A draw against Napoli would be fine for Beşiktaş, but a victory would be sensational
by Arda Alan Işık
ISTANBULNov 01, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Arda Alan Işık
Nov 01, 2016 12:00 am
Probably the most crucial game for Beşiktaş in the UEFA Champions League so far, Napoli will visit İstanbul hungry for revenge after losing to the Turkish side 3-2 in Naples. In truth Beşiktaş should have beaten Dynamo Kyiv at home, and that would have made that much more comfortable at the moment, but in hindsight a superb victory against Napoli compensated for that point loss.
Now, Beşiktaş can think of this game as if they were playing Napoli again in Italy, with a draw they can hold their second place position with Napoli just one point away in the lead. Benfica, sitting in third with four points and facing last place F.C. Dynamo Kiev, will not be able to catch Beşiktaş with a draw. Thus, given that Beşiktaş and coach Şenol Güneş have opted for this kind of defensive strategy, even though it is not my style, since the beginning of the season, it is my job to tell them how to master it.
First of all, Beşiktaş lost Anderson Talisca to injury for three months in the last league game and although he was not used in the Champions League, Beşiktaş lost probably their most dangerous offensive card. Strikers Vincent Aboubakar and Cenk Tosun, and wingers Ricardo Quaresma and Olcay Şahan, can only be effective when someone creates enough space for them to have time to play, given Gökhan İnler and Oğuzhan Özyakup are both injured, Talisca was the only playmaker Beşiktaş had as of recent. Therefore, for the first time this season, Beşiktaş have no playmakers and will most probably have no other option but to generate ultimate chaos in order to score.
That is, of course the scenario if Beşiktaş were to fall behind against Napoli, and Ricardo Quaresma is unfortunately the only superhero Beşiktaş has with his fancy dribbling and trivelas. However, if Beşiktaş can hold the game at a slow pace, everything would be fine and maybe they can even find space in Napoli's half if the Italian side tries to act more dominantly. Then, Beşiktaş can utilize Aboubakar and Tosun's physical qualities to catch Napoli's defense off guard. That would be, as you can guess, the most optimistic scenario.
Nevertheless, as I pointed out many times this season, these simple scenarios do not include the inner mechanisms of the strategies Şenol Güneş has in mind, and as far as I observed, Beşiktaş no longer plays a collective offensive game and their fate is up to Quaresma's "talented" feet. Thus, even though it is easy to imagine Beşiktaş conducting counter-attacks against Napoli, no one exactly knows how it will happen. Improvisation and chaos may become immediate solutions when master plans are stuck at some point, but they should never become the strategy itself in a competitive sport.
Right now, Beşiktaş are like a team which lost almost all of their offensive guns and has no intention on playing a collective offensive game without individual talents. They have energy and ambition on defense, but they lack the experience needed to be a decent defensive team in the Champions League. Napoli are obviously the better and dominant side in this match-up, and Beşiktaş may not be so lucky this time against them. Before taking on more moderate opponents like Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica, it would be wise to close the Napoli deal with four points, which is already more than what Beşiktaş probably imagined.
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