After the Kocaelispor – Erzurumspor FK match

In the 3rd week of Trendyol 1. League, after Kocaelispor defeated Erzurum FK with a single goal, the coaches evaluated the match.

Kocaelispor’s head coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, speaking at the press conference after the match, said, “Today, there was the morale from the first two matches, along with the necessity brought by the big goal we have set. We have a simple math that will take us to success when we come without losses, at worst without losing away. We do not want to lose points in home matches. We are going through a transition period. We are in a process of adaptation. We are a very new team. Sometimes we play with 2 or 3 players from last year. While 7-8 players of the starting 11 have changed, we are experiencing the process of players getting to know each other. We all see the difficulties this brings. There is something we want to achieve during this process; as the team plays together and the new players become physically ready, the team will reach the level we want. If we can also make transfers to the desired places, this team will present a much better game,” he said.

“We want to enter the national break with 4 wins out of 4”

Emphasizing that they want to enter the national break with 4 victories, Sağlam stated, “If we can go through this week’s Amed match without loss until the national match break, we will have completed 4 out of 4, coming out stronger from a period that has been so challenging for football, and we will have reached the end of a process where we can look to the future with more hope, and our morale will be at its peak. We sometimes experience difficulties in the game. Especially in the second half, very nice things happened. There were positions that could have brought the score to 2-3. When we miss these, you increase the opponent’s resistance. The structure of the game was a bit different today. Long balls to Mustafa Yumlu caused chaos, but we managed to fend that off. The important thing today was the 3 points. We got our 3 points. We are not people who will ignore the mistakes and deficiencies we made while taking it. Our efforts to get better and play more beautiful football will continue. I congratulate our players. Erzurum is also a team that plays good defense and can counterattack with its forwards. They showed that beating Ankaragücü was not a coincidence. We have time until the Amed match. First, we need to rest our players; they have come out of an intense period. Then we will start our preparations. We are pleased that some players’ performances have increased. Markao performed for 60 minutes. We will also start the same process with Caner. We are ensuring the adaptation of the players to the developed system. We are trying to use our players in a balanced way to avoid injuries. We played the match with Markao without any issues. Furkan coming in later and making good contributions, Cihat being effective, Yunus and Ahmet being very hardworking. Our substitutes contributed to the team. We observed that the performance of our starting players has increased. This squad will do much better work,” he said.

“We are not affected by where the Amed match will be played”

Finally, regarding the location of the Amed match, Ertuğrul Sağlam stated, “Where the match will be played does not affect us. We could play in Diyarbakır as well. We will go, and hopefully, we will play a very nice match. Our team is one that wants to play football. It’s not about Amedspor not wanting to play there; it is directly related to the ground. We are a team that can play, and we need a good pitch. The state of the pitch poses a significant risk in terms of player health. The match will be played on Monday in Istanbul. Such a decision has been made. I only agree with the decision in this respect; it will be played on a good pitch that will enhance the quality of football and protect player health,” he recorded.

Hakan Kutlu: “We displayed effective play in the second half”

Erzurumspor FK head coach Hakan Kutlu, in his post-match evaluation, stated: “I congratulate Kocaelispor. We displayed important football. We did not concede any positions in the first 45 minutes, but the opponent had more possession of the ball. We conceded a goal in the 45th minute. Our player (Mustafa Akbaş) broke his finger, and we had to make a substitution; as soon as we made the substitution, we conceded a goal. Even though we were behind 1-0, we gave away a position in the back during the moments we were pushing forward. If we could make the final passes, there were positions where we could have been effective. I congratulate my players, especially in the second 45 minutes, we displayed very effective play. We conceded a goal at a moment we least expected. We do not allow the opponent to score from set pieces. We had to change Mustafa Akbaş. It did not change the rhythm of the game significantly for us. We were not successful in scoring a goal. We were effective in the opponent’s half and gave away only one position in the back. I congratulate Kocaelispor and wish them success in the league. On one hand, we are working to open the transfer window, and on the other, we are trying to make transfers. We are going through a transition period. We want to play good football and represent our city and team well. If we can, we want to see ourselves in the top 6,” he said.

“We preferred low-cost players”

Responding to questions, Kutlu said, “We did not choose very costly players in the transfer window. On one hand, we are trying to lift the ban while on the other, we are trying to make transfers. Our honorary president has made a great effort. It is not right to give numbers, but we are trying to choose low-cost players. Today, we got very good performances from all of them. At least 2-3 more players will join us. I do not think the critical decisions made by the referee affected the result. If I say I am not satisfied, it would be a lie. He tried to manage the game well. His body language and approach to the players were good.”