EURO 2016 Qualifying: Turkey Unfortunate, Undisciplined Against Czech Republic

By Aydin Reyhan on October 11, 2014

In their second EURO 2016 Qualifying encounter, Turkey lost to the Czech Republic 2-1 at home. After a bright start to the match with Umut Bulut heading home the cross by Caner Erkin, the gameplan was completely ruined after Tomas Sivok‘s 15th-minute header off the corner kick. The second-half strike from Borek Dockal ended all hope.

Turkey played in a 4-3-3 which enabled them to hold possession for the majority of the game. Their passing was decent, but everything they did took time as the players did not move off the ball as much to support the ones on it. Captain Arda Turan is used to one-twos with teammates at Atletico Madrid. But for Turkey, his teammates are absolutely dumbfounded by his expectations.

Another area of disgrace is the Turkish defense. Mehmet Topal left Sivok wide open on the corner kick as he allowed him to jump well over him to head the ball home. He is actually bigger and stronger than the Besiktas‘ center back which made it even more baffling.

Erkin notched an assist while Gokhan Gonul made decent runs up the right, but both full backs had to be better defensively as they were caught out when it counted most. Tarik Camdal of Galatasaray is versatile enough to play as a wide midfielder and a full back either on the left or right. He sat on the bench after proving himself worthy in the summer friendlies Turkey played abroad.

Fatih Terim needs to switch to a 4-2-3-1 to play a more defensive and countering style as players like Tore can definitely kick-start a quick attack. A 4-4-2 pressing can overwhelm the opposing midfield of Latvia as the Turkish side has a superior choice of talent.

The game against Latvia is now a must-win as two losses to Iceland and the Czech Republic now have to be nothing but memories.