Edin Dzeko Criticizes Turkish Football Despite Fenerbahçe Win!

Fenerbahçe’s star player, Edin Dzeko, commented after the 4-1 victory against Pendikspor in the Super Lig.

“Disgraceful”

Reflecting on the match, Dzeko stated, “It was a tough game. We overcame a difficult match. I don’t know how much the first half lasted. Do you have any idea how long the ball was in play? It’s truly disgraceful. I swear. It’s not the first time it’s happened. It stresses us out. Referees allow this to happen. The match is played for 2 minutes, stopped for 5 minutes. Another 2 minutes played, stopped for 1 minute. In such situations, we end up getting yellow cards. In every match, we receive 2-3 yellow cards in the first 15 minutes. It’s really a strange situation!” he commented.

“Looking at Turkish football from the outside, I don’t think it has a good image”

Referring to the halftime discussion within the team, Edin Dzeko said, “We talked about the need to spend energy on such things. We can’t change the occurrence of such incidents. Every match continues to have such incidents. Moreover, more allowance is given for such incidents in every match. Therefore, we talked among ourselves that we shouldn’t fall into this trap. Because football shouldn’t be played like this. The game should not stop in this way. From the perspective of Turkish football, I don’t think it has a good image when looked at from the outside. It’s shameful that only 23 minutes were played in the first half,” he said.

“Under normal conditions, we should be at least 6-7 goals ahead”

Assessing the championship race, the 37-year-old player said, “Under normal conditions, we should be at least 6-7 goals ahead, but we are not. Every match for us is very challenging. We currently have 10 players with 3 yellow cards. This is a strange situation. It’s as if the referees forget about the yellow card in other matches. If we are going to say that the championship race is 50%, 50%, then the referees must act fairly. If the matches are to be won on the field, as I mentioned, the referees must act 50%, 50% equally. It shouldn’t be different. I think they need to watch more European matches. They need to see how they manage the games. If we look at the 3-0 victory we had and the referee‘s performance in Europe, I don’t think this situation is very strange. European referees don’t decide based on the team; they work with what they see,” he expressed.

“All we want is for the referees to treat both teams equally”

Assessing the Trabzonspor match they will play away in the 30th week of the Super Lig, Dzeko said, “I am curious about the referee decisions in that match too. We don’t need help. All we want is for the referees to treat both teams equally. To make decisions the same way. Then we can win or lose the match. Such things can happen in football, but it’s important for them to treat every team the same way,” he said.

“We lost a lot of points at home”

Dzeko, stating that they lost a lot of points in the matches they played at home, said, “Actually, it should be the opposite. Matches played in our own stadium, in front of our own fans, should be easier for us. I don’t know why this is happening. As you mentioned, we lost a lot of points. Maybe we think that matches played at home will be easy. But there is no such thing as an easy match. Maybe when we play away, we think the match will be difficult, so we concentrate more. This may be the reason. Personally, I don’t feel any pressure. It can vary from player to player. Maybe some players feel pressure. I think this is normal, especially for young players. But what we need to do is enjoy the time we play in front of our fans. Enjoy the wonderful atmosphere they create. Every time we play at home, my hair stands on end,” he concluded.