Beşiktaş's crushing defeat at the hands of the Belgian side Genk made everything clear – without its individual talents, Beşiktaş is nothing.

In the absence of Pepe, Adriano, Babel and Ljajic, it has been reduced to the point that it was almost invisible on the pitch. It is obvious now that the individual efforts of these players made Beşiktaş function normally until now. Pepe was the leader in the defense, Adriano was the defensive playmaker, Ljajic was the offensive playmaker and Babel was the scorer. Coach Şenol Güneş's mixed counterattacking strategy was based on the individual talents of these players alongside Ricardo Quaresma. But, the game which was mediocre with them became non-existent without them.

So, what next? How can Beşiktaş pick itself up and be competitive in the Super League and in the Europa League? The first thing to do is to build a solid, collective action plan, to make sure that the team is not bound to individual talents.

This pattern can be slightly more defensive or slightly more offensive, but as a newly-developed strategy, it cannot be extreme either. The wise thing to do here, as Philipp Cocu is trying to do these days, would be strengthening the defense before jumping into more complex attacking schemes.

In the 12 games so far this season, there has been only one game (against Kayserispor) where Beşiktaş was able to keep a clean sheet. It has a huge problem in the defense and that is where coach Güneş should work on first. Personally, I agree with the consensus that Enzo Roco is physically and technically not ready to play at this level, but the rest of the defensive line is suitable to create a solid backline. But this process should be led by a holistic defensive strategy, where coach Güneş would decide where to press the opponent and where to position his team.

My suggestion is simple: First, create a solid six-man defensive wall with Medel and Tolgay Arslan (or Atiba Hutchinson) in front of the defense. Then position this wall near midfield to narrow the space the opponent has and build the press near the opponent's penalty box. Here the strategy should be pressing the opponent in a way that they would lose the ball while attacking and get caught off-guard.

The difference of this strategy from classic counterattacking is that a high defensive line near midfield would make it harder for the opponent to leave its half and Beşiktaş would be able to collect the return balls easily.

The reason why I choose two defensive midfielders in front of the defense also comes from the fact that it would be easier to collect the return balls with Medel and Arslan, rather than Oğuzhan or Ljajic.

For the rest of the season, I think coach Güneş should work on a system close to this one. At least, he should prioritize defensive solidity and counter-pressing as a means of stopping the opponent. The sophisticated offensive schemes can wait for the next season, Beşiktaş needs to get the boring jobs done first.