Dele Alli has been warned that he could face ‘intimidating’ Turkish fans if he fails to hit the ground running at Besiktas.
The 26-year-old arrived at the Istanbul giants on a season-long loan after an underwhelming six-month spell at Goodison Park that saw 13 appearances and just one start. Alli failed to make an instant impact in any of his early chances on Merseyside, and with Frank Lampard fighting to keep Everton up, the Blues boss evidently could not count on Alli.
Last week’s welcome in Istanbul gave the midfielder a taste of the fervent support in Turkey, with thousands of fans present to greet him, but former Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand - who spent two seasons in the Super Lig with Bursaspor and Antalyaspor - has detailed how that passion can quickly turn.
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“Over there if you’re not doing well and you’re a marquee signing, which he is, they will let you know,” Ferdinand told TalkSPORT. “Whether you’re walking down the street, they will let you know, they’re passionate about their football and if you’re not pulling up trees when they expect you to then you will 100 per cent know that you’re not doing what they expect you to.
“The fans, they’re passionate, I remember one game I was coming back from injury and I was on the bench and I’m sitting down getting ready for the game to start and the masseur comes out with about five towels and hands them to the substitutes.
“I’m like ‘why’s that?’ and he said: ‘It’s to put over your head in case you get things thrown at your head’ and I was like ‘Pardon?’ and he said ‘Yeah this is a place known for it’.
Ferdinand’s stint in Turkey was with two relatively smaller sides, but in Besiktas, Alli is moving to one of the biggest and best sides in the league - but with that comes added pressure and responsibility to perform from the off. And the ex-West Ham man has told Blues midfielder Alli exactly what to expect during training and in games.
“It is like that and people that have played in Turkey, people that have gone to the likes of Fenerbahce or Galatasaray there’s one way in and there’s one way out of those places they’re intimidating,” Ferdinand added. “The fans are intimidating, their passion for football, some of it I’ve never seen before, playing for Bursaspor and turning up for training and there’s 1000 fans waiting for you.
“They want to see you train, they want to see how you’re training, especially before the Besiktas game because Besiktas and Bursaspor was a massive, massive game and if you don’t do well they will let you know, that is a fact.”
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