Makeshift defence, insipid midfield: Turkey's flaws exposed by Croatia at Euro 2016

The pre-tournament optimism surrounding Turkey had been tempered by the lack of strength in defence. While manager Fatih Terim had ushered in a bunch of talented youngsters who gave hope to the fans, the men in the centre-back positions were seen as possible liabilities. Those fears came true on Sunday when Turkey were lucky to escape with just a 0-1 loss to Croatia in Paris. The pairing of Mehmet Topal and Hakan Balta was exposed time and again by Croatia’s wide men whose crosses had the defenders scampering. Topal was particularly troubled as he was playing out of position; his natural role is that of a holding midfielder. The contest against Croatia was a repeat of the 2008 Euro quarter-final that Turkey had won on penalties to progress to the last four. However, the Turks have not defeated Croatia in seven meetings now (a penalty shootout victory is counted as a draw). The loss on Sunday also kept their dubious record alive of losing the opening game at the Euros. This is Turkey’s fourth appearance in the continental championship. [caption id=“attachment_2830946” align=“alignleft” width=“382”] Turkey’s Oguzhan Ozyakup, right, tackles Croatia’s Luka Modric. AP[/caption] History would provide comfort to Terim’s side, though. Despite losing their first match of the competition, Turkey reached the knockout stages in 2000 and ’08. However, with fixtures against Spain and Czech Republic coming, the present might beg to differ. Turkey’s failings were thoroughly exposed by Croatia. Although Spain is unlikely to come close to the 35 crosses delivered by the Croats at Parc des Princes, the Czechs have talent that can hurt from the wings. The suspect movement of the Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Babacan further complicates the situation. While he should not be made to bear the blame for falling to a stupendous strike by Luka Modric, his slow responses to low crosses is a cause for worry. Especially if his teammates get bossed in the air, as we saw on Sunday. It seems rather surprising that Turkey should fail to match any team when it comes to dealing with aerial balls. The Turks are the tallest group of players in this tournament. However, against Croatia, they could win only 11 out of 33 aerial duels. As Turkey’s weakness became more glaring, Croatia saw more reason to put crosses in. It was only the profligacy of the Croats that allowed their opponent to escape the misery of a whacking. Topal and Babacan are in the side at the expense of Omer Toprak and Volkan Demirel, respectively. The duo did not make the trip to France after falling out of favour with manager Terim. Toprak was omitted due to a scandal involving Gokhan Tore, another player who missed out on the ticket to France, and him which featured accusations that a friend of the former had an affair with the latter’s girlfriend. Things took an unexpected turn for the worse when one of Tore’s friends pointed a gun at Toprak in 2013 with teammate Hakan Calhanoglu looking on in fear. The Bayer Leverkusen defender survived the nervy situation but bridges were burnt. Demirel, on the other hand, was left out by Terim as he was considered a difficult presence in the dressing room. The forced absence of him and Toprak, however, has left Turkey shaky at the back and future opponents would have noted the glaring gaps that were not rare in their box on Sunday. The problems, though, also spread to a part of the pitch that the Turks would have expected to enjoy. The trio of creative midfielders behind forward Cenk Tosun is usually involved in fluid movement and quick exchange of the ball. However Arda Turan, Oguzhan Ozyakup and Calhanoglu were leaden-footed and incoherent. Captain Turan was a particular disappointment. Despite positioned to play in wide areas, Turan kept dropping deep into central midfield. This did not allow the Barcelona midfielder to dictate play and he cut an isolated figure. Turan made no passes into the penalty area, neither could he dribble past an opponent all game. His frustrating display was put to an end in the 65th minute when he was replaced by striker Burak Yilmaz. The absence of the creative energy that was supposed to flow from the trio was made worse by Tosun’s insipid display. The striker attempted no shots and committed four fouls, most by any player in the match. In light of these problems, it was the defensive midfielders who responded with a degree of inventiveness and effort. The young Ozan Tufan was probably Turkey’s best player on the pitch as he covered immense ground to limit the Croatian midfield’s influence. He won all six of his attempted tackles — nobody did better than him—and he repeatedly stepped forward to join the attack. In the 29th minute, with the scores level at 0-0, Tufan even had a chance to make those offensive forays count. Right-back Gokhan Gonul — who made more passes in the final third than any of his teammates (six), which tells its own story — sent a delicious cross into the box but the 21-year-old midfielder could only offer a tame header to the goalkeeper from six yards. Tufan had come second-best when presented with an aerial ball. The same could be said for his teammates on Sunday. (All statistics mentioned above were taken from FourFourTwo Stats Zone)