Anderson Talisca's vindication saved Beşiktaş from Ricardo Quaresma's terrorism

Beşİktaş's problem is Ricardo Quaresma and the terror he wages on the team's right wing. You might say I am contradicting my principles here and I should not focus on one player's performance rather than analyzing the strategy that was unable to produce the desired results. Nevertheless, no player other than Quaresma dares to spoil Beşiktaş's hard-gained opportunities, and his terror thrives on the indulgence of our understanding. On the other hand, poor Anderson Talisca, who did nothing wrong except coming to a team that worships Quaresma's terror, had to save the day with his well-deserved free-kick.

First of all, imagine a regular Beşiktaş attack: defenders pass the ball to defensive midfielders Gökhan İnler and Atiba Hutchinson, and they mostly manage to pass the ball into the opponent's half, to Oğuzhan Özyakup. Then, Özyakup has two choices, either a direct ball to striker Vincent Aboubakar, or (insert 20th Century Fox theme here), he will pass the ball to the greatest black hole on the team, Quaresma.

Without exception, every ball that comes to Quaresma loses its connection everything that went before and the team's strategy. Every possession starts all over again when the ball goes to right wing, because either Quaresma tries to dive into five defenders or tries his trademark shot, the "trivela." Then, all of a sudden all the pre-planned strategy before Quaresma becomes mothball, and Beşiktaş again struggles to intercept the ball, only to lose it again.

Now, the question is, why does coach Şenol Güneş let Quaresma ruin his offensive strategy when it is obvious that he is way too spoiled and out of form for that crucial role? Given he was able to implement a collective strategy without Quaresma's anarchy last year, he should be able to spot the difference. My theory is, the Champions League seemed too dangerous for Güneş's quasi-innovative strategies and Ricardo Quaresma's unpredictable chaos, ironically, seemed the most reliable option. The ugly truth lying beneath this decision is Güneş thought he could not compensate for his team's strategic deficiencies and hoped some miracle would come out of Quaresma's weak feet.

However, considering the wonderful efforts of İnler and Hutchinson that enables the team to keep the game flowing and Oğuzhan Özyakup's potential to organize that game, it is completely unnecessary to rely on Quaresma's terrorism. Especially Gökhan İnler, who seemingly learned a lot from Claudio Ranieri last season, can shape the game with his passing skills and vision if Şenol Güneş gives him the authority. Already having these players and the experience to implement a collective game, I do not see any reason to continue embracing chaotic terror.

On the other hand, Anderson Talisca deserves all the credit for Beşiktaş's point in Lisbon. Although he replaced Oğuzhan Özyakup rather than Ricardo Quaresma, his dynamism and extraordinary energy enabled him to be almost everywhere on the pitch, which created the difference. Probably to vindicate his case against Benfica's executives, who, according to Talisca, sent him from Benfica without acceptable reason, he was determined to score. Thus, his individual effort compensated for Quaresma's devastating performance, but Beşiktaş's inability to maintain their dominance through collective action signals more problems are on the way.

Keeper Review:

Tolga Zengin, as usual, gave a heart attack to every Beşiktaş fan on many occasions, but his crucial save in the last minute of the second half made a point possible for Beşiktaş. Nevertheless, his weak reactions to a close shot and his subsequent hesitation to throw himself cost Beşiktaş a goal. He still cannot convince me that he deserves the number one jersey while Fabri Ramirez makes much fewer simple mistakes and acts more precisely.