Antalyaspor vs Ankaragucu match preview!

 

Ankaragucu now have a run of 4 winnable games in the next 3 weeks which will almost certainly determine their fate in the Turkish Super Lig. A minimum of 2 wins is a must and even that might not be good enough. If Ankaragucu can win 3-4 of those games they will put themselves in a good position going into the transfer window.

Faruk Koca was this week announced as Head of Footballing operations and will now shoulder all responsibility for the Coaching team and transfers. Fatih Mert has been taking this responsibility but it looks like Faruk has been the decision maker in the background. He has promised a better quality of signing in January. 

Worryingly Faruk Koca wants Mustafa Dalci as manager and he continues with the team. It is said that other members of the Management team wanted Hakan Kutlu. Dalci has a poor managerial record and as mentioned last week, his first ever Managerial position only lasted 2 months in the lower leagues. He was also here as Assistant to Mustafa Resit Akcay. 

Anyalyaspor are the opponents this Sunday and its a game where Ankaragucu can take 3 points and kick start their season but they need to be at their best. I watched Antalyaspor struggle to a 2-2 draw at Erzerumspor last weekend and are of a similar quality to Ankaragucu. 

They do have players such as Amilton, Lukas Podolski and Adis Jahovic who can punish you if given any opportunities. Amilton in particular has always impressed me but should be adding better numbers to his game. 

Former Ankaragucu manager Ersun Yanal is in charge at Antalyaspor and will likely play a 4-4-2 formation and an attacking line up. That should give Ankaragucu opportunities in the game. 

Last week was another disappointing display against Trabzonspor at home and a 1-0 defeat. Ankaragucu defended well for the first 40 minutes and at least competed in the match. From then on it was all disappointment and nothing much in attack again from Ankaragucu. 

The players in particular who have really disappointed are Alper Potuk, Saba Lobjanidze, Jonathan Bolingi, Joseph Paintsil, Atilla Turan and Zvonimir Sarlija. From those players Paintsil can maybe be given some sympathy as he is just back from injury. But the rest have had plenty of opportunities and continue to let the team down. 

Alper Potuk in particular is a big concern. His work rate and fitness is non existent and he doesn't look happy. A captain should inspire the rest of the team but Alper offers nothing. Bolingi and Saba also have issues of celebrating their shit performances on their Instagram pages despite offering nothing on the pitch. Saba had a whole 4 minutes of highlights on his Instagram page today and not a single goal or assist, just him running by players and missing chances. 

Dalci or whoever is in charge need to give opportunities to other players and stick with the team for 4-5 games instead of chopping and changing all the time. Having watched every game this season I would like to see the following team given an opportunity for the next 4 games and let them build on it. 

GK - Ricardo Freidrich - Played better last week against Trabzonspor and hopefully we will see some consistency with him. A leader on the pitch too. 

RB - Stelios Kitsiou - Key player and form me the Captain in the team. Needs to get back to last seasons form and higher up the pitch. Bringing Lukasik back into the team may help Kitsiou as he can cover for him when he goes forward. 

CB - Erdi Dikmen - Simply the better player between him and Sarlija. Yes he has a lot of developing still to do, but just ask him to play the simple game and concentrate on defending. Also an ariel threat at both ends of the pitch. 

CB - Michal Pazdan - Another leader in the team who has been very consistent up until the last few weeks. He is suffering with the amount of changes in defence and having inexperienced players next to him. 

LB - Thiago Pinto - Another key player for the team both in attack and defence. 

CM - Daniel Lukasik - I would only play one defensive minded player and that is a choice between Atakan, Assane and Lukasik. Although i do like Atakan, i think Lukasik has been a very consistent player for us up until this seaoson where he has been in and out the team. His experience is also valuable. 

CM - Sahverdi Cetin - Can cover for Pinto when he goes forward, but can also join in the attack with his range of passing and getting the ball forward. He has the talent, but now needs the run of games to build on his experience. 

CM - Endri - Only played the one game and left out of the squad due to his penalty miss a couple of weeks ago. Alper has failed to show anything in the more attacking midfield role. Endri deserves the opportunity to show what he can do. 

LW - Luka Adzic - Needs a manager who believes in him. He has the talent and skill to go by players. Just needs to work on his final ball and shooting. Saba has had enough opportunities and its time to give Luka his chance. 

RW - Joseph Paintsil - Same as Luka, needs a run of games to show what he can do, and its up to him to grab it. Again has the talent. 

CF - Torgeir Borven - You need to be creating chances and attacking to get the benefit of Borven. If Ankaragucu are defending the whole game you wont hear his name. With Paintsil, Adzic, Endri all playing behind him its their responsibility to make chances. 

Prediction

Antalyaspor 1-2 Ankaragucu