With the skyrocketing popularity of women’s football, heavy hitters of Turkish football have come to the fore and set up their squads.

Istanbul giants Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray resurrected their women’s football teams in 2021 and have been competing for the title ever since. As the competition unfolds, the chase for the coveted title intensifies. Finally, Fenerbahçe finds themselves on the precipice of glory, inching closer than ever to claiming the coveted title.

On Friday, the Fenerbahçe women’s football team will face capital Ankara’s FOMGET Sports Club in the Turkish Women’s Football Super League playoff final match.

With a possible title looming, Fenerbahçe Women’s Football Athletic Performance Coach Samet Kösemen gave an exclusive interview to Daily Sabah regarding his team’s aims and management.

"The establishment process was so exciting and beautiful, but at the same time, it brought many difficulties," he said about the team's foundation.

"First of all, we, as coaches, went through a very serious interview process. Fenerbahçe’s corporate identity and our President Ali Koç’s appreciation of the Women’s Football Branch were one of the most important points that excited us at the beginning of the process."

"We were reviewing the player pool in Türkiye and Europe, and we were watching an average of 40 players every day," the performance coach added, underlining that they did not have any players on the roster when they started forming the squad.

Kösemen also emphasized the difficulties sportswomen face. "Although women’s football has developed, especially in Türkiye in recent years, unfortunately, women football players had their share of these parameters due to deficient training information, low coach quality and insufficient facilities. Since the first day, we started our duty, we have provided training to our athletes with our technical and administrative teams in every field you can think of," he said.

‘Our aim is championship’

The coach also pointed to the Dec. 7, 2021, exhibition match against archrivals Galatasaray, organized to raise awareness on violence against women.

"We prepared for this match for a month. This match was going to be the first Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray women’s football derby in history since the Galatasaray Women’s Football Team was also newly established, and therefore it was an important match for the communities," he said, referring to the game that ended in a 7-0 victory for the Yellow Canaries.

Kösemen also said that Fenerbahçe narrowly lost last year’s championship. "We entered the Play-Off process by finishing Group A as the 2021-2022 Women’s Super League leader. But, unfortunately, we narrowly missed the final even though we made it to the semifinals during the playoff process," he added.

"We were distraught, but the structure we built from scratch had a successful outlook in its first year. This year though, our aim is the championship."

Regarding the technical side of football in general, Kösemen shed light on one of the fundamental differences between men’s and women’s football – muscle concentration and power. "In particular, women have a genetically higher body fat percentage than men due to the physiological predominance of the hormone estrogen. The fact that women have less testosterone than men can cause low lean muscle mass and high-fat ratios."

"We, in Fenerbahçe Women’s Football Team, take very professional measures," Kösemen added, referring to their heavy training routines.

"At the beginning of the season, we measure the fat and muscle mass of the players in the whole team. Then, we design a nutrition program for our athletes with a high-fat percentage, as per the recommendations of a dietitian, and a training program by an athletic performance trainer," he said.

"I think that what really matters is whether an athlete pays attention to her private and social life too," the coach added, emphasizing that athletes should stick to their diets and training programs around the clock," Kösemen said.

On the other hand, he also underlined that when it comes to distance covered per match, there is no big difference between men and women. "On average, a male footballer covers 11-12 kilometers per match and female footballers pretty much cover the same distance," he said.

"As a performance coach, it would be wrong for me to agree that women’s football is insufficient from an athletic performance aspect," Kösemen added.

"It would always be wrong to reduce football to a single parameter."

The coach also pointed to the importance of pace in football. "What makes the English Premier League so enjoyable to watch is its pace," he said.

Tactical approach of Fenerbahçe

Kösemen also delved into detail about the Fenerbahçe squad’s tactical approach. "We have a speedy and high endurance player group that breaks the resistance of the opponent, especially against teams that play defensively," he said, referring to the strategies employed against defensive-leaning teams.

"Unless you set the tempo, you must keep up with your opponent’s pace. Therefore, you should always be a team that dominates the match, the opponent," he said.

Kösemen also underlined that classical lineups in men’s football, such as 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2, are also extensively used in women’s football. "We go on the pitch considering the opponent’s lineup and use a lineup accordingly," he said.

"We also employ three or four defenders, again by the opponent’s profile," Kösemen added, further saying that Fenerbahçe usually has a single forward on the pitch.

The coach also said that they do not have a predetermined starting 11. "If a footballer is deemed worthy of playing in Fenerbahçe, then she should always have the potential to be in the starting 11," he said.

"We do not have a mentality to determine an ‘ideal starting 11’ and use the same formation all the time," Kösemen added.

The coach also mentioned that football, its tactics and its strategies are evolving. "If you want to succeed in modern football, you have to employ modern tactics," he said, adding that pitch zones and their proper use are utterly necessary.

Kösemen also pointed to women’s football’s challenges and its great potential.

"While determining the disadvantages of women’s teams, it is necessary to evaluate psychological, physiological, facility and socio-economic aspects," he said.

"When we evaluate the psychological side, mood swings can be seen quite a lot due to hormonal changes in women’s menstrual period, especially in teams that do not have a sports psychologist and do not receive professional support regarding this," Kösemen added.

"One of the most common injuries, especially in female football players, is the anterior cruciate ligament injury, and this is due to the knee Q angle and the withdrawal of estrogen," he said.

"In terms of facilities, although many women’s teams do not have their own facilities and fields, competitions can be played in bad ground conditions and this causes many injuries," Kösemen warned. "Fenerbahçe has all the facilities that a professional women’s team should have, especially in terms of facilities, accommodation and the field."

The coach also pointed to the wage gap between men and women in football.

"When we evaluate socio-economically, when we compare the annual wage of a female football player with the annual wage of male football players, unfortunately, there are gaps," he said.

The coach also said that Italy switched women’s football to professional status and the U.S. Women’s National Football Team’s successes have made waves worldwide, bringing women’s football to the forefront in media, adding that FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be an important event for women’s football.

"Thanks to the competitions organized by FIFA and UEFA, women can now speak louder in football," he said, referring to the football’s international and European governing bodies.

Kösemen also emphasized that women’s football has excellent potential in Türkiye. "Involvement of big teams in women’s football, the events organized by the Turkish Football Federation and civil society initiatives all contribute to the development of women’s football in Türkiye," he said.

"In the near future, people will have to ask themselves whether men’s or women’s football is more enjoyable to watch."