Created Date: October 09, 2025 07:32
Hamit Altıntop, one of the unforgettable names of our National Football Team and Galatasaray, made special evaluations about Turkish football for Hürriyet Spor. In his column, Altıntop asks, ‘Despite all the discussions, how much do we really talk about football itself?’ From its beginnings, he drew the picture of Turkish football through the former president of Fenerbahçe, Ali Koç.
Hamit Altıntop, who once played for our National Football Team, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Galatasaray, wrote about both the former president of Fenerbahçe, Ali Koç, and Turkish football.
Altıntop’s special article for Hürriyet Spor was as follows:
We talk and discuss football every day. But the real question is: Are we really talking about football itself?
Ali Koç’s presidency showed us this: The biggest problem of Turkish football is not the names, but the system itself. And this system is not the work of one person; The common responsibility of all actors, from clubs to the federation, from the media to the fans
FALSE STARTS
There was great hope and expectation when taking office. But the first steps damaged these hopes. Comolli and Cocu were two names that did not have a good command of the dynamics of Turkish football. From the very first day, the disconnect between on-field and off-field became apparent.
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DIFFICULT TRANSITIONS: BELÖZOĞLU-BULUT
In the following period, a new page was opened with Emre Belözoğlu and Erol Bulut. The issue here was not the mistakes of individuals; The reason was that the roles and responsibilities given to them were not defined correctly.
Emre, with a sense of belonging to the community, took responsibility and tried to support. However, since his role was not integrated into the system, both he and the club had difficulty. In such an environment, the risk of damage to even a valuable brand name was inevitable.
A similar situation existed for Erol Bulut. When a healthy structure is not established, even those who work with the best intentions can be left alone. This table shows the main problem of Turkish football: not the people, but the lack of system.
CULTURE OF IMPATIENCE AND INTERVENTION
One of the biggest diseases of Turkish football is impatience. Presidents constantly feel “obliged to intervene.” However, the issue is not the intervention itself, but its quality. Intervention made at the right time, with the right analysis and supported by clean feedback is valuable. But most of the time, these steps are taken without a better alternative being put forward. Result: constant changes of direction, lost stability.
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Because around the presidents, hundreds of people who have no football knowledge are constantly coming up with ideas. Instead of healthy feedback, personal comments, momentary emotions and populist pressures come to the fore. This drags the clubs into new crises instead of getting them out of the crisis.
İSMAiL KARTAL SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED
The concrete example is obvious: İsmail Kartal had gained the right momentum. His team was in the right direction. What needed to be done was to strengthen it. Instead, changes were made again. I don’t even want to mention the name Mourinho; I don’t want to talk about it anyway. Because the issue is not the names, the issue is impatience and lack of system. Even the greatest teachers cannot produce success on the wrong ground.
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MAIN ACTORS: SILENT WARRIORS
Football is talked about and discussed thousands of times every day in Türkiye. But at their core, coaches are like silent warriors. Their determination, discipline and strategy on the field determine the quality of the league. At the end of the day, it is the coaches and players who shape football.
They are rivals in matches; Outside the match, real development will begin when they realize that they are actually partners and that they have to improve football together. The real question is: Despite all the discussions, how much do we really talk about football itself?
THE BEST OF THE BAD
In today’s table, Galatasaray perhaps looks like the “best of the worst”. However, this is not an indication that the system is working properly, but that other clubs are experiencing deeper problems. Just because a club is relatively more successful does not mean that the entire football system is working correctly.
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CONCLUSION: RETURNING TO THE ORIGINAL GOAL
The Ali Koç process teaches us this: When resources, vision, and even international brand power cannot change the system, they are not enough on their own. Impatience, external pressures, media and social media noise distract presidents and clubs from the main goal.
We must remember the main goal again: To be successful on the field. The way to achieve this is to eliminate the lack of football knowledge, position the right professionals around the team, and succeed in becoming a real team. Only then is sustainable success possible.
