Team Focus: Former Premier League Prospects Shining at Besiktas

Fatih Terim may be known as the Emperor of Turkish club football but Şenol Güneş is the undisputed Sultan of international football. The experienced coach guided the Crescent-Stars to an unprecedented third-place finish in the 2002 World Cup.

Thirteen years on and Güneş has coached at Trabzonspor, in South Korea, had a successful campaign with Bursaspor last season and has now taken the helm at Istanbul giants Beşiktaş. 

Güneş has traditionally had his sides overperform on limited budgets only to have the players he nurtured sold on. At Trabzonspor the 63-year-old coach resurrected Burak Yılmaz’s career, made a name for current Galatasaray captain Selçuk İnan and another of the Lions forwards in Umut Bulut.

The same fate awaited Güneş at Bursaspor. Fernandão was unknown at the start of the season but ended the league campaign as the top-scorer – 22 goals - and was snapped up by Fenerbahçe. Twenty-year old midfielder Ozan Tufan was a right-back when Güneş took over. Under his stewardship Tufan was moved into a midfield role, established himself as a regular in the Turkish national team and became a household name.

Tufan was also sold over the summer to Fenerbahçe, as were Volkan Şen – 12 goals and 8 assists - and right-back Şener Özbayraklı. That’s not to mention 18-year-old wonder-kid Enes Ünal, who joined Manchester City, and Batuhan Altıparmak, who signed for HSV.

There were two Bursaspor players among WhoScored’s top 5 Super League players last season – Fernandao (7.49) and Şen (7.52). The Green Crocodiles played some of the most aesthetically pleasing football in the league and scored the most goals – 66. Defending was definitely not their forte but Bursaspor did reach the Turkish Cup final and some of the most highly sought after players in the league graduated from the Güneş school of excellence by the end of the season.

Fed up with constantly having his teams torn limb from limb each season Güneş decided to join Beşiktaş over the summer. The Black Eagles have the financial muscle to keep hold of players and protect the team’s long-term interests in contrast to clubs he has worked with in the past.

It is also worth noting that the Black-Whites have a far higher calibre of player than Güneş has had the pleasure of working with in the past – especially the young guns. The likes of Oğuzhan Özyakup, Kerim Frei and Gökhan Töre all have foundations in the Premier League.

We are only three weeks into the Super Lig campaign but there are early signs that Güneş is already starting to work his magic. Özyakup struggled for consistency under Slaven Bilic last season but has assumed a key role in the current Beşiktaş team and already has three assists and a goal to his name, as well as netting the opening goal in Turkey’s 3-0 win over the Netherlands. Töre already has three assists, while Kerim Frei has two goals.

Mario Gomez was signed as the star striker over the summer but Cenk Tosun has stole the limelight, keeping the Germany international out of the starting line-up with four league goals already this season. The fact that Tosun has been able to keep Gomez out of the team thus far is a testament to just how effective Güneş can be at getting the best out of young Turkish players.

Beşiktaş have scored 10 goals already this season – more than any other side. The defensive frailties that haunted Bursaspor have not been felt to such a great extent but it is clear that the team has an attacking philosophy. The Eagles are statistically the highest rated team in the league with a score of 7.05 from WhoScored.com and have the best shot-to-goal ratio, netting every 4.29 shots on average. It is also worth noting that three of the top five highest rated players in the league are currently Beşiktaş boys – Özyakup, Tosun and Olcay Şahan.

Beşiktaş laid the groundwork for an exciting project two years ago. The Istanbul giants shifted transfer policy towards signing players predominantly of Turkish origin that had progressed through the youth systems of England, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland. This was a way to get around the stringent foreign player ruling - that has since been lifted – with what were essentially foreign transfers with a knowledge of the Turkish language and heritage or citizenship in the country, making for a seamless settling in process.

Under Slaven Bilic however, apart from former Chelsea youth Töre, the development of the likes of Özyakup and Frei did not go exactly to plan. Özyakup struggled for regular first-team football while Frei rarely featured. Taking into consideration where the likes of former players that thrived under Güneş were before working with him it would not be hyperbolic to suggest that by the end of the season there could very well be a few players on the shortlist of a number of clubs beyond the borders form this Beşiktaş side.

In terms of their foundation the rising stars of the Black Eagles are coming from a far more prestigious background than Güneş is accustomed to. The difference is as stark as working with Oxford graduates as opposed to high-school dropouts. The trio mentioned could shape the Beşiktaş and new-generation Turkish national teams in the near future.

Teams coached by Güneş have always been a joy to watch, especially if you are an attacking football aficionado, but we could really witness something quite special this season.

Can Beşiktaş win the league under Güneş this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below