“This team must be built around Orkun Kökçü”
Turkey’s painful World Cup exit has left plenty of wreckage behind – and just as many lessons for players, coaches and administrators. Columnist Mehmet Ayan used the tournament as a mirror for Turkish football, highlighting figures who deserve both criticism and appreciation, and pointing to a new core around which the national team should be shaped: Orkun Kökçü.
A message to Arda Güler: stay real, stay grounded
Arda Güler, still only four months away from turning 22, gave the country much more than a few brilliant moments on the pitch. His attitude, his refusal to turn everything into melodrama – “We can’t live in constant drama, abi” – became a subtle but powerful lesson for both dressing room and public.
He showed that you can be young, talented and still emotionally mature, that you don’t need to feed the culture of victimhood or egos to be a star. The only real expectation from Arda going forward should be this: do not become one of those old‑guard “committee big brothers” – the mentality that started around Euro 1996 and left its marks through the career of Hakan Çalhanoğlu. Stay as you are now: open, approachable, sincere, and clear in your words and behaviour.
If Arda protects this authenticity while developing his game, he can be the emotional engine of the new generation – not through long speeches or empty slogans, but through his example on and off the pitch.
Orkun Kökçü: the new spiritual leader
With Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s cycle effectively closing, a new figure has stepped forward as the national team’s spiritual leader: Orkun Kökçü. Technically, tactically and mentally, he now stands at the centre of this group. The coach faces a difficult but necessary decision: the national team needs to be constructed around Orkun’s qualities.
There is no meaningful criticism to be made of his footballing ability. He reads the game, he dictates tempo, he connects lines and takes responsibility when it matters. The only area that demands refinement is his emotional management. If he can sand down the sharper edges of his temperament, his leadership will not only be powerful but sustainable.
The warning is clear: avoid the path taken by Merih Demiral and Hakan Çalhanoğlu, whose careers with the national side have been overshadowed by controversies, misjudged moments and the weight of off‑pitch narratives. If Orkun refuses that route and concentrates on football, professionalism and calm influence, he has already walked half the road towards becoming the undisputed captain of this team.
Why the team should be built around Orkun
Structurally, building the side around Orkun makes football sense:
– He is one of the few players capable of linking defence and attack with both passing and pressing.
– His tactical intelligence allows coaches to switch between systems without losing their midfield anchor.
– His work rate and fighting spirit send the right message in crisis moments – he does not accept defeat easily and demands the same from teammates.
– His strong foreign language skills make him an ideal communicator with referees and international opponents, a crucial asset in high‑pressure tournaments.
A team centred on Orkun does not mean eleven players passing him the ball blindly. It means constructing a clear identity: pressing triggers built around his positioning, ball progression channels that utilise his vision, and a leadership hierarchy that recognises his voice in the dressing room.
This also implies tough choices. Some settled names may have to accept a smaller role or step aside altogether. But if Turkey truly wants to move beyond the cycle of “talent without structure”, that courage will be required.
A new leadership model: Arda and Orkun together
The future of the national team does not need a single hero; it needs a leadership tandem. Orkun represents order, structure and authority in the centre of the pitch. Arda embodies creativity, spontaneity and joy in the final third. If managed correctly, these two figures can form a modern leadership axis:
– Orkun – the organiser: setting shape, pressing height, discipline.
– Arda – the game‑changer: deciding matches with moments of brilliance.
The federation and coaching staff must protect this balance. Favouritism, internal cliques or old‑style dressing room politics could easily poison it. Instead, the message should be: technical quality and professionalism are the only currencies that matter.
A word to President Hacıosmanoğlu: stop hiding behind “fate”
After two matches in which Turkey produced a total of 62 shots yet failed to qualify, federation president Yıldırım Demirören’s successor, İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu, chose to explain events with phrases wrapped in “fate”, “luck” and “destiny”. That mindset may comfort some people, but it dodges responsibility.
If spiritual explanations are valid when 62 shots do not bring qualification, then by the same logic, the convincing win against the United States – achieved with just 9 shots, 3 on target, 3 goals – should also be credited to unseen forces. You cannot say “we won because the team fought” and then hide behind “it wasn’t meant to be” when you lose. That double standard simply does not hold.
Modern football nations do not rely on fate; they rely on planning, data, strategy and accountability. As long as defeats are explained by “kısmet”, Turkish football will remain stuck in the same circle: hype, disappointment, excuses, repeat.
A message to Vincenzo Montella: park the theatrics, keep the work
Head coach Vincenzo Montella, who had almost burned through his margin of affection with the public, slightly recovered some of that credit. His description of a single victory as “worth 1000 matches” was an oddly inflated way to frame things, but at least it fit the chaotic communication pattern he had already displayed during the United States episode.
Now the task is clear: go on holiday, reset, then return fully focused on the Nations League A campaign. From September to November, Turkey will face Italy, Belgium and France – top‑tier opponents who prioritise playing football, not destroying it. That, paradoxically, may be an advantage for a Turkish side that struggles more against compact, reactive underdogs.
The expectation from Montella is simple: concentrate on game models, tactical evolution and player development. Do not attempt to give lectures on identity, nationalism or “Türklük” – concepts you neither grew up with nor fully understand. Your role is to build a team that knows what to do with and without the ball, not to become a political or cultural commentator.
Despite his media blunders and tendency to bend too easily towards player‑power, there is a sense that Montella still works with good intentions. If he moves away from an “individual‑based” system and chooses coherent structures that maximise the collective, he can still be the right architect for the next cycle – especially if he recognises Orkun as his central pillar.
The Federation: mismanagement on and off the pitch
The World Cup campaign exposed heavy organisational failures by the Turkish Football Federation. Those who worked around the team during the tournament must now be required to put everything into writing: logistics, planning, communication and decision‑making processes.
This was not just a sporting disappointment; it was a failed operation with serious financial and reputational costs. The most worrying part is that the coaching staff and, apparently, the national team’s administrative units seemed unaware of those structural weaknesses, or powerless to correct them.
If the federation cut corners on proper preparation and organisation to save a sum in the region of 1-1.5 million euros, then that is nothing short of scandalous. If money was not the reason, then we are facing something even worse: pure, declared incompetence.
In earlier cycles – 1996, 2000, 2002, 2008 – with far more limited technology and knowledge, Turkey still managed to organise effective tournaments and camps. The difference now is not a lack of tools, but a lack of seriousness. This time, the bill was paid not only in euros, but also in the trust of millions of supporters.
Lessons from history: avoid repeating the same story
Turkish football has known both heartbreak and glory. The semi‑final run in 2002, the magical comeback nights at Euro 2008, were not accidents of fate. They were the result of coherent squads, clear hierarchies and strong characters who knew when to step back for the good of the team.
Today, the raw material is again present. Arda Güler, Orkun Kökçü and others provide technical quality that rivals almost any golden generation. Yet, without a framework, talent is just decoration.
The lesson from past tournaments is that charismatic but divisive leaders can drag the conversation away from the pitch. That is why the new captains must resist the ego games and backroom politics that poisoned previous cycles. The national jersey demands more than social media slogans and emotional speeches; it demands discipline, sacrifice and a willingness to share the spotlight.
Building a new identity around Orkun
To truly “build the team around Orkun Kökçü” means more than naming him captain:
– Place him at the heart of a double pivot or as a deep‑lying playmaker, where he can see the whole game.
– Surround him with runners and dynamic full‑backs to exploit his passing range.
– Give him responsibility in set‑piece planning and in‑game tactical adjustments.
– Support him with a clear code of conduct in the dressing room, so his authority is not undermined by older egos.
Such an approach would not only stabilise the team’s footballing identity; it would also send a strong message to future generations: merit and professionalism will be rewarded with real power.
Conclusion: a crossroads for Turkish football
The World Cup failure must not be domesticated with clichés about bad luck. It should be treated as a turning point. The federation has to professionalise its organisation, the coach has to refine his game models and communication, and the players must choose between old, toxic habits and a new, modern mentality.
At the centre of that new era stands Orkun Kökçü, ready to assume the role of spiritual and tactical leader, with Arda Güler as his creative partner in crime. If they are protected from the mistakes that swallowed previous generations, and if the team is genuinely shaped around their strengths, Turkey can turn this disappointment into the start of a more mature, consistent national team project.