The Turkish coach has been under heavy pressure from pundits and fans after giving away a 3-0 lead against their bitter rivals Fenerbahce.
Besiktas coach Senol Gunes has come under pressure for letting a 3-0 lead slip away against Fenerbahce in their Super Lig derby on Monday, February 26.
The Black Eagles started the game strong and were up 3-0 by half time. However, fans and pundits have been critical of Gunes’ tactics which saw them concede 3 goals in 12 minutes in the second half, with the game ending in a 3-3 draw.
“We have seen that an experienced coach such as Gunes was late to make the right changes to lift his team back on its feet,” said Hurriyet pundit Guntekin Onay.
After seeing his players pull off what seemed like an unlikely comeback, Fenerbahce coach Ersun Yanal praised his players.
“My players gave me a pass and I scored it,” he said after the game as he reflected on the tactical changes made at half-time.
“They did the things that they are best at. All I had to do was add a few touches,” he said, adding that only a league title next season could satisfy fans.
“Even if Gunes chose to cool the game when it was 3-0 or Yanal did so when it was 3-3, they could have achieved a historic win,” were the words of Ugur Meleke of Hurriyet.
“Still, this was a fair result,” he claimed.
The criticism against Senol Gunes came just days after he refuted rumours that he would replace Mircea Lucescu, who was sacked from the Turkish national team.
Gunes admitted in a post-game conference that his team panicked after conceding the first goal.
“Fenerbahce’s confidence and motivation grew and Besiktas dropped out of the game,” he said, putting the blame on poor concentration.
He did not respond to questions about whether he, personally, faced such a problem due to the rumors linking him with the Turkish national team.