Football Season Guide

The Aegean side should have finished the last season in a much better place. When fourteen fixtures of the last season were played, they were in the third place but then they could record only three victories in the remaining twenty games. According to the authorities, they could have caught a European Cup spot. Although they did not face any long-term injury and bad news, they could not return to their past performance. Some of the visitors were complaining about the bad pitch conditions of their stadium. This could be a reason for their bad home performance. The board decided to keep on working with coach Cihat Arslan despite facing a down-trend in the second part of the season. During the summer transfer market, they really struggled to keep Hugo Rodallega, who was the top scorer of the last season with twenty-one goals, in the team as there were many offers. As the board did not get an offer good enough for him, he stayed. Among the departures, Merter Yuce is the most notable name. Along with Custodio and N’Guemo, they were carrying the responsibility of the midfield. In order to replace him, the board brought Mvuemba in from the French giant Lyon. Serdar Kesimal arrived from Fenerbahce in order to compete with Douglao and Caner for the centre-back. Even if there is also Orhan Tasdelen, they seem a little bit short there. They should not have any problem at the defensive flanks as there are Kadir, Alper, Tolga and the new arrival Miguel Lopes. The biggest missing of the team is not to have a real creative midfielder. During the last season, the coach tried to use Custodio or N’Guemo in order to fill that role. The coach has generally used 4-3-3 in the last season. So the speedy wingers are important for them. That is why the coach decided to loan Sami in again from Porto. Besides him, Omer Bayram arrived from the league rivals Kayseri. So the left-flank became pretty strong. The right flank also looks good as there are Vaz Te and Onur Ayik. Up front, Mugdat Celik will try to cover Rodalleg; but it is absolutely not enough. So it is known that the coach is looking for an attacker. In general, Akhisar Belediye have a good squad but it is open to be hurt by injuries and bans as there is not any cover in some positions. If they could bring a couple of players too, they should finish the season in a good place. However, they are not expected to face any relegation fear.