Mourinho in Press Conference: ‘Pressure in Turkey is Intense’ After Fenerbahçe’s 3-1 Win Over Başakşehir

In the 16th week of the Trendyol Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe beat RAMS Başakşehir 3-1 at home, with goals from Edin Dzeko and En Nesyri (2). The Yellow Canaries raised their points to 35.

Fenerbahçe’s coach, Jose Mourinho, spoke at a press conference.

“I CAN PLAY HIM LIKE I DID WITH REAL MADRID AND MANCHESTER UNITED”

Mourinho, who did not include Samet Akaydin in the squad following criticism after the Athletic Bilbao match, said he wanted to send a message to the national player. “I want to dedicate my tiny contribution in today’s victory to him. I saw a really disappointed man, a giant at 31, but with the attitude of a child. We have one match left until the end of the year, and until that match, we will have Djiku, Çağlar, and Yusuf. Let’s see how this time will be a therapy for Samet. Time will tell. I have no issue with playing young players. There is a lot of pressure here, but I can play Yusuf. Just like I played Varane at 18 with Real Madrid.”

Mourinho emphasized that the best way to relieve the tension among players is by winning matches:

“The best therapy is winning matches. We were going through a good period, winning 5-6 consecutive matches. During that period, we felt balanced and confident. After that, we played a match we didn’t deserve to lose, and everything turned upside down. In football, things can turn quickly, but in Turkey, they turn three times faster. It was really hard for us. I think Livakovic’s injury was due to the tension. Muscle injuries have many causes—sometimes fatigue, sometimes a wrong move, sometimes due to tension. Players, unfortunately, do not live in a world where they are unaware of what’s going on outside. Therefore, this was not an easy week for us. We tried to prepare the team for this match throughout the week, focusing more on psychological balance than tactics.”

Before the match, Mourinho wanted to motivate his players and said:

“Before the match, I told my players, ‘One way or another, we need to win this match. You need to have that fire inside you. Of course, while having that fire, you also need to carry some water inside you. If you only play with fire, you make foolish mistakes and get silly cards.’ Therefore, finding balance is important. I have played in over 1,170 matches in my career. This is easy for me, but it is difficult for them. Now we have the Eyüpspor match. If we win that too, they will have 5-6 days to go home and get away from football. I think this is also the best therapy. But as I said, the best therapy is winning matches. Until very recently, we were the team with the most goals scored and the fewest goals conceded in this league. The difference with the leader was 3 points. We lost a match we could have won 3-0 or 4-0. Then, suddenly, everything turned into a disaster. This is the situation in Turkey. I love it here, they just don’t teach me Turkish. That’s why I don’t understand what’s being said. They probably don’t teach me Turkish to avoid losing their jobs.”