Fatih Tekke admitted Trabzonspor let victory slip from their grasp after being held to a 1-1 draw by Kasımpasa in the opening round of the Turkish league on Saturday.
The Trabzonspor manager said a serious mistake had allowed the home side to equalise, while also acknowledging that his team had not been fully prepared for the start of the campaign.
Despite that, Tekke was encouraged by Trabzonspor’s first-half display and believed they should have settled the contest before the interval.
“We said from the beginning that we were not ready, but we performed better in the first half than I expected. We should have finished the match in that half,” he said after the game.
Trabzonspor took the lead but were pegged back after conceding a penalty. Tekke felt the decisive moment came as a result of an avoidable error and said Kasımpasa created further opportunities late in the match.
“We conceded the equaliser from a penalty after a very big mistake. In the final minutes, the opponent also had good chances. You can say that we lost the three points because of the mistake we made,” he said.
Mohamed Salah, who has recently joined Trabzonspor, came on in the 58th minute. Tekke said the team looked different once the Egypt international was introduced, although he stressed that Salah’s involvement did not hide the work still required from the rest of the squad.
“Our match after Salah’s participation was slightly different from the match without him,” Tekke said.
The manager identified ball retention and control of the game as two areas that must improve. He also called for greater concentration, intensity and desire from his players after what he described as a disappointing opening to the season.
“We have some shortcomings, and our emotions and desire in the match should have been higher. We need to keep the match under our control more. It was an unfortunate start, and we have to admit that we did not succeed,” Tekke added.
Trabzonspor’s next few weeks could prove important for the direction of the manager’s project. They face a significant European fixture on Thursday against a stronger opponent before taking on Basaksehir, with Tekke warning that both matches will present major challenges.
The draw leaves Trabzonspor with one point from their opening league match, but Tekke said his players must quickly turn their attention to the demanding schedule ahead rather than dwell on the missed opportunity against Kasımpasa.
“We have to forget this match from tomorrow and start preparing for what is coming. We have no choice but to continue working,” he said.
