Arsenal have been drawn against Turkish club Beşiktaş in the Champions League qualifiers, a side which Arsenal are expected to sweep aside with ease. However, Beşiktaş shouldn’t be underestimated, and this scout report details some of the things which Arsenal must look out for.
Key Players
Beşiktaş have their fair share of talented players, with a few quality additions coming in over the summer. Their squad also features a former Arsenal player – see if you can remember who he is!
Demba Ba
Demba Ba is probably the most talented player in Beşiktaş’ squad. He wouldn’t get into the Gunners’ starting XI, so that’s already an encouraging sign! However, Ba can score goals, as shown at West Ham and Newcastle, before his slightly less fruitful spell at Chelsea. Something which may endear Demba Ba to Arsenal fans is his goal at Anfield which effectively killed Liverpool’s title challenge, courtesy of a Steven Gerrard slip.
Demba Ba signed for £8m from Chelsea this summer, so Beşiktaş certainly have moderate financial firepower, and a certain attraction, having drawn one of the Premier League’s more talented striker to a relatively obscure country in Turkey. Ba has also been in impressive form for Beşiktaş during pre-season, scoring a hat-trick on his home debut, during the third qualifying round, the game finishing Beşiktaş 3-1 Feyenoord. Despite this, a centre-back pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Calum Chambers – or perhaps a Thomas Vermaelen replacement – should be enough to keep Ba quiet.
Jermaine Jones
Jermaine Jones is a name a few of you may remember from the US national team’s exploits in the 2014 World Cup. Jones was one of their stand-out players, with many claiming he would have got a place in the ‘Team of the Tournament’, should USA have progressed further. Despite only having played for Beşiktaş since January, however, Jones has been strongly linked with a move to MLS outfit Chicago Fire, so he may not even line up against Arsenal.
Jones is a holding midfielder by trade, but can burst from midfield and, as we all saw at the World Cup, he can hit a shot when he needs to. Jones is a strong player, and doesn’t lack pace in the middle of the park, so he can be very effective. However, he is ill-disciplined, and his timing when going into challenges is questionable. With the right runners from midfielder, Jones’ weaknesses could be exposed.
Oğuzhan Özyakup
Oğuzhan Özyakup is perhaps not yet a ‘key’ player for Beşiktaş. However, is a regular starter, and perhaps the player in their squad with the most potential. He has scored eight goals in 54 league appearances for Beşiktaş in the Turkish League, and looks set to improve on that tally this season. Of course, Özyakup is the former Gunner to whom I referred earlier in the article; many Arsenal fans were sad to see Özyakup depart for Turkey for a fee of about £350,000 on 8 June 2012, as it was believed that the young Turk had the potential to break through at Arsenal. He already has 7 full caps for the Turkish national team, and looks set to make big strides forward this season.
Manager
Slaven Bilić is another name which those who follow Arsenal may remember. The Croatian has lined up for both West Ham United and Everton against Arsenal, albeit some 15 years ago now. Since Bilić retired from professional football, he has managed several clubs, as well as the Croatian national team, whom he managed for some six years. He has also managed Hajduk Split, Lokomotiv Moscow, and, since his abysmal performance for the Russian side, Beşiktaş.
Despite his poor performance with Lokomotiv Moscow, Slaven Bilić is a well-respected manager, and has done well at Beşitkaş thus far. The Croatian boss has said in a post-tournament interview that he and his players compiled and studied many games of their opponents to become very well-prepared for tough matches, so the same can be expected when his side comes up against the Gunners. Known to be a big fan of music, Bilić relates his team’s motivation to such, often encouraging them to listen to inspiring music before and after games. Let’s hope, for Arsenal’s sake, that their music isn’t just a little too inspiring!
European History
Beşiktaş do have some history in European club competition, although most of it isn’t altogether flattering. In the Champions League era, Beşiktaş have only made the main tournament five times – never progressing beyond the group stage. Having been out of Champions League action since 2009, the last three seasons have seen Beşiktaş compete in the Europa League, with limited success.
In fact, their best European Cup performance was all the way back in 1987, where they reached the quarter-finals, but were thrashed 7-0 on aggregate by Dynamo Kiev in the last-eight. The Turkish club have claimed some notable scalps over the years, however, beating Barcelona 3-0 in 2000, and Chelsea 0-2 in 2003. However, more recently, they have suffered some huge losses, such as the 0-3 loss at home to Wolfsburg in 2009, or the 8-0 loss to Liverpool in 2007.
Summary
In conclusion, whilst Beşiktaş do have a few potential problems to pose to the Gunners, Arsenal really should be coming away from this qualifier having secured both home and away wins. So long as the defence can keep Demba Ba quiet, and the midfield can isolate Jermaine Jones and Oğuzhan Özyakup, than players such as Alexis Sánchez and Aaron Ramsey should be able to wreak havoc on the flimsy Beşiktaş defence.
By Lucas Jones (Twitter: @LucasJones4)