One of the most respected managers in Turkey, Mustafa Denlzli has written a column in Hurriyet about Everton’s new striker Cenk Tosun.
Tosun arrived at Goodison Park from Besiktas in the January for a £27m, but was dropped to the bench at then weekend by Sam Allardyce, after playing just 130 minutes of Premier League football.
Denizli, who managed Galatasaray, Besiktas, Fenerbahce and the Turkish national team, said Everton’s offensive players are to blame for Tosun’s poor start: “It’s not easy for Tosun to come to a defensive team like Everton from the offensive team like Besiktas. I watched their games closely even before Tosun’s arrival. Their manager Sam Allardyce wants them to play cautiously and sets his team up with a defensive mind.
“It’s not easy for Cenk. Here at Besiktas he had creative players like Ricardo Quaresma, Ryan Babel, Anderson Talisca and even wing-backs in Adriano and Gokhan Gonul. But one thing I suspected at Everton is the team don’t have enough quality attackers to feed Tosun. For me that’s the reason for his poor start but he’s a hardworking guy. He’ll find a place in the team.”
Tosun signed for Everton last month after weeks of talks between the Premier League side and Besiktas.
The transfer was a record for a player being transferred from the Turkish Super Lig, with the previous being held by AS Roma’s Cengiz Under.
However, the Turkey international has yet to score for the Merseyside club, and was replaced by Oumar Niasse in last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal.
Tosun played just 12 minutes at the Emirates, after replacing Niasse late in the game.
