Turkey adventure for ex-Dresdner
“He didn’t want to leave the club so easily, it was difficult to convince him, but luckily it worked out,” said Engin Anli, deputy chairman of the Turkish second division club Manisa FK at the end of August, with a view to the transfer of midfielder Yannick, which surprised many Strong. The 31-year-old ex-Dresdener, who signed a contract with 1.Lig-Kub until 2024, now spoke for the first time about his new sporting home, the reasons for his decision to change and the farewell to Dynamo.
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The relegation with the Saxons to the 3rd division after the lost relegation duel with 1. FC Kaiserslautern has occupied the 218-time second division professional, who has played for five different professional clubs in Germany since 2010, “for a long time, was probably the most bitter story of my career,” Stark said of the “picture“-Newspaper. Despite losing the captain’s armband and his regular place, saying goodbye to Dresden was not easy for him: “One eye cried. I felt very comfortable in Dresden, there were also cool guys among the newcomers.” In terms of sport, the traditional club, which Stark joined from Darmstadt 98 on a free transfer in the summer of 2020, has lacked consistency in recent years.
“You can see that at my hometown club Darmstadt. They have a player structure that has grown together over the years. Something is added around this axis. There were no upheavals. I don’t know if they were required. But at Dynamo they were there. After the ascent we had a small upheaval, after the descent it was a complete one again. That makes it difficult to work calmly and successfully,” says the native of Darmstadt.
Dynamo, who were then on a relegation course, parted ways with coach Alexander Schmidt at the beginning of March after seven games in a row without a win. For Stark, who had already worked with the coach at TSV 1860 Munich, a mistake in retrospect: “Everyone saw that the effect of the change of coach fizzled out. I personally felt sorry. For me he got the maximum out of the team. We couldn’t have done worse under Alex.”
Stark on Manisa change: “Don’t know if the chance would have come again”
The step into the Turkish lower house, which included a transfer fee (20,000 euros) for the midfielder for the first time in his career, was primarily due to the lucrative offer from the new employer: “Manisa offered me an interesting overall package. The club has ambitious goals, the area is very nice, the contract period is two years and the earning potential is good for my age. I don’t know if the chance would have come again.” The club, currently bottom of the table with seven points from four games, is Stark’s first stop outside of Germany.
The sporting level is “perhaps in the lower 3rd league in Germany. But there are upward swings. Suddenly you’re playing against teams where an ex-world star like Ryan Babel is under contract. Sometimes you’re really challenged, sometimes it’s manageable,” says Stark, who was “positively surprised” overall: “Technically, everyone can kick great, straight forward. The problem is tactical training and discipline. Not too much value is placed on defensive work. The defenders are often outnumbered at the back and stories like that. The offensive players stay in front, they don’t feel like they have anything to do with defence.”
Overall, however, the professor feels comfortable after his first few weeks in his new sporting homeland: “I live in Izmir, around 25 minutes from Manisa. It is considered the most modern and beautiful city in Turkey, is religiously rather liberal and is located directly on the sea. With 4.5 million inhabitants, it is the third largest metropolis. It’s hard to get going there.”
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