, led by Adriano in the attack and held down in the back-line by Kerim Zengin, who came out the Fenerbahçe development program.

The miserable start to the campaign against Gaziantepspor and the less-than overwhelming response against FK Partizan has the club, hopefully waking-up that they need to play as a team. Their weakness so far is not being on the same page, some playing to the beat of last seasons Zico styling and only a few capturing Luis Aragonés tactics. While their were glimpses of brilliance against the Belgrade club, defensively weaknesses need to shored up.

Fenerbahçe is likely considering asking for a volume discount with their medical staff given Edu Dracena, Deivid de Souza and Gökçek Vederson are out long-term with status of Emre Belözoğlu, Semih Şentürk Selçuk Şahin, Tümer Metin and Diego Lugano all requiring a pre-match fitness test. I’m already wary of this phrase as it is a clever ploy by Mr. Aragonés to not let out his starting grid to the last minute.

If there is one thing I’m starting to notice is the slow wave of confidence building. Throughout the Partizan match, while there were naturally many weaknesses, you could see confidence build as players began to understand the reaction of each other in the heat of competition. At times the Daniel Güiza, Alex combination looked to be pure genius and capable of turning the league on its end. To be successful what this group of players need to do is play as a team and attack ruthlessly.

I will report on this match as it concludes.