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Euro 2008

JON™
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Turkey are one of the tournament’s most unbalanced teams. That’s not a reference to the last time they took on Switzerland, rather to the fact that they boast a plethora of flair midfielders yet are frequently undone by an inability to perform basic chores up front and, in particular, at the back.

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, for instance, is likely to start ahead of veteran Rüştü Reçber - and follow up stupendous saves by diverting a feeble cross into the net; and with the honourable exception of Servet Çetin, who was the one unquestioned fixture in the middle of the defence until suffering an injury that jeopardises his participation in the tournament, all the centre-backs are slow and oddly reluctant to head the ball.

This is the main reason for Turkey’s maddeningly inconsistent results in the qualifiers, when they managed to follow up a superb 4-1 dismemberment of the European champions in Athens with draws against Malta and Norway and defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mind you, the indecisiveness of manager Fatih Terim didn’t help - too often he changed personnel and formation to no good effect and even now he appears uncertain of his preferred line-up for the Euros.

In last week’s friendly against Slovakia (won 1-0) he played a different formation in each half; four days later with an almost entirely different team and fluctuating tactics Turkey lost 3-2 to Uruguay (partially due to two trademark defensive howlers). Terim has at least taken one big decision and elected to omit national treasure Hakan Sükür from the squad. This almost certainly means Nihat Kahveci will start up front - and probably as part of a two-pronged strikeforce, since on his previous outings as a lone striker for Turkey he has proved that he can’t hold the ball up as well as Sükür did in his prime. Nihat has thrived in Spain alongside tall forwards such as Darko Kovacevic and Jon Dahl Tomasson, so the powerful Semih Şentürk must be favourite to partner the Villarreal man.

But deploying a 4-4-2 would condemn Terim to leaving out some of his gifted midfielders. He appears to have an almost paternal love of Emre so the Newcastle outcast seems certain to start regardless of his lack of club action this season. And against Uruguay bustling creator Yildiray Baştürk returned from a long exile (he featured in just two of the qualifiers) to suggest that he’s close to his brilliant best and, therefore, an essential inclusion. Twenty-one-year-old winger Arda Turan is also likely to start, not least because towards the end of the domestic season he responded to rumours that Newcastle, Spurs and Middlesbrough had sent scouts to watch him by turning in a series of spectacular performances - on a stage as big as the Euros, he just might show that he’s one of the most exciting young players in the continent.

Turkey’s other most promising youngster is 23-year-old Fenerbahçe right-back Gokhan Gonul, but injury has deprived us of the chance to see if he can continue his splendid Champions League form. In a sense, though, that’s a blessing in disguise for Terim, since it helps him squeeze another of his midfielders into the team - buccaneering Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop returned from injury to fill in as a full-back against Uruguay. This paves the way for Terim to switch Arda to the right (it won’t be a problem since he’s right-footed though usually plays on the left) and stick Tuncay Sanli on the left, which was his regular club role before going to Boro.

Ah, if only it were that simple. Terim has always been a devotee of high-tempo pressing and a midfield consisting solely of Arda, Emre, Baştürk and Sanli would be worryingly short of a specialist ball-winner – Mehmet Aurélio will surely start (if fit); indeed, tinkering in friendlies hints that Terim is thinking of playing with two holding midfielders (Mehmet Topal joining Aurelio), at least against Portugal. All of which brings us back to the temptation of sticking five across the middle, some artful schemers on the bench and a slightly lost-looking Nihat on his own up front.

Yes, Terim has some tricky decisions. Or a wealth of options, if you want to be optimistic about it. If he gets his choices right and his defenders manage to hit an error-free streak, Turkey could repeat their 2002 World Cup heroics. If he gets it wrong, they could relive Euro 96, when they lost all three games. Terim was in charge that time too.

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Guest RHhgate

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Spain...not a bad shout actually. Still don't think they'll have to bottle to win it though.

"Viva Franco!"

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Guest WorrallOwls

Guest WorrallOwls

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im new to this and would it be possible if jon could please draw me a team whenever you have time ??

thanks and most appreciated

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Guest jimb

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Turkey are one of the tournament’s most unbalanced teams. That’s not a reference to the last time they took on Switzerland, rather to the fact that they boast a plethora of flair midfielders yet are frequently undone by an inability to perform basic chores up front and, in particular, at the back.

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, for instance, is likely to start ahead of veteran Rüştü Reçber - and follow up stupendous saves by diverting a feeble cross into the net; and with the honourable exception of Servet Çetin, who was the one unquestioned fixture in the middle of the defence until suffering an injury that jeopardises his participation in the tournament, all the centre-backs are slow and oddly reluctant to head the ball.

This is the main reason for Turkey’s maddeningly inconsistent results in the qualifiers, when they managed to follow up a superb 4-1 dismemberment of the European champions in Athens with draws against Malta and Norway and defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mind you, the indecisiveness of manager Fatih Terim didn’t help - too often he changed personnel and formation to no good effect and even now he appears uncertain of his preferred line-up for the Euros.

In last week’s friendly against Slovakia (won 1-0) he played a different formation in each half; four days later with an almost entirely different team and fluctuating tactics Turkey lost 3-2 to Uruguay (partially due to two trademark defensive howlers). Terim has at least taken one big decision and elected to omit national treasure Hakan Sükür from the squad. This almost certainly means Nihat Kahveci will start up front - and probably as part of a two-pronged strikeforce, since on his previous outings as a lone striker for Turkey he has proved that he can’t hold the ball up as well as Sükür did in his prime. Nihat has thrived in Spain alongside tall forwards such as Darko Kovacevic and Jon Dahl Tomasson, so the powerful Semih Şentürk must be favourite to partner the Villarreal man.

But deploying a 4-4-2 would condemn Terim to leaving out some of his gifted midfielders. He appears to have an almost paternal love of Emre so the Newcastle outcast seems certain to start regardless of his lack of club action this season. And against Uruguay bustling creator Yildiray Baştürk returned from a long exile (he featured in just two of the qualifiers) to suggest that he’s close to his brilliant best and, therefore, an essential inclusion. Twenty-one-year-old winger Arda Turan is also likely to start, not least because towards the end of the domestic season he responded to rumours that Newcastle, Spurs and Middlesbrough had sent scouts to watch him by turning in a series of spectacular performances - on a stage as big as the Euros, he just might show that he’s one of the most exciting young players in the continent.

Turkey’s other most promising youngster is 23-year-old Fenerbahçe right-back Gokhan Gonul, but injury has deprived us of the chance to see if he can continue his splendid Champions League form. In a sense, though, that’s a blessing in disguise for Terim, since it helps him squeeze another of his midfielders into the team - buccaneering Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop returned from injury to fill in as a full-back against Uruguay. This paves the way for Terim to switch Arda to the right (it won’t be a problem since he’s right-footed though usually plays on the left) and stick Tuncay Sanli on the left, which was his regular club role before going to Boro.

Ah, if only it were that simple. Terim has always been a devotee of high-tempo pressing and a midfield consisting solely of Arda, Emre, Baştürk and Sanli would be worryingly short of a specialist ball-winner – Mehmet Aurélio will surely start (if fit); indeed, tinkering in friendlies hints that Terim is thinking of playing with two holding midfielders (Mehmet Topal joining Aurelio), at least against Portugal. All of which brings us back to the temptation of sticking five across the middle, some artful schemers on the bench and a slightly lost-looking Nihat on his own up front.

Yes, Terim has some tricky decisions. Or a wealth of options, if you want to be optimistic about it. If he gets his choices right and his defenders manage to hit an error-free streak, Turkey could repeat their 2002 World Cup heroics. If he gets it wrong, they could relive Euro 96, when they lost all three games. Terim was in charge that time too.

There's a slight possibility that Nigel is taking this a tad too seriously :biggrin:

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