Atiba Hutchinson: Besiktas legend on life under Solskjaer | Mourinho & Osimhen verdicts

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1:10Atiba, 10 years at the football club. These are your adoring public. What a 10 years it was. Crazy, crazy 10 years. Fans like this, you can see the passion that they have. Absolutely amazing. I mean, from the first moment I kicked the ball in the stadium in front of these guys i was like this is this is a different level yeah uh me me i uh i like uh galatasaray you you you might not be able to walk out of here today best fans in turkey these guys number one number one fans 10 years here um you spent a lot of time here in turkey um listen i i love turkish football um but obviously there's always uh um stories about turkish football and of course recently you know we heard about uh you know the officials the referees and you know so what what do you have to say about that i mean what do the fans also think about you know the the controversy of the of the referees and officials yeah i think uh it's it's it's crazy to hear all of the stuff that's going on now you know with um and i and i recently heard about it with all the different investigations and you know a bunch of different referees who have been doing you know match fixing it's it's unbelievable because you've spent time here for 10 years and and giving your everything giving like 110 percent um not just the games but the training and just preparing and then you come to a derby game and now you find out that maybe things didn't go the way you wanted it to go because maybe a referee that had an influence on the game and that's not what you want to see in sports yeah yeah exactly exactly we spoke to your good friend ryan babble he said it he said listen john chris there was always a feeling in turkish football that the the playing field wasn't level did you feel that uh there's moments when you question it for sure you know there's uh i mean there's games or it might not even be a game that you're you're involved in it could be a game where the team is, you know, the day before the game, you're watching, you know, one of your opponents play in a game where you kind of need them to drop points and maybe you see things and you're like, well, that's kind of questionable, you know, and it gets under your skin.

3:31But yeah, I mean, as professionals, you got to just try to like let that go and just focus on the game and do as much as you can on the pitch as an individual, as a player. But there's always like, there's always questions, man. Yeah. Yeah. I played in Trabzon. Hey, Trabzon, Trabzon, Trabzon. Hey, no Trabzon?

3:53Hey, but I'm sure they love you. I know they love you.

4:05It's a rivalry, man. Yeah, the rivalry. Trabzon and Besiktas and Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. It's crazy. There's a lot of foreign players now, you know, playing in the Turkish League. And for me, the best foreign player right now, I think we can all agree that is Osime, right? Osime, what do you think about Osime, Victor Osime? Well, he's a player, man. He's a player. He's the coach's ideal striker. You know, you know you're going to get goals from him every single game he plays. And it's the work ethic that he puts into it. You know, he's helping the team defensively like crazy. He's running up, he's running down.

4:44He never takes a second off. And that's what a coach wants, you know? He wants somebody who's going to play with the ball, in and around the box, who can score, and then, like, most importantly, help the team defensively when they need help. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's done very well. I think all of the fans in the country love to see what he's doing and bringing to the country because, of course, it brings the level a lot higher, right? And a lot more recognition for the country. So it's great. Yeah. And the striker for Besiktas, Tami Abraham. Tami Abraham good? Yes, good. Tami Abraham? Tami Abraham, Victor Simer, which one?

5:20Abraham. Abraham? Ah. Yeah, Abraham good? Yeah. Loyal, loyal. Choki, Choki. Choki, Choki, yeah. Choki. What do you think of Tami Abraham? I like him. I like him. He's a good player. I think, of course, the last one or two games maybe didn't go his way. But as a striker, you have to continue to believe in yourself. I know he's got the quality and the goals will come. He needs to continue to get the service and the goals are going to come for him. So hopefully everything just kind of gels. Yeah, I think he doesn't look like he gets phased and that's what you need. You need to be like kind of ice cold in these situations where you start maybe getting a little bit of pressure.

6:02And he looks like a guy that just kind of stays composed. And yeah, he's got to bring the heat today, you know. I want to find out, and you guys, Oli Gunnar Solskjaer, yes or no? No, Solskjaer. Solskjaer, yes. Solskjaer, no. Solskjaer. What happened there, Atiba? Oli Gunnar started so well. He's a lovely guy, and then he was gone. What happened? Yeah, great guy. I got the chance to speak with him a few times. Very good guy. I think he's a real player's coach. I just, it was about timing I think things didn't just, they didn't click you know, they weren't clicking, the team started off really well, they had a couple games where, you know, they lost control, they didn't get the results they were looking and then the pressure started coming and the team maybe just wasn't performing to the liking of Ole Gunnar and yeah, things just didn't go very well anymore, so it was a tough, tough situation I don't think it's just Ole, it's just a lot of the coaches that you've seen over the last two and a half years, it's been tough for them, you know, because everything needs to come together well.

7:07You know, the team needs to perform and it makes it a lot easier for the coach. So, yeah. We'll see. We'll see what happens now with the new coach coming back. He's been successful in the past, so if you can bring that... What's his name, the new coach? Sergan Yalcin. Good? Sergan? Yeah? He's a legend. So, you think you will win the league with Sergan? They can win it again. You believe? Oh, Slavan Bilic. Slavan Bilic. You want Bilic back. I like Slavan. I like Slavan. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, I like Sergan as well, but Slavan, he did well. He was good. You worked under Slavan. I was here with him for two years.

7:48He's the one that brought me in here. Ah, right, right, right. And did he have Eden Dersic was his assistant there? That's right. Yes, he was the assistant coach then. Yeah, young, very, like very willing to learn and good players, coaches as well. You know, kind of the middle guy between the players and the coaches. And yeah, obviously we've seen what he's done from here, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Betwinner, home of two winners. And what do you make of Turkish national team as well? The football national team. Great time for them right now. You think they have some good players? What's his name?

8:24The one that played, Goula that plays for Real Madrid? Goula, yeah. I think it's good. Lots of potential. I mean, he made his breakthrough here in Fenerbahce. He was 16 at the time. 16. And, I mean, he was playing like he was a 25-year-old, you know. Very, very mature. And you can see how he's performing now. He's got a coach that believes in him, which is always important, right? So, yeah, lots of potential. Yildiz also from Juventus. Yildiz, yeah. Very, very good player. Yeah, so talented. And a bunch of other players. We have one from Besiktas, Orkun, in the midfield. Oh, good. In general. Yeah?

8:59Okay. Yes, yes, yes. So, yeah, it's a good generation for them. They've got a good coach as well. So, let's see. Let's see how far they can go. You know, get to, hopefully they can qualify for the World Cup and then see what kind of noise they can make in the World Cup. Exactly. And then, of course, what about your national team? Your Canadian national team. Yes. You guys have any good chance for the World Cup this time? Well, it's a home World Cup, so you got that home field advantage, the 12th man. But we've got some good players. We've got good players playing out in Europe now. Alphonso Davies, obviously, with Bayern Munich.

9:32Jonathan David. Jonathan David. Tejan Buchanan now is in La Liga. So everything is coming together very well now. And as we spoke before about Jesse, Jesse Marsh, a good coach for the national team and bringing a different type of energy. The boys are working very hard. So it's good. It's a good time for Canada right now. It's something I've wanted to see for so many years, you know? You talk about coaches, and this will not go down well here, Jose Mourinho, John's former boss, was here with Fenerbahce. Did not go well, Atiba. Controversy follows Jose wherever he goes. What was your assessment of Jose here in Turkish football?

10:16Also, timing. Timing wasn't the best for him. Fenerbahce's had a tough, say, 10 years. They do well for periods and then they kind of fall off. And again, with pressure from the fans when, you know, a few games don't go your way. And I don't think he dealt with that the right way, you know, with going in the media and kind of the things that he had said, I would say kind of backfired on him. Obviously, he's a coach with so much success and he's done well everywhere. But it was maybe a little bit too early for the things he said. And yeah, things just didn't work out very well after that. And with this Besiktas team, When do you think we see Besiktas?

10:54The fans, you want to see Besiktas win trophy again, right? When do you think you can win? When do you think Besiktas can win title again? You need time. Yeah, she said it right. She said it right. I think that's the thing. We always have high expectations in Besiktas. We want to play for the championship every single year. But I think now we're in a phase where they need to just build the right team and kind of stick with that team. Keep the core of that team together for a while and build off of that. Add pieces here and there. I think that's what's most important. So I don't think we need to think about the championship for this year.

11:30Next year, let's see what kind of team starts to come together and how we finish off this season. But it's got to be like a two, three, four-year plan. It can't be the next year has to be a championship. You've got to take it step by step. You've seen it. I know. You've been part of it. So you think the Besiktas fans can wait two, three years without a trophy to win again in four years? I know, it's hard. You want to win today, no? You need a team? Yeah, yeah. Come back. Yeah. Get your boots on. Come back. No, we've got players. We've got some very good players in the team. But as I said, you know, you've got to build off of what you have and kind of just keep working on it step by step and just don't expect everything to happen in a second.

12:16You won three titles, three league titles in your ten years at the club. which one was the most special for you, Atiba? I would say my last one. Yeah, because we went a few years without winning. So we started getting a lot more pressure on us. I was getting older also, you know. This was my first year as like a full captain. So I had kind of that added pressure as well. And the fashion that we did it in, we were playing well all season. Well, we started off bad and then we played well from like a certain part until right at the very end. And then the last four or five games, we started slipping up and we had like a seven point gap and then things became very close and it went down to the last day.

12:58We were fighting for the championship with Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. And we won it on the last, almost 20 minutes of the game. Yeah, with a penalty shot. You're kind of watching to see what happens in the Galah game, the Fenerbahce game. And it was just, it was crazy. And it was a relief to actually come through with it in the end. So that was the biggest. So the last one, not the first one. The last one's the most special. I would say the last one, man. Like the celebrations that we had and everything after the first one, we went on the Bosphorus. And you guys remember the Bosphorus celebration after our first championship?

13:31It was crazy, but it was just different like the last championship for me because I didn't think I would win another championship here, you know? A few words about our proud sponsors. Betwinner is your reliable partner in the world of sports betting. Enjoy placing bets. Get in the game with the college-branded Venmo debit card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5 % cash back with Venmo stash, a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance, just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit card at Venmo.com slash college card.

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14:408 % alcohol by volume. White Claw Seltzer Works. Chicago, Illinois. On any sports event with great odds and maximum convenience, visit Betwina.com now. Hey, can I ask you this, Atiba? You spent 10 years at this football club. I think you initially signed a two-year deal and then you always extended. Was there ever an opportunity for you to leave the football club? Yes, there was. There was probably two or three moments where I thought there's a good chance I would leave. The first one was actually with Slava Mbilic. He wanted to bring me to West Ham. Oh, wow. That was after my second season here.

15:16And obviously, I wanted to play in the Premier League for a very long time. But the fans, they were like, they were not letting that happen. They didn't let you go. Yeah, the club was like, no, no, no. They wanted to keep me here. So with me, I was happy with that because I was in a place where I was very comfortable. And to see the love that they showed at that time, I was like, okay, I'm not going to go anywhere. So I ended up staying again. And I signed a lot more contracts after that. Oh, wow. Okay. And then there was a moment where Besiktas kind of didn't really want to keep me for a moment.

15:50Okay. That was probably 2018, I would say. Yeah, because I was just after an injury and I didn't have the best performances right before the end of the season. So I was actually thinking about going to another club here in Istanbul. Oh, wow. Which team is that in Istanbul? Kashin Pasha. Kashin Pasha, ah! Yes. So we were actually like in the middle of negotiations. And then I had one phone call at the very end with the president of Besiktas. And he said, you're not going anywhere. Wow. I was speaking at Ottoman. And he's like, you're staying here. Come tomorrow. Sign the contract. And that was it.

16:26So I ended up staying here. And you ended up staying. Wow. Like six years. Six more years. Yeah. Six more years after that. Yeah. I stayed a long time after that. Yeah. So it was about 18. Yeah. Five. Five years. So if there is any biggest regret with this Besiktas team, was there any one of your biggest regrets that you look back and think, maybe we should have won that trophy this year or something happened there? I think not that we should have won anything, but I think we had a moment where we had a very good team and we kind of lost our ways and we went and got bigger name players and it wasn't exactly what we needed at the time.

17:10We were performing very well, so we kind of needed to just stay with that and build off of that, add a few players here and there. And I think that was probably where things kind of changed and it went like that for a few years until we found our way again. And like I said, it was a few years before we won that next championship. Yeah. My last one, right? So if we just maybe had kind of stuck with where we were and maybe just adding some puzzles to the pieces. Yeah. Two questions. I'm really interested to know. Who's the best player that you've played with at Besiktas? And who's the best player that you've played against in your career?

17:45Wow. Yes. That's a good question. The best player I played with here. Kim, best Benim Arkadash Best, best Like Ricardo He was good, talent He had a lot of talent Yes, he was amazing The most talented player I played against I liked Ryan Babu I don't know if I can say one I'll give you my top five Let me give you my top five Top five Ryan Baba was amazing for us. Very good. Let me go with Mario Gomez. Yes. Yes. Yes.

18:32Demba. Demba. Yes. It was my partner in the midfield, Ozan Oziokouk. Oziokouk. Jose Sosa. Sosa, yeah. He played very well for us. and my last one ah Nejit wow I'm on my last one probably Ricardo yes yeah Ricardo he brought a lot to us what about the best player that you've come up against played against do you mean my type like just in general in terms of in terms of Besiktas yes you've come up against John Obi Mikel and you thought no we're done I'm done who's the guy that's given you the most problems I will tell you we played against Napoli and Champions League and Hamsik Hamsik he was unbelievable yeah we played like a lot of quality players and teams but he was playing with a Napoli that was like probably the best Napoli that I've seen the way they played at the time the movement and he was just he was so he couldn't get close to the player he was so smart he seen everything that was happening way before the ball even came to him so you get close to him the ball's already gone and he's moving and he ran like crazy you know so yeah he was very good very good Bet winner, your bets, your wins.

19:51And tell me this, I'm always intrigued. Not necessarily what the club think, what you thought, Atiba. Who did you love beating more, Galatasaray or Fenerbahce? That's a good, I've answered that question a couple of times. Equally the same, I swear. Because it's so difficult to win in their stadium. It's very, very difficult. and the level of passion from them and the rivalry, for me, it's all the same. I don't know if I have one that I dislike more than others. I think, to tell you the truth, in the beginning, Fenerbahce, I wanted to beat them a lot more in the beginning and then it became Galatasaray, so overall, it was all the same.

20:34I was talking to you earlier, you and your family are settled in Istanbul. This city, these fans, they've given you so much. your kids they are black and white they support bashitas as well the best time of your life was in this city in my career yeah yeah hands down hands down just as you said everything you said about that the the culture here the the love from all the fans um how they've given me the love that i've received how they've given love to my family like uh it's it's crazy i i i mean i've always always respected anywhere i played but it's just it's a different level here you know like everywhere you go and and what they what they show you it's uh and there they go yeah it's amazing how respected and loved you are is that humbling it is it is for sure yeah yeah i mean uh i'm just i'm so grateful for the love that i've been given you know from the start to the finish they've always really um they've been behind me you know like there's there's players that i've had rough times here and and and the fans i've seen it like firsthand i've seen that they've turned their backs on players and kind of pushed them out out the door it's never been like that for me uh and and i've obviously had moments where i wasn't playing at my best and i've had very very bad spells but they've always always believed in me and and you know i've always wanted to just give back to the fans and and that meant a lot for me so uh yeah the love the love that i got from you guys very very very grateful yes yes thank you thank you how about you how was your time here yeah my time here was good really good uh with travis and sport but um obviously it was during covid when covid happened uh and then you know football was not really the most important thing back then i was thinking about family and my head just wasn't right um and obviously i i spoke to the president of the club.

22:32I said, listen, I have to go back home. He said, no, you can't go because obviously the league did not stop. The Turkish league did not stop, but we decided to come to a mutual agreement and I just canceled my contract. I went back home to be with my family because for me, there's some things that's more important than football. You know, when it was COVID, you have to think about family. My kids were very young then as well. So nobody knew what was going to happen when you have your family, your kids crying on the phone, saying, you have to, you know, as parents, as a father, I had to go back home to be with my family during that time.

23:11Football was not important then for me. But for you, you didn't get to feel the real passion from the fans? No, I didn't get to feel the real passion. I would have loved to play in Turkey for a much, much longer time because I think Traps and Sports, I love Besiktas, Istanbul Karateh Saray Fenerbahce but I think also when you play in Trabzonspor the fans they love football is everything in Trabzonspor you guys you guys love your but in Trabzonspor it's a different level they will kill for football yeah it's like a religion for them and I just felt that I didn't give them back as much that I could but yeah but I did enjoy my time yeah speaking of that where's the most difficult stadium in your career, Atiba?

24:01Where would you go that you not necessarily you feared it but it was a difficult place to get a result? Yeah. I'll give you I'll give you well, in Turkey it's Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, yeah. You're up against the referees the fans Yeah, exactly. It's everything. It's everything. You feel like nothing you do is going to work. You know, you put in the right tackle and it's and it's a foul. It's a foul, yeah. How is it a foul, you know? Yeah. And then, yeah, then the fans, they're just like, they're on you, whistling you every time you touch the ball. It's like, it's just a constant pressure. Sometimes you, as a player, you got to try to block it all off, block it all out, you know, but it's crazy, man.

24:45It's a different level. And the national team, I played a bunch of games in Central America, like Honduras, very, very similar with the noise, the atmosphere, They're driving into the stadium. They're throwing the stuff at your bus. And like, yeah, it's a mind game before you even get there. That's it. Yeah. But that's one thing about Turkish fans. You've always felt respected. Yes, Besiktas fans love you. But Galatasaray fans, Fenerbahce fans, they've always been very respectful to you. Exactly. Yeah, I've always got, you'll be on the street and then you have the Fenerbahce fans. They'll come and say like, look, I want to take a picture with you.

25:22I love you as a player. and they have to let you know every time who their team is. And that's happened like over, you know, thousands of times. And they always told me, you know, that they respect me as a player. They like who I am, what I've brought to like to Turkey, what I've given to the game here. So I'm grateful for that. But yeah, I've been given a lot of respect from both sides, all sides of it. If you could play one game, you know, if you could go back and I know you mentioned the goal that you scored, Traps on Sport to win the league. but one game that you'd love to go back to for could be good reasons, bad reasons, just because you felt perhaps you didn't do yourself justice.

25:59Is there a game that stands out? Yeah, that's a good question. Very good question. What a call that is. Yes. He's understanding all that English. Yeah. And, and that's a great, that's a great call because that was a game where we were doing very well. We played amazing in two legs. But the first game, we played against them. We outplayed them. And we should have won the game. We were winning 1-0. And I made a bad pass. I made a back pass. Oh, that's why he was watching it. To the goalkeeper, yes. So I made a back pass to the keeper. And he maybe could have kicked it out, but he kind of got stuck with the ball on his feet.

26:40They went and scored. 1-1 and then everything changed. We played at home very good. Finished 1-1 and we went to penalties and didn't go further but it was crazy because we were so close to going to the semi-final so Hey guys, thank you all so much

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