We came together with Fatih Tekke, one of the legends of Trabzonspor who has written his name in golden letters in Turkish football history, at the Omer Sarialioglu facilities of Istanbulspor. Fatih Tekke, who has achieved significant successes during his football career, has started to make a name for himself as a coach in recent years. We talked with Tekke, who came to Istanbulspor for the second time, about the club, his works and his football career.
How did you first get acquainted with football?
I was born in 1977 in Koprubasi/Trabzon as one of the 8 children of a mechanical engineer father and a housewife mother. When I was 9, we moved from our village and settled in Trabzon city center. My brothers and I started football trainings in an amateur team. This is how I took my first step into football. At that time, the matches of young players in all infrastructure and amateur teams in Trabzon were being followed very seriously. It wasn’t like today. In the 1990s, Trabzonspor gathered talented players from amateur teams within its structure. I was also among these players. I was playing in the junior national team at the time. In 1994, I attended the A team of Trabzonspor. At first I was playing in number 10 position, but then I started playing as a striker.
What would you like to say about your career at Trabzonspor?
It was not easy to be successful in football in Trabzon, especially in our period. However, we managed to overcome all these difficulties. When I was younger, everyone used to call me Maradona as I played in number 10 position. But actually I was a player far outside of my performance. After I attended the A Team, I started playing striker with the guidance of my coach Ozkan Sumer.
What was the most memorable match in your career?
There are actually a lot of matches in my career that I can’t forget. The one that sticks in my mind the most, however, was the UEFA cup final match we played as Zenit. I also can’t forget the game we played against the Cyprus team Anorthosis and lost due to a last second goal that has been canceled. There is also a Fenerbahce match where we scored a header in 61st minute, which is also one of the legend matches for me. The most memorable assist I have not forgotten was the one I made to Gokdeniz during the Besiktas match in Trabzon. I got the ball, felt Gokdeniz running, passed the ball to him.
Are there any idol names that you have taken as examples in your coaching career?
There have been many coaches I have worked with. I’ve learned something from all of them. Luciano Spalletti impressed me a lot both with his discipline and the way he looked at the game and the field. Also, Vahid Halilhodzic and Ozkan Sumer had an important influence on me.
There are huge differences between the technological developments in the years you played football and those today. Do you think this is an advantage?
Technology is a huge advantage, but I don’t think many people in Türkiye or in world football are using the data that is talked about. I am talking about data related to tactical formation, especially related to field use and interior of the field. There are very few people who think about this in Türkiye. Good staff and good players are related to the budget. Therefore, I can say that Türkiye is a place where good players and good technical people appear.
What would you like to say about Istanbulspor’s situation in the league?
I see Istanbulspor as my home now. This is my second time in Istanbulspor. We upset our fans in my first season, but I’ll do my best not to repeat this. To be successful is our main goal, but there are several parameters to achieve success. We are trying to get maximum performance from the players we have. Since the first time I came to Istanbulspor, our goal has always been to win. We achieved a lot with the tactical formations I mentioned, sometimes we failed, but there were also many positive developments that we made. The current situation seems positive at the moment, but it is also a fact that we have some deficiencies. I believe that we will be successful despite these challenges. We are like a family here, so the players are happy too.
What are your thoughts about the infrastructure works? There is the Altinordu example in hand. Why do our big clubs fail in this regard?
I think there are talented people in Türkiye not only in football, but in all fields. It is important to train these talents correctly, direct them correctly and shape their infrastructure correctly. If you do this well you are considered successful. But of course, much bigger achievements can be made with higher budgets. That’s why the budget is needed first, patience is needed second, and good coaches are needed third. The big clubs have a budget, but they don’t allocate money for infrastructure. We have been facing the same questions for 20 years and we still give the same answers.ihtiyaç var. Büyük kulüplerin bütçesi var ama altyapıya para ayırmıyor. 20 yıldır aynı sorularla karşı karşıyayız, hep aynı cevapları veriyoruz.
Who would you consider to be the ”Star” player of Turkish football right now?
The definition of “star player” can vary individually. For instance, does a star player mean someone who has special skills or who has performed perfectly? There are young people in Türkiye that we can say in terms of performance. For example, Caglar Soyuncu and Merih Demiral are doing very well abroad. In terms of our goalkeepers, there has been an improvement in recent years and we are raising good goalkeepers. Ugurcan Cakir and Erce Kardesler are just two examples. If these players are provided with suitable environments to develop themselves and their games, they can play in foreign leagues very easily. The star player for me is Messi. There is no player like him in the world. But of course, there are also very talented good players.
“Former players and managers who have played for Istanbulspor have a strong sense of belonging to the club”
What do you think is the place of Turkish football in world football?
According to the latest announced figures, we are ranked as the 6th biggest league in the world in terms of the number of players coming out of the youth academy. This makes us the last and the oldest league among others. We are also the country that has the most number of foreign players. We have financial strength, but I don’t think we have a chance to compete with the elite teams in world football.
What are your thoughts about the Istanbulspor community?
Former players and managers who have played for Istanbulspor have a strong sense of belonging to the club. I see this as an important advantage. Football has its own realities. Among these are facilities, infrastructure and budget. We need to move forward on these issues more firmly, together and patiently.
