Team Focus: Laptop Man Yanal Off to a Flying Start Back at Trabzonspor

Managers last an average of seven months in the Süper Lig. That may not seem very long but perhaps you haven’t heard of Trabzonspor. There have been five coaches over a span of one-and-a-half years at the Black Sea Storm.

The latest head to role was the straight talking Vahid Halilhodzic. He didn’t do himself any favours with his bizarre rants and getting sent off more than most of his players. However, Halilhodzic had only lost once in the league and was close to ensuring progress to the Europa League round of 32 before his ejection from the driver seat.

Trabzonspor decided to bring back a former manager, Ersun Yanal, known to some as the ‘laptop man’. The former Turkish national team manager coached the club for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 campaigns, culminating in a respectable third-place finish. Yanal’s stock had risen considerably after leading Fenerbahçe to the league title last season by a 9 point margin but he fell victim to the Turkish managerial syndrome and found himself out of a job after being accused by club president Aziz Yıldırım of “rearranging team training sessions so that he could meet different woman.”

A number of inventive excuses were used to explain the reasoning behind severing ties with Yanal but the root cause is more likely that he was a little misunderstood. Yanal has always found himself out of place in the Turkish management scene. Fenerbahçe president Aziz Yıldırım once criticised him saying, “he has this computer that he is obsessed with. I have a computer as well, they don’t win you leagues.”

Yanal has been using computers for over 10 years now, “Ever since the days of MS DOS I have used computers to my advantage, I had a ‘Liverpool Program’ for statistics and later worked with programmers to develop more advanced models.” In a footballing culture obsessed with macho, fist-pumping managers, Yanal was viewed as a misfit.

“Fellow coaches would say, ‘Analysis? What analysis, players run around for 90 minutes, score goals and that is it’ but I always felt there was more to football,” Yanal said back in 2004. The 52-year-old coach was ridiculed for using technology, analysing statistics and recording data but he persisted.

“When you watch football with the naked eye there are some things you don’t always pick up, pass completion, aerial duals, players’ positioning, the list is endless. Of course a program cannot tell you what tactics to use, what player to sign, or who to play but it can give you solid foundations to base your decisions around.”

The first thing Yanal commented on after joining Trabzonspor was that, “these training methods are 10 years old, we have to modernise.” Yanal oversaw the introduction of robotic eye technology to monitor the performance of his players whilst at Fenerbahçe and is pushing to implement the latest in football technological advancements to aid him at Trabzonspor as well.

Halilhodzic did not leave on the best of terms but he did bring in radical changes during his brief time in charge. Trabzonspor shipped out 28 players while bringing in 22 transfers under his instruction. Halilhodzic brought in Belkalem and Medjani, who he knew well from his time in charge of the Alergian national team. Benfica striker Oscar Cardozo, promising Ghanaian international Majeed Waris and former Bayern Munich youth product Mehmet Ekici also made their way to the eastern Black Sea coast over the summer.

Algeria scored three goals from set pieces in the World Cup and free-kicks, as well as corners, continued to be central theme for the former coach at Trabzonspor. The Black Sea Storm have scored 11 set pieces in all competitions this season, more than any other Süper Lig side, with 7, and the joint highest in the Europa League (4).

There were however, areas of concern, Trabzonspor have only managed a 77% pass accuracy in the Süper Lig this season, even Sivasspor and Karabükspor down in the relegation zone have passed with a higher success rate. Yanal was also perturbed by Trabzonspor’s lackadaisical approach to defending and lack of movement.

Trabzonspor have completed less tackles than any other team in the league, averaging 14.2, as well as 14.2 interceptions per game. Trabzonspor were not covering a lot of ground per match, passing sloppily and giving their opposition too much time on the ball. Yanal pointed out, “We must increase the distance we cover to 115-120km per game.”

Yanal could not have asked for a tougher start. Trabzonspor were set to take on Galatasaray at the Türk Telekom Arena, the Blue-Clarets had not won a game in Istanbul for 991 days and the club was in turmoil. Yanal told the fans not to worry, “this is a game we can win,” and win they did. The ensuing 90 minutes saw Trabzonspor maul the Lions in their own den. Yanal’s side stormed through Istanbul and returned to the Black Sea with a 3-0 win.

A week is a long time in football, Trabzonspor have gone from a club in disarray to a team that believe they can challenge for the title and delve deep into Europe. The Black Sea Storm are just five points behind the league leaders and have qualified for the round of 32 in the Europa League. It is a little early to get too carried away, the team still needs time to gel, but it is refreshing to see a manager with a modern outlook on football and not afraid of change finally getting recognition in the Süper Lig.

Can Trabzonspor challenge for the Super Lig title under Yanal this season? Let us know in the comments below