It is quite interesting to watch Başakşehirspor struggle in the Europa League, while they perform decently in the Turkish Super League. My apprentice Burak Akkaya and I watched Başakşehirspor's game carefully in both the Super League and the Europa League, and the most evident truth is that Başakşehirspor is bound to the creativity of Emre Belözoğlu and Emmanuel Adebayor. Although the team is able to produce opportunities with their swift counter-attacking strategy in the Super League, they cannot find the same space and time in the Europe League. What coach Abdullah Avcı needs to do immediately is to distribute the playmaking role to the whole team.

First of all, although Eljero Elia, Edin Visca and Marcio Mossoro are also pretty effective in offense, they cannot organize attacks as Belözoğlu and Adebayor do. They usually execute the attacks that the latter duo creates with their game vision, but they are unable to operate when the connection between the center of the game and them is broken. At this point, coach Avcı should consider creating alternatives that his team can utilize in a moment of crisis. Their opponents are now familiar with their strategies and usually cripple Belözoğlu and Adebayor to eliminate Başakşehirspor's offensive power. In these kinds of moments, there must be other ways of creating opportunities and a new passing model that includes all of the team is a good start.

Added to that, Başakşehirspor is no longer a second-class team that only manages to create trouble for the big guns in the Turkish Super League. As has happened to all other successful teams in history, expectations for them increased significantly after the last two seasons, and now they are seen as favorites in most of their games. This also forces them to play more offensively and dominantly, which is contradictory to coach Avcı's usual counter-attacking strategy. Their opponents also feel more comfortable defending against them, knowing that a point would not be a disaster against Başakşehirspor. Thus, the very first thing coach Avcı must do is to create a passing model that would not let Başakşehirspor's offenses be individualistic and chaotic. Secondly, Elia, Visca and Mossoro can be used in a more versatile manner. They all possess decent technique, and they can serve as both playmakers and executors in offense. Now, it is time to gear up for Başakşehirspor and Avcı given the country expects a lot from them. If they can settle a rational, repeatable game with enough sophistication, they might dominate the Turkish Super League and even the European arena.