Türkiye have now lost all five games in their UEFA Nations League run this season, the latest of which came against Belgium tonight at the Gürsel Aksel Stadium in Group A action.
Türkiye have been, for the large part, horrendous on both ends of the field. Without bias, they are a one-man show, and if Arda Güler — on course to be the country’s best ever footballer — ever managers to win something with this team, it will be the greatest carry job in football history.
Heading into this match, Türkiye
had scored just two goals while conceding 11. They remain the only team in the group with a negative goal difference (GD) and currently sit on a −10 GD.
Their problems are multiple. Defensively, they are a sieve. In both goals they conceded tonight, the tracking was non-existent. Their press often breaks down with ease, and they leave an embarrassing amount of room between the lines to attack.
Offensively, they do not compensate. While Güler is the best creator in Europe, the finishing from his teammates is abysmal. Türkiye are generally fine at keeping the ball and getting into the final third, but beyond that, they are generally lost. Kenan Yıldız missing the entirety of this season so far due to injury hasn’t helped.
All of this led to Vincenzo Montella being sacked last month, and Türkiye are now certain to be relegated to League B of the Nations League.
In tonight’s match, Türkiye started off strong under new coach Sergen Yalçın. They pinned Belgium deep, kept the ball in the final third, and gave the Belgians problems with their counter-pressing. Güler was at the heart of it all, pulling strings all over the field, playing with verticality, and constantly giving instructions to his teammates on what runs they should make.
In the 20th minute, he scored a free-kick for the ages:
Türkiye’s initial surge didn’t last long. Belgium started to grow into the game, found space in transition, and eventually took control. The line-breaking from Jérémy Doku was terrific, and Belgium also had good movement and link up from Kevin De Bruyne and Diego Moreira. By half-time Belgium had outshot Türkiye and generated the better chances; by full-time they had limited the Turks to an xG of around 0.5.
Türkiye’s next match is against France, which is largely meaningless apart from their own pride.
Güler, operating primarily in the right half-space, finished the match with the most touches of anyone on the field (86), one goal, one key pass, three tackles, and completed 90.9% of his passes. He was fouled five times.
