Orkun Kökçü, who was transferred from Benfica to Beşiktaş for a record transfer fee at the beginning of the season and wore the captain’s armband in the black and white team, became a hot topic with his statements to TRT Spor. Here are Kökçü’s statements…
“IT IS NORMAL TO TALK ABOUT BONSERVICE FEE”
“The transfer fee is talked about, this and that is tiring. In the end, it will be talked about, it’s normal, it’s the reality of football, but believe me, I don’t give a fuck. I know what I can do myself. Everyone talks. I learned this at Feyenoord and Benfica. Everyone talks, but I do what I know, I continue with confidence and belief in myself.
I don’t look at social media much. They always come to you and write interesting things. It’s not because I’m hanging out, you see it. “It’s always the same conversations, and frankly, that’s tiring.”
“I FELT LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE”
“Welcoming at the airport… I felt love for the first time in my life. I also felt love when I became champion in my last year at Feyenoord. I was telling myself not to get emotional at the airport, I told myself not to cry, but I couldn’t hold myself back. We were talking on the plane, thinking that there would be such a welcome. I said to myself ‘there wouldn’t be that many people’. I had seen the comments and requests on social media, but I didn’t expect it to be that big. On the other hand, I always said this, Beşiktaş fans break records. It was a good process. It was a good process for me right now. “I don’t want to say upset, but I want to repay him even more.”
“GOALS AND ASSISTS ARE CONSIDERED IN Türkiye”
“Do you know what the problem is? In Türkiye, only goals and assists are considered. That has a big impact on the player. There is no such understanding of the game in Europe. If I play badly and score a goal, there will be no complaints in Türkiye. This is a bit of a troublesome situation. I could not score a goal, there will definitely be pressure. It will be a situation that will make me uncomfortable. I have always been scoring close to 10 goals for the last 3-4 years. This year we are at zero. It is a troublesome situation.”
“I ALSO KNOW THE SOLUTION TO THIS”
“I know the solution, but it’s okay if we don’t talk about it here. I was worrying about it, but with this last holiday, I left it in my mind a little bit. In Benfica and Feyenoord, we were making plays from the front as a team, there wasn’t much of a transition game. Here, at first, there was such a game plan, now we play more of a game of possession. If I played more in the front area, I could score more goals. It’s not about wanting to play at number 10, I’m number 8. I like to make plays from the defense and score goals. We couldn’t do that very well.” until now, but it will happen.”
“IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO CHANGE PENALTIES”
“I want my first goal to be special. In the first Shakhtar match, we determined the penalty takers and Abraham scored. It does not make sense to change the penalty taker after scoring. After the Kasımpaşa match, I became the first penalty taker, but it has been 11-12 matches, I have not scored a goal, I would be completely devastated if I missed it. That’s why Cengiz brother took it and scored it. It doesn’t matter to whom and how I will score it anymore, I will get rid of this trouble. I plan to score urgently, as soon as possible. I know that I will score a goal as soon as possible. “If I throw one, more will come.”
“THE DAY I WAS SORRY ABOUT WAS THE FENERBAHÇE MATCH”
“The Fenerbahçe match was the day I was saddest. I was overly ambitious in that match. I had a goal and an assist in that match, if I had not seen the red card, the result would have been very different. That’s why I was upset, we were 2-0 ahead. Normally, I am not someone who would get into a situation like that. Normally, I am someone who does not make such moves in defense. I was overly ambitious, I got pumped up there. I had a hard time for a few days. I was worried. I did not talk about anything for 2-3 days. I knew it was very bad. I turned off the phone and everything at that time. It was good in that sense; my family was with me for a week. You feel sad, but it shouldn’t happen in football. A week later, we played for the national team and I performed better compared to the period before the red card.
“WE ARE WITHDRAWING AFTER WE CAME FORWARD”
“We sometimes retreat after taking the lead. I guess this is the subconscious. It happens on automatic pilot. Everyone retreats. In fact, when you play at home, you will push hard.”