Jose Mourinho Admits He Needs to Adjust to Turkish Football After Fenerbahce’s Chaotic Draw: I am the Foreign One

The much-hyped arrival of Jose Mourinho in the Turkish Super Lig has not been as rosy as the Portuguese would have wished. Following a frustrating UEFA Champions League qualifying loss to Lille, his Fenerbahce team was held to a 2-2 home standstill against Goztepe after leading 2-0. The drama was not limited to the pitch as an irate pitch invader stocked up to confront Fenerbahce president Ali Koc. Thinking about these events, Mourinho said that he understands that Turkish football is different and he is a foreign one, which means that he needs to adjust to a new football culture.

The man who originally christened himself ‘The Special One’ when he joined Chelsea in 2004 is now facing a different opponent in Turkey. Fenerbahce failed in Europe and also drew in the first match of the Super Lig. Goztepe leveled the match in the last minute, 95^th minute to be precise, and stole a draw from the mouth of Mourinho’s team that seemed set for a comfortable win. The heat is on Mourinho now but the experienced Portuguese coach is managing the disappointments well.

'The passion and the enthusiasm that I found here are similar to the passion and the enthusiasm that I have for football,’ Mourinho said. However, there are cultural barriers that are beyond his control: ‘In this league, I am the one who has to change because I am the foreign one. ’ He pointed out that, although the enthusiasm of Turkish football supporters is compatible with his temperament, the techniques and unpredictability of the Super Lig present new difficulties for him.

Mourinho was heard calling for a more streetwise approach from his players when they were able to close out the game in such a high-voltage footballing nation. Speaking to the press, he said: ‘We had opportunities to kill the game but we were too inexperienced. ’ “This is a league that is not poetic,” he said, “We have to be smarter and look for ways to end games, especially when you know that the energy of the fans can turn the tide of a game in a blink of an eye. ”

Nevertheless, Fenerbahce’s recent failures do not displease Mourinho for he has confidence in the team’s future. He is interested in the development of the team and the possibilities of Turkish football and, of course, in the desire to bring Fenerbahce the championship that the team has not won for ten years. This, for Mourinho, is the beginning of a new phase, a phase that calls for stability, understanding, and a different approach to winning football matches in one of the most football-crazy countries in the world.

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