29.10.2026 11:24
It has been claimed that Sergen Yalçın, who was appointed as the head coach of the Turkish National Team after Vincenzo Montella, is having difficulty communicating with some national players. Journalist Sercan Hamzaoğlu alleged that 2-3 players among the team's indispensable names did not answer Yalçın's phone calls because of the harsh criticism he made about them in the past.
Speaking on a YouTube channel, Sercan Hamzaoğlu reported that one of the national team players reacted very harshly to Sergen Yalçın. According to Hamzaoğlu's claim, the player in question said, "I won't answer that person's call. He is as good as nonexistent to me. So what if he is the national team coach? A man who takes a swipe at me like that on screen cannot be my head coach."
"I'LL GO TO THE NATIONAL TEAM, I WON'T LOOK HIM IN THE FACE"
Hamzaoğlu, stating that he personally witnessed the phone conversation that took place, said that some footballers whom Sergen Yalçın tried to reach did not answer the calls. The journalist claimed that one of the footballers expressed his reaction by saying, "I'll go to the National Team, go out to training, but I won't look him in the face."
PAST CRITICISMS BACK ON THE AGENDA
After the allegations, the statements Sergen Yalçın used about national team players during his punditry period drew attention again. In the past, Yalçın had used the statements "He is not a top-level player, he won't make it" for Barış Alper Yılmaz, "A star player isn't like that anyway" for Kenan Yıldız, and "We are making a mistake by elevating players who haven't done anything to such star status" for Arda Güler.
The identities of the footballers alleged to have reacted to Yalçın, who also criticized the performances of Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Ferdi Kadıoğlu, were not disclosed.