Ali Koç Explains Mourinho’s Departure from Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce president Ali Koç has described the dismissal of José Mourinho as “painful” but necessary for the team to play “better football.”
Mourinho was fired by Fenerbahce on August 29, after the team’s 1-0 aggregate defeat to Benfica in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
“Why did we fire Mourinho? I will say it for the first time, it was a painful dismissal,” declared Koç. “Firing someone who, above all, is a friend was hard. Being eliminated by Benfica was not a problem, but the way we were eliminated was unacceptable. This made me feel that last year’s football would continue. We parted ways because we believed that this squad would play better football at this moment.”
Ali Koç, President of Fenerbahce
Koç believes Mourinho’s defensive tactics were holding the team back.
“We knew our coach would emphasize defense when we brought him in,” he said. “But we talked about the need to play more dominantly at the end of the season. Scoring 99 goals and getting 99 points [as Fenerbahce had done in the Super League in the 2023-24 season] is our genetic code.”
However, Koç does not regret having hired Mourinho more than a year ago, despite the fact that the coach did not win any titles during his time in Istanbul.
Fenerbahce finished second in the Super League, 11 points behind their rivals Galatasaray, who eliminated Mourinho’s team in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup. They were eliminated from the Europa League by Rangers.
“Bringing him here was a great success,” said Koç. “Our chemistry worked, the successes were there.”Fenerbahce is expected to announce Mourinho’s successor soon and, according to Koç, it will likely be another foreign coach.
“Luciano Spalletti was our first choice, but he decided not to work this season,” he said. “Due to the large number of foreign players on our team, we believe the coach should be someone foreign with European experience. We are in contact with several and will announce our new coach very soon.”
Under Mourinho’s command, Fenerbahce began the new season by adding four points in their first two league matches.
