Selçuk İnan: “It was a loss that I never expected and I was very sad about it.”

Gaziantep FK’s Head Coach Selçuk İnan stated that they suffered an unexpected and very disappointing defeat against Hatayspor.

In the 12th week of the Trendyol Super League, Gaziantep FK lost 3-1 to Hatayspor in a match played in Mersin. In the press conference held after the match, Gaziantep FK’s Head Coach Selçuk İnan began his remarks by honoring Atatürk on the 86th anniversary of his death.

Expressing his wish to start his evaluation of the match with a criticism, İnan said, “As in previous away games, we actually started the match today at least defensively hesitant. We can call it a lack of concentration. This saddened me a bit. I have already discussed this with my players inside. Apart from that, I can say that we reflected on the field the things we worked on a lot while we had the ball, such as our positioning on the field, our ability to quickly switch the game, the positions we entered, the passes and shots we missed. I think we analyzed the weaknesses and gaps of Hatayspor well and reflected that onto the field while we had the ball. However, as I mentioned earlier, when the ball went to the opponent, we could have been more aggressive in terms of positioning and concentration. Unfortunately, we were not good in that regard today. We fell behind 2-0 in a situation where our opponent came from the side maybe twice with crosses. We have a deficiency there, yes, I accept that. Apart from that, did we have positions to win the match today? Yes, we had plenty. But we couldn’t finish them. We had problems with our passes before the final pass. It was an unexpected and very disappointing defeat for me. Because Hatayspor was going through a tough period. Maybe that’s why they couldn’t reflect their game onto the field as they wanted. We could have taken advantage of their situation. But they fought well too. We congratulate them for winning,” he said.

In response to a question about the opponent being effective from the wings, İnan answered:

“We know that Hatayspor actually came with long balls or crosses from the side. They are effective from the flanks. As I mentioned earlier, they have effective players and they make crosses. One of the reasons why players like Ertuğrul are playing is that. We worked hard to prevent this, but as I said, we always look at the player who strikes, the player who scores, but before that, your stance and not allowing a cross could have prevented maybe 50% or even more of the situation. As I said, we have a deficiency in that regard, but we already knew that Hatay was effective in aerial balls, especially in side crosses. We worked hard on that too, but as I said, sometimes you can work very hard, but a concentrated and close proximity play to the opponent is more important than anything else. Today, we were a bit lacking in that regard.

“I didn’t understand why I received the yellow card”
A journalist’s question about the red card situation was also answered by Selçuk İnan, who said, “Honestly, I do not know the rule. I don’t know this; I received a yellow card. I didn’t protest at all. I didn’t say anything to the referee. He gave me a yellow card, and I became suspended. I asked the referee why he showed me a yellow card. Because I didn’t protest, I didn’t insult. I didn’t do anything at all. He told me, ‘I have to give a yellow card to everyone when they leave the bench.’ I asked, ‘Do you have to give it to me?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ Now I am very curious about many things. Should I give tactics to my players on the field, or should I be the guardian of the entire bench? I couldn’t understand that much. I also couldn’t understand why he gave me a yellow card; if that’s the rule, I need to take precautions accordingly. Maybe we need to put two securities for our substitute players. At least to avoid getting a yellow card. Because I really don’t know this rule. I can say that the red card he gave was completely wrong. Today, I don’t think the referee made the right decision in almost any situation. Let me not say something wrong. I think maybe the referees were a bit more sensitive this week. But I always try to express everything I see here transparently. I didn’t understand much. He also gave a yellow card. We lost a match today. They made me suspended too. Good for them.”