Team Focus: Şenol Güneş Whipping up a Storm in Bursa

If Fatih Terim is the Emperor of Turkish football Şenol Güneş is the Sultan. Güneş guided the Crescent-Stars to an unprecedented third-place finish at the 2002 World Cup. The achievement did not however, result in a golden age. The Turkish national side did reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008 but have failed to qualify for every subsequent international tournament, culminating with a disastrous start to the Euro 2016 qualification process.

The decision to take over Bursaspor came as a bit of a surprise; it is still a little odd seeing him coaching the Green Crocodiles after spending all his playing days and most of his managerial career at Trabzonspor. Güneş has hit the ground running at Bursaspor. The Crocs have an average rating of 7.12 second only to league leaders Fenerbahçe 7.17 and play some of the most aesthetically pleasing football in the league.

Güneş has a reputation as a straight-talking coach not afraid to mince his words. His arrival at Bursaspor perhaps best underlined this. The newly appointed manager made it clear from the get go that Pinto, Bangura, Frey and Taiwo simply did not have the drive to play for his side and had to go.

“We will play fast, dynamic, high tempo, high pressing, attacking based football,” Güneş said. “Our philosophy is not only to win but to win playing attacking based football, we will take the game to the opposition, it is time Bursaspor start acting like the club of a big city.” Bursa is indeed a big city, the fourth biggest in Turkey with a population of three million. It also happens to be one of the most developed and industrialised regions in the country. The Green Crocodiles thought they were about to challenge the traditional Istanbul establishment when they became the first team outside of the capital city and Trabzon to win the league title in 2010, but Bursaspor have failed to finish higher than third since.

Güneş has started getting his attacking ethos across. Bursaspor have scored the most goals in the league (36). The Crocs are scoring an average of two goals per-game and have one of the best conversion rates in the league (12.6%). A main contributor to Bursaspor’s goal tally has been Fernandão. The powerful Brazilian striker on loan from Atletico PR is currently the league’s leading goal scorer with 12 goals.

The 27-year-old makes intelligent runs and uses his strength to his advantage but where he has excelled most is in the air. Fernandão wins on average 3.9 aerial duels per-game, the only striker in the top 5 for aerial duels in the league – the others all defenders. His aerial dominance is part of the reason the Crocs have scored the second most goals from set-pieces (11).

Fernandão was unknown at the start of the season but is now in the midst of a transfer battle between Bursaspor and Galatasaray. Güneş is renowned for getting the best out of players and is doing exactly that with Fernandão. Prolific striker Burak Yılmaz, Galatasaray captain Selçuk İnan, Lions forward Umut Bulut, Fenerbahçe centre-back Egemen Korkmaz and Hanover 96 midfielder Ceyhun Gülselam are just a few players who really made a name for themselves under the guidance of Güneş.

The January transfer window saw a bidding war over 19-year-old Ozan Tufan with offers of €10 million being touted by the likes of Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor. Tufan has gone from a highly rated player to one of the best performing youngsters in the league. The 19-year-old is the second best player under the age of 21 in the Süper Lig with a 7.11 rating. Volkan Şen has shown a marked improvement under Güneş – in fact he is has the best rating in the league, with 7.58. There are actually two Bursaspor players in the top 5, with that man Fernandão joining Şen.

The Crocs made a real statement in their latest outing against Galatasaray at the Türk Telekom Arena. Lions boss Hamza Hamzaoğlu was tactically outclassed, Bursaspor created four clear chances on goal in the first half alone, hit the post and on another day could easily have scored a few more goals. The biggest surprise at the final whistle was how Galatasaray managed to snatch a 2-2 draw. Were it not for Bakambu’s profligacy and Şen’s act of madness that resulted in a penalty and red card, the score line could have been remarkably different.

Güneş envisions Bursaspor becoming a battering ram capable of knocking down the Gates of Istanbul once again but the Crocs are not the finished article quite yet. Bursaspor really need to improve their ball retention, currently only 77% of passes are accurate and they are dispossessed on average 12.5 times per-game. Bursaspor are 12 points behind league leaders Fenerbahçe in 5th place and it would be a miracle to close the gap after a shaky start to the season. The board at Bursaspor see next season as the start of a new era. Their brand new 45,000 seat, Crocodile themed stadium will be completed, revenues are expected to increase and bold claims of expensive new signings are already being made. The Crocs’ biggest coup, however, would be keeping hold of Güneş.

Do you think Bursaspor can break Istanbul’s stronghold at the top of the Süper Lig? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below