Turkiye 26 World Cup Preview

I won't be saying the word d*rkhor**s uncensored because I don't want to sound like the most basic fan on Earth - damn that got annoying quickly in the past couple of Euros - but do I actually believe it after watching hours of these guys for the past few years? Let's get into it.

It's easy to rip on this team for feeling a decade old, rolling out a 4-2-3-1 that wants possession. But when you think about the team's strengths, you have to admit it makes quite a bit of sense for this group. Everybody on this team can ping the ball, it's a requirement for any position. That's how they prefer to build their chances such as the goal that sent them to the World Cup:

The main actor is Hakan Calhanoglu who a decade ago was the 10 in a 4-2-3-1 & has since, through Inter Milan mostly, become one of the best registas on the planet. He's damn good at moving the rock & most of the good stuff that happens for Turkiye starts at the feet of him. Calhanoglu isn't exactly Mr. Reliable in defense, so paired with him is Ismail Yuksek, a partner whose only role in this team is to do the dirty work that makes up for what the captain won't do. He's on my shortlist of favorites for unsung heroes of this tournament - he is awesome, folks.

Arda Guler - hoping to be back from an injury for this - can line up as the right winger or the 10 but in either case he ends up playing like an 8 whose home is the right halfspace. He drops quite deep to collect the ball, moves it between Calhanoglu & the forwards.

A guy who is far more of a forward than Guler is Kenan Yildiz, tricky left winger who is a much deadlier threat as a runner in behind than everybody gives him credit for. Up front for the past year has been little winger-turned-forward Kerem Akturkoglu who has become a favorite of mine. I shit you not, this guy is always *leaning*. Like he is never standing up straight, but it helps for a guy who is constantly on his toes to sprint onto a ball in behind everybody else. He runs like hell, presses well & is just as deadly if the manager wants to put him out on either wing. Akturkoglu combines all of this with a high quality soccer brain, too:

Noticed the unit that I haven't named? My God, is this defense untrustworthy. They seem to be dialed in on set pieces, but in open play it's like everybody back there half-asses it & does not want to defend their own box. It doesn't help that Calhanoglu is the deepest midfielder either:

Especially when Turkiye get the opportunity to punch up, to make an upset, is when this gets exposed. Their dictation of the game as a favorite or even an equal can hide this fact, but anybody of a truly elite quality is able to run circles around this group if they aren't in kitchen sink mode.

I really like what I've seen from the coach, Vincenzo Montella. He game-ifies things in ways that usually work in Turkiye's favor. On matchday 2 of the 2024 Euro, he almost fully rotated his XI, sacrificing 3 points to have less rest & suspension issues in the knockouts. That has always stuck with me as a brave swing that I can't remember seeing anybody else in world soccer take.

He does other little tweaks that I like, such as knowing when to revert to a Back 5 bus to see out a game or when a real number 9 role needs to be in the box for them.

I see Turkiye coming out victorious of some high scoring games. Feels like all the world's attention has been on Guler because of his club, when really this tournament should be about captain Calhanoglu finally getting this opportunity.

My biggest belief in a team, a manager, is clashing with my biggest hesitancy in a team, a poor defense. Meeting in the middle puts Turkiye at expectations, like a Round of 32-16 exit, which sounds about right.

They're most likely to win games 4-3. It'll be fun.