YB Galatasaray in the Champions League: Bekal finds the problem

Baykal Bellusci, do you know which photo on your Instagram profile is particularly impressive?

I don’t know. There are one or two things that are not boring.

In it you can play chess with Oscar winner Denzel Washington.

Ha! Of course, this is not Denzel Washington. I met a chess player on the streets of Cuba who looked like Denzel Washington. And then I played this joke on myself.

So a holiday to Cuba. As a player agent, you also travel a lot. In Istanbul Galatasaray, your agency took care of former Basel player Yusuf Demir. How strong were the opponents in the youth team?

YB must play well twice to overcome this obstacle. There are many people in Turkey who can also sign contracts in the top five leagues because Bosphorus has money.

You yourself played for Karsiyaka in the Turkish second division 14 years ago. What do you remember?

I was born in Istanbul and came to Switzerland with my mother when I was six years old. I learned everything in Switzerland. When I returned to Turkey, I had problems. People functioned completely differently. I knew the language, but as a native Turk, I felt like a stranger.

How did this come about?

If you haven’t prayed Friday prayers for 26 years and the whole team is praying, no one will agree if you don’t do it. Then there were match days: we gathered two days before the game and were almost locked in the training ground. I had kids by then and had been away from my family for half a week. These are things you don’t know in Europe.

Why wouldn’t you want to adapt?

Unfortunately, as a football player, I don’t want to be in that situation very often. 15 years later, I know I would do certain things differently. For me, that’s why I became a counselor: because I can teach young people not to make the same mistakes.

You once said that as a player you had exhausted about 30 percent of your options.

One thing never changes: you can be talented, but it’s not enough. You can like or dislike Cristiano Ronaldo, but what he has in his 39-year-old body is positive madness through hard work. You don’t get into the top 5 leagues by just shaking a little. I always thought I was good enough, better than everyone else. Someone should say, “Kid, you haven’t achieved anything yet.”

What is the key for young players?

Forget about money. If you play well over the years, this will happen automatically. It’s about your willingness to challenge your limits again and again. And also about taking care of your body, eating well, sleeping well. For example, I believe Gögi (Gokan Inle) wasn’t a better football player than me. But he had something ahead of me: his attitude. I really wanted to be jealous of his great career.

How much do kids listen to counselors like you?

It varies. But I believe we are believable for our cause, and Philip is believable for the Greatest Cause. I think players can get something out of the dialogue, even if they’re not listening.

You have made 34 appearances for YB. What do you remember?

I returned from Cologne to my hometown Bern in the winter and immediately made my first mistake: I had a four-and-a-half-year contract in front of me. I signed for one and a half years. Because I thought: I will play here for one season, and then I will return to the Bundesliga anyway.

Instead, you went to FC Aarau.

What I still remember vividly is: the final against Basel in 2008. We invested a lot as YB and finally became champions again. The last game of the season, when Valentin Stocker’s star rose, is still my biggest failure.

How is the start of your season in Bern feeling?

I am not surprised that YB started like this. Without the weak phases of other teams, it would have been difficult for YB to lead this team to become a champion last season. Sometimes, you have to let players go even if the price is not quite in line with your expectations. YB recently sold Aurèle Amenda and Fabian Rieder. But you have to give up long-standing players such as Meshak Elia or Ali Kamara or Cheikh Niasse at the right time to achieve young blood. YB has worked very successfully in recent years and made great transfers, but YB may have missed this moment recently.

However, the club also wants to succeed and cannot give up on every player.

On the one hand, the club has to sell players to raise funds. On the other hand, he has to build a team that will bring him sporting success. This creates a tense area in which he has to find a balance. If the club transfers too many players, the team suffers. FC Basel has this tendency, but the sales are frequent and at very good prices. In the worst case, the team collapses. If the club transfers too few people, for example to keep players who want to leave, then there will be unhappy players in the team. YB has this tendency. As a result, the performance of these players suffers, with the result that their prices remain stagnant at best.

They offer advice to YB player Loris Benito. Will he be able to play against Galatasaray after the injury?

No. Neither in the first nor in the second leg. With all due respect: Lloris has to take this responsibility after tearing his cruciate ligament, which should never have happened. He will play for the U-21 national team first and then enter the first team.

What does YB need to do to have a chance against Galatasaray?

It will be very difficult. But YB can take the lead in the second minute and score the second goal in the seventh minute. Then YB suddenly appeared again. I also believe that YB will find a way out of the abyss of the league.

So here’s another question: Did you beat Denzel Washington’s doubles on the board?

I was playing black and was under pressure. Finally, I launched a beautiful attack and eliminated him from a good position.