Mourinho made Fenerbahce worse — Club president laments Special One’s tenure

Fenerbahce’s newly elected president, Sadettin Saran, has pointed fingers at Jose Mourinho for the team’s struggles this season, accusing the Portuguese coach of organising an underwhelming preseason camp that left lasting damage on the squad.

Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Saran claimed Mourinho’s brief stint set the tone for the team’s current instability both mentally and physically.

Saran described what he saw as Mourinho’s biggest failure: a poorly executed pre-season training camp in Portugal.

“There’s no point in talking about the past,” he began. “I even blamed myself for saying that the camp went badly. I don’t want to go into detail, but only one training session per day was held in Portugal. That’s unacceptable. I won’t say more.”

Saran explained that the preseason period, which ran from July 15 to July 27, was crucial in preparing Fenerbahce for what was meant to be a title-chasing campaign.

Instead, the team struggled early, suffering elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Benfica and stumbling out of the gate in the Turkish Super Lig.

“When the new transfers arrived, Mourinho was still in charge,” Saran added. “Five weeks later, he left—after what was already a very poor preseason period, whose effects we are still seeing.”

After Mourinho’s departure on August 29, the chaos continued. Domenico Tedesco took over, but the Italian has managed just three wins from his first seven games. Then came another shake-up as club president Ali Koç, who had been in charge for seven years, stepped down, with Saran elected on September 21.

The new president described finding a squad completely drained of energy and focus. “I once said there was a sense of lifelessness at the club—if anything, that was an understatement,” he admitted. “I saw it clearly when I visited Samandira.”

Saran highlighted the Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb as proof of how deep the cracks ran. “After meeting the players before the game, I even said, ‘If we don’t lose heavily against Dinamo Zagreb, that will be good,’ because I could see how deeply affected the team was.”

Even new coach Tedesco reportedly filed an internal evaluation confirming that the Portugal camp had been subpar. Journalists covering the sessions echoed this, noting that despite the club’s official schedule suggesting rigorous preparation, the actual workload was far lighter than advertised.