In the wake of Euro 2008, I think it's time to open a national teams thread where we can discuss players, tactics, new prospects etc. Who's in form, who's not? Who should make the first 11?

So my question goes to the Turkish posters;how should our 11 man team look like? Are there any promising younglings that might be mature enough come june?

Gökhan Gönül is the only one I have in the back who qualifies without a doubt and can keep up with powerhouse european forwards. (Again, this might be because I
haven't been looking hard enough)

There are defenders we can use but the ones we have don't keep me satisfied.

I. Toraman
S. Cetin
G. Zan
C. Arat
H. Yerlikaya
I. Kas
V. Yaman
D. Baris

(all questionable)

Are they all we have at National Team level??

Our midfield is very solid, alot to choose from really..all excellent players with the occasional Turkish lack of dicipline and professionalism..

M. Aurelio (excellent)
A.Turan (good)
N. Sahin (excellent)
Y. Bastürk (good)
E. Belözoglu (excellent)
S. Inan (good)
H. Altintop (excellent)
G. Karadeniz (excellent)
U. Boral (supreme) shown great maturity, speed and skill
S. Özkan (good)

and more...I would appreciate to know if there are any midfielders that can top some of the ones I've posted.

Our forwards are good but it seems we lack a true CF with enough height and strength to crush any defense in Europe..

T. Sanli (excellent) form is good lately at Premier League
N. Kahveci (excellent) form is questionable
H. Altintop (excellent)
S. Sentürk (good)
F. Tekke (good)
Ü. Karan (good)
(M. Yildiz) (questionable)
(G. Ünal) (questionable)


It would be nice to be updated in the Greek national team's progress as well.

What I really want is for someone to lay out for me the complete Turkish National team, without compromise and usage of old farts. Where are the central defenders? The kind of TANKS we had during the WC 2002? Without those kind of players we can't really compete...no matter how great our midfield is.

And I forgot to say that

V. Demirel is first goalie.

R. Recber is second...that god damn BASTARD showed good form against Trabzon last night. Puto.

Serdar Kurtuluş didn't play for a long while bu i think he must be in the squad.
Mehmet Topuz is also a must. I can't stand seeing Gökdeniz playing in the National Team.

Datdiri datdat datdiri datdat datdiri datdat daat dat!
Datdiri ditdit datdiri ditdit datdiri ditdit diiit dit!


Me Dome

Drink

And go to stadium

We kick hamsi ass

Dome can't speak now...

Me shouted a lot

Lost voice...

You Trabzonians lost

Let's not make this about last night Dome, we played alot better and you were lucky. That red card on Baris Memis was just another proof that nothing is fair and balanced in Turkcell SuperLig.

Mehmet Topuz you say. Substitute at best.

Serdar Kurtulus is a player I've seen just a couple of times, he was hyped alot but I kind of witnessed a lackluster performance during a game which put me off him. But if he has stable and good form, good enough to make our team better...then why not. As I said, I'm all for new things here. How would you make the defense look like if you were Terim? Who would stand where?

And Gökdeniz is a dream to watch.

Friendly matches coming up the 26th of March for both Turkey and Greece.

Turkey travel to Belarus while Greece face Turkey's fellow Euro 2008 group A contendors Portugal.

Good luck to both teams...although I guess more to Greece because Portugal has been itching for some hellenic ass for four years.

Turkey coach Fatih Terim has announced an enlarged 30-man squad for the upcoming friendly match against Belarus next Wednesday. MKE Ankaragücü midfielder Gökhan Emreciksin and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard striker Mevlüt Erding have received their first call-ups, while Bursaspor's uncapped Mustafa Sarp is hoping for a first senior cap after being selected in the squad for the second time.

Numerous changes
Fenerbahçe SK striker Semih Şentürk, Newcastle United FC's Emre Belözoğlu and Kayserispor midfielder Mehmet Topuz are absent from the squad named for last month's friendly against Sweden. Middlesbrough FC forward Tuncay Şanlı and Beşiktaş JK winger Serdar Özkan both return however. Turkey's players will gather on Sunday in Istanbul for their first training session the following day before flying to Minsk on Tuesday where they will complete their preparations with a final training session at the Dinamo Stadium.

Turkey Squad
Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe SK), Rüştü Reçber (Beşiktaş JK), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor).

Defenders: Gökhan Zan (Beşiktaş JK), Emre Aşık (Ankaraspor AŞ), Remzi Giray Kaçar (Gençlerbirliği Oftasspor), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray AŞ),Yasin Çakmak (Fenerbahçe SK), Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe SK), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AŞ).

Midfielders: Sabri Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray AŞ), Uğur Boral (Fenerbahçe SK), Mehmet Aurélio (Fenerbahçe SK), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray AŞ), Selçuk Şahin (Fenerbahçe SK), Tümer Metin (Larissa FC), Yıldıray Baştürk (VfB Stuttgart), Hamit Altıntop (FC Bayern München), Arda Turan (Galatasaray AŞ), Gökdeniz Karadeniz (FC Rubin Kazan), Gökhan Emreciksin (MKE Ankaragücü), Caner Erkin (PFC CSKA Moskva), Serdar Özkan (Beşiktaş JK), Mustafa Sarp (Bursaspor).

Forwards: Tuncay Şanlı (Middlesbrough FC), Gökhan Ünal (Kayserispor), Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal CF), Halil Altıntop (FC Schalke 04), Mehmet Yıldız (Sivasspor), Mevlüt Erding (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard).


Source: http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=674760.html


Some interesting choices including Caner Erkin whom I find very promising. However, take a look at our defense:

"Defenders: Gökhan Zan (Beşiktaş JK), Emre Aşık (Ankaraspor AŞ), Remzi Giray Kaçar (Gençlerbirliği Oftasspor), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray AŞ),Yasin Çakmak (Fenerbahçe SK), Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe SK), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AŞ). "

Emre Asik? Yasin Cakmak? Tell me HOW are they going to stop C. Ronaldo? Milan Baros? Quaresma? Koller? Galasek? Rosicky? It just goes to show that we're in severe need of good strong central defenders. All we have now are the two Gökhan's. Servet is in good form but he's so slow I feel I'm going back in time when I watch him run. Hakan Balta is good but not an international talent. I know nothing of Remzi Giray, perhaps he can change this dreadful defense line-up.

Fatih Terim has warned that "radical changes" may be made to the Turkey squad before UEFA EURO 2008™, saying "no player should take their place for granted".

Ongoing battle
The Turkey coach has left the door open for fringe players to impress in the months before the finals, as Turkey prepare to face Belarus in a friendly in Minsk on Wednesday. "If our players cannot put in satisfactory performances, we might make radical changes," he said. "All of our players are battling for a place in the finals squad. No player should take their place for granted or believe they have completely lost their chance."

Inspiring example
Having denied that he had agreed to take over at Chelsea FC in the summer – saying "I don't negotiate when I'm in charge of a team or when a team still has a coach" – Terim added that Fenerbahçe SK's success in reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals has set an inspiring example for his players. "We've not had a team making significant progress in Europe for a long time," he said. "Local successes are good but international ones are even better."

Maximum effort
With time ticking down until Turkey's opening match in Switzerland against Portugal on 7 June, the 54-year-old Terim reminded his players that Turkey have "until 28 May" to pick their squad for the finals, and demanded that his players give their all to impress him and his coaching team. "I want all of our players to compete at the top level to stay in the race to be selected," he said. "I want them to force us into making squad decisions."

Turkish ethos
Terim feels that total commitment is crucial for Turkey to be successful at the finals, saying: "When we play with men behind the ball, we make fewer mistakes but when we open up we have made significant errors. For me, all players except the goalkeeper should not leave a single part of the pitch untouched. Our coaching staff are doing their utmost to lift our players physically, and psychologically to a better level. I truly believe we'll put in an impressive display."


Source: Uefa.com


Am I starting to like Terim? I don't know. But he's seriously starting to grease my wheels with this "change" and "competition".

Terim you idiot. You -*test*-('") players, say that you'll give room for young talent and then you put in Tumer. What are you -*test*-('")ing him for? Moron.

No Ugur Boral or Fatih Tekke...no Volkan Yaman or Karadeniz. Shame.

I'd like to see our team more in this manner especially for the Uruguay game:

Rûstû(V.Demirel)
Boral(V.Yaman), Toraman, Gönûl
Egemen(G.Zan)
Emre(Yildiray), Tuncay(Aurelio), Nihat, Hamit(Karadeniz)
Tekke(Û.Karan)

Who can disagree with this line-up? Just look at that midfield...beautiful.



No fucking Arda. He had talent and fucking threw that shit out the window that big headed mongoloid.



PS. I chose Egemen because he's the biggest badass we've got. He isn't half bad but a little slow. That's why we have that twitchy little rat Toraman behind him to take care of what slips past the Corleone of Bursa.

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You just don't fuck with Egemen.

FC Bayern München expect to be without Hamit Altıntop for the rest of the season – putting a question mark against the midfielder's participation in Turkey's UEFA EURO 2008™ finals campaign.

Broken foot
Altıntop, 25, broke a metatarsal bone in his right foot during his country's friendly against Belarus on Wednesday, a 2-2 draw in Minsk. What is certain is that he faces between six and eight weeks on the sidelines after surgery today – ruling him out of Bayern's UEFA Cup quarter-final against Getafe CF and probably out of the remainder of their Bundesliga title challenge too.

Fitness race
Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said: "It is very doubtful that he will play again this term. This is a real shock, particularly as he has been in great shape recently." Altıntop has made 23 league appearances since joining Bayern from FC Schalke 04 last summer. He now has a race against time, both to add to that tally and to be eligible for Turkey in Austria and Switzerland. It is anticipated that national coach Fatih Terim will announce his finals squad after a 15-day pre-tournament training camp in Germany. Altıntop, whose twin brother Halil still plays for Schalke, has 39 caps.

Source: UEFA




If Hamit can't play in Euro 2008, it will be a huge blow for our national team. He's presently our best player; someone I looked to make the difference in our opening game against Portugal. Let us all hope that he'll be fit for fight come June.

How good is this "Nuri Sahin" guy in real life?

(He's certainly one of my favourites in Championship Manager)

Initially there was huge buzz around him. He was the youngest ever Bundesliga player and the youngest ever to score in the Bundesliga, scored in his opening cap in a friendly against Germany (his home country). He played for Dortmund and then transferred (or got loaned) to Feyenoord in Holland. I have no idea if he's doing well there or not but he's doing very well for our U21 national team at the moment, scoring left and right. He has excellent technique but needs to put on a few pounds. Nuri and Caner (CSKA Moskva) are the two brigh-*test*-('") shining younglings on the verge for international play.

However, with our midfield being as good as it is, there simply isn't room for him in the first 11.

Oi!! Another CM-FM addict?

A CM professor my friend, 12 times European champion, 7 with Olympiakos and five with QPR.

Do you play CM with Besiktas?

Besiktas, Dynamo Dresden and Watford. Number of European championships are very close.