Still Enjoying the Double

By: Alican | August 18th, 2009

Hello everyone. This is your new Besiktas blogger. I hope to live the good and the bad times of Besiktas together here on this page from now on. The last time a Besiktas blogger posted on this page, we had drawn with Bursaspor and missed a glorious chance to sit at the top of the table. But after that our team had a great run ,winning all except Fener game at home. Then we had our revenge by beating them by 4-1 at Fortis Turkish Cup final ;a cup that the last time they won it, it was 1983! I must admit that the fact that Fenerbahce couldnt win it again doubles maybe triples the joy of this accomplishment. After this encouraging result,we went on to win Turkish league title in a tight race. After all we really needed this one as the last title was won in 2003 and expectations were growing and becoming a huge pressure on the team year by year.

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS YEAR?

There are three main objectives this season. Champions league, league title and Fortis cup. Personally i dont care about the coppa anymore as we won it three times in the last four years. We have the direct qualification for Champions League and we will be in the third seed in the draw for groups as it seems for now.Although a qualification for knockout phase is on the cards with a good draw, it is very likely to see a third place finish and a Europa League ticket for us. And in Turkey of course we will challenge for the title with our main rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.They made quality signings (especially Galatasaray with Elano, Keita and Frank Rijkaard as coach) so it will be interesting to fight with them as both of these clubs surprisingly had terrible seasons last year.

NEW FACES
Although we won the double ,we had a busy summer on the market and are still working.But it looks like the restriction to number of foreigners in turkey affects us right now. We have already eight –the limit- although there has been the talk of either freezing club captain Matias Delgado’s contract or selling talented Brazilian striker Bobo for buying another attacking midfielder such as Deco,Giovanni Dos Santos named in the press.But i think we should give more time to this squad to improve and not make decisions that may disrupt the harmony or hurt the club economically in the future. Here are the signings made in summer.

Matteo Ferrari: Experienced centre-back signed from Genoa. He had a very good season after his Matteo Fiat days at AS Roma.(By the way i am also a very good romanista) Hopefully he will add a physical presence at the back and stay away from those own goals. Note:8/10

İsmail Köybasi: Young left-back came from Gaziantepspor.We had always had huge gaps on the left defensive flank thanks to İbrahim Üzülmez so this is the most exciting summer signing for me.He has pace,skill and technique,needs a little defensive work but will serve for the club for yeaaaars. Note:9/10

Erhan Güven: Signed from Ankaraspor. He plays at the right-back. So far he had his ups and downs in friendlies but i think we should wait a little more to judge his true ability and potential.He is likely to be a reliable player though. Note:7/10

Michael Fink: 27 year-old german midfielder spent the last season at Frankfurt. He will partner another german Fabian Ernst in midfield.He is a very hardworking DM and i like his attitude.He also scored in his league debut from distance. Note:7/10

Nihat Kahveci: The most surprising signing of the summer.Nihat who grew up in Besiktas Youth Acedemy, had very succesfull seasons in Spain with Sociedad and Villareal.He rejected moves to Turkey numerous times before so it is a bit shocking to see him with Besiktas shirt this early. His latest injury card is of course a question mark but he is quality and has a lot to offer both on and off the pitch if he is healthy.It is clear that he is not ready yet.But the quality is there . Note:8/10

Rıdvan Güven:A hot prospect fort he future. He plays at right back and he is only 18 years old.He will not take a lot of minutes this year but looks promising for the future. Note: 7/10

By the way our team drew with the goddamn İstanbul Belediyespor again( we cant win at away to them for 3 straight years) in the first week of the league. Overall it was a decent performance for us as they scored with their only real chance in the game. We lacked a little bit of creativity and sharpness up front as our forwards are simply out-of-form at the moment.And yesterday we played the second game of the season, and won 2-0 against Antalyaspor.The same problems seems to continue as we had our problems again in the offensive end but our defence looked absolutely solid. As the matches are played ,we will also rise up to the challenge on the attack for sure.