Şenol Güneş on his vision for Beşiktaş
Sunday, April 2, 2017
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"We want to win every game by deserving it," Beşiktaş coach Şenol Güneş tells UEFA.com, eager for his team's adventurous football to topple Lyon in the quarter-finals.
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Beşiktaş coach since 2015, Şenol Güneş can see silverware on the horizon as his team chase down a second successive Turkish title and prepare to tackle Lyon in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The 64-year-old talks UEFA.com through his vision for the Black Eagles.
On Beşiktaş's recent success ...
No flower blossoms before it's ready, but for it to blossom it needs to be planted, watered and looked after. Only then can it blossom or can a tree give fruit. At Beşiktaş, you have the efforts of Fikret Orman's board as well as the board before them; today's success is the result of all the work done in the past, and what we achieve now will help towards the success of those who come after us. All the pieces are in place here: the board manages the coach and the coach manages the team.
On his coaching ethos ...
I see my job as the same as a teacher's. Every teacher shows their students the way and guides them along it. The student is the important person; the teacher needs to help them get better. But you cannot build anything without foundations and we have talented players with the right attitude, so the success I get comes from this.
We want to play good football, and when every player brings all their talent to bear on the pitch as part of a team, good football will bring success in the long run. The game you play is something precious that belongs to you and if you do not recognise that, you are doing an incomplete job. That's why we enjoy ourselves on the pitch. We want to win every game by deserving it.
On the quarter-final with Lyon ...
If you had offered me Manchester United or Lyon, I would have taken United, because with Lyon we have to play a team with a great attack that plays quick football. We're up against a tough side, but we got here by overcoming difficulties.
If we do what we can and play our way, I'll be happy – but I don't know what the result will be. Right now, the favourites are Lyon, but I think that is an advantage for us. We are not going to change the way we play: we are an attacking side. I don't think there will be pressure on the players; on the contrary, I think they will be even more excited about this game.
On missing out on the UEFA Champions League round of 16 ...
Our aim was the Champions League, but now we are in the Europa League and playing a quarter-final; that's good, but it doesn't mean we don't have regrets. We're happy, but I always say my aim is to watch my team play better football against better teams.
We are now going to face one of the favourites to win this tournament. Should we get past them, our belief will increase. We have to play the best football we can. I say "we have to" because we have to prepare with this in mind. If that is good enough to knock Lyon out, we'll be even happier.