Turkey coach says individual mistakes behind dismal start to Euro 2020

Turkey coach Senol Gunes blamed their poor start to Euro 2020 on a flurry of individual mistakes after a 2-0 defeat to Wales on Wednesday left them without a point after two games.

After losing 3-0 to Italy in their opening Group A game, Turkey fell to their second consecutive defeat after Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts scored for Wales at Baku’s Olympic Stadium.

“I don’t think we ever got over the shock of the first game (against Italy),” said Gunes.

“Especially for the first half an hour, I think we were stuck in the previous game. Despite that, we made a good start to the second half and dominated for a while, until we started making individual mistakes again,” the veteran coach said.

Turkey, who face Switzerland in their final group match on Sunday, have conceded five goals in their first two games of the tournament and scored none.

“I don’t remember us making so many errors in passing, ever. When you lose the ball so easily, and have such a difficulty in getting it back, no wonder you’ll struggle,” Gunes added.

Asked whether his tactics played a role in the two losses, Gunes said: “You can add the inexperience to the mix, the lack of physical power, and the will to fight one on one with each player.

“At the end of the day, I am observing a weight on the shoulders of the team and we failed to boost their confidence to take it off of them.

“I take full responsibility. They are all good players, but we expected more from them. It’s not right to blame the players.”