Mourinho Analyzes Zenit Match: ‘A Trial That Worked Like a Puzzle’

During the international break, Fenerbahçe faced Zenit at Ülker Stadium. The Yellow Canaries secured the win with goals from Cenk Tosun and Levent Mercan.

Fenerbahçe’s head coach, Jose Mourinho, evaluated the match on TRT Spor following the game.

“I’M SAD THAT I CAN’T PLAY THEM MORE”

“I’m very happy and proud of my players. Players like Tadic, Fred, and Becao, who are usually in the starting eleven, once again demonstrated their professionalism and delivered an exemplary performance today. Similarly, players like Yusuf, Cenk, Bartuğ, and Levent, who don’t get much playing time, also performed exceptionally well. I’m thrilled for them.

However, I feel sad at the same time because their performance today reaffirmed how much they deserve to play more regularly. I feel bad for not being able to give them as much time as they deserve, as they certainly merit more. I’m also pleased for our young players. Zeki and Şükür got more time on the field today. Even though they played a match in their league in Trabzon yesterday, they still delivered a good performance today. Other young players also had brief opportunities on the field. I believe we showed the proper respect to the fans who came out to support us today. They came to the stadium and cheered us on, and we reciprocated with our best effort on the field.”

WILL FENERBAHÇE CHANGE ITS SYSTEM?

“Regarding my formation choice, I can say this: we only had nine players available to prepare for the match. We worked with young players alongside them to form a team. Yesterday, we had a training session focused on this system, and the players executed it perfectly on the field.

It might sound strange, but I’m as happy with today’s result as I would be with a league victory. It was rewarding to see my players’ effort and performance.

I think this system is something we can utilize. Today was a trial, but we had to do it because of the available players. For instance, we didn’t have a right-back, so we had to use a winger as a wing-back. Additionally, we were missing another wide player. If we had played Kostic in the wing-back position, we wouldn’t have been able to use Levent Mercan. It was like solving a puzzle, but the puzzle worked today. My players put in an excellent performance.

I know this system very well, having used it for two and a half years at Roma. I understand its dynamics and how it functions. So, it’s a system we could adopt again. Modern football requires teams to be flexible. We also knew beforehand that our opponent was missing their right-back and would play with a back three. We prepared for this match in a completely professional manner, and I’m proud of my players’ performance today.”