Kotoko may not
have succeeded in amassing all the three points at stake in
their Glo premier league match against New Edubease F.C, but
Serbian technical handlers, Bogdan Korak and Slobodan Gnjidic
say they are content with the performance of their players in
that match.
In separate
interviews with them through their ubiquitous interpreter, Aryee
Popovic, they were unanimous in their assessment of the match
and were of high praise for their players whom they say, adhered
to instructions.
Having come from
a 1-2 defeat at the hands of the nomadic club (who still may
move out of their Bekwai Gyamfi Park venue), in the first round
at the Baba Yara Stadium, Slobodan, who has been working on the
defenders since his arrival, says he asked the defenders to go
into the match with caution.
“This was a match
we could not afford to make mistakes so the defenders were
specifically cautioned against conceding infringements around
their area. Emphasis was placed on being first to the ball and
not delaying when on the ball”.
“With that,
pressure was did not come on them and so were able to play
freely and solidly”.
Though Kotoko
conceded a goal that could be described in all sincerity as a
‘gift goal’ as a result of wrong footing by the defenders and an
incidence of poor judgement by Isaac Amoako in post, Slobodan
says he would not so much hold his defender in offence.
“It is normal for
intelligent players to capitalize on mistakes from their
opponents to score the goal such as the gift we gave them, but I
believe the ability of the players to get their acts together
and play to the end in a cool posture is commendable”.
On his part, the
usually abrasive Korak was surprisingly quite and satisfied with
the results for many reasons.
According to him,
many factors militated against his team performing at their
optimum and so he was content.
“I won’t take you
far, just look at the poor nature of the pitch and you will know
why the players were uneasy and even to some extent afraid to go
all out for slide tackles and other challenges”.
“It is good for
the players to fight all through but the fear of getting hurt in
the process was real and so there was no way we could fault our
player too much”.
The poor nature
of the stony pitch did not only put fear into the players, but
also made ball controlling very difficult and almost impossible
at some portions.
“The pitch was so
bad that my players had no option but to balloon the balls
instead of having the passing game that we have rehearsed for
some time now”.
“All that aside,
I saw my players were in a better condition and they did not
show any sign of tiredness even after the match. That is what I
have been expecting of them and I am glad to see that all the
time we spent together working of conditioning have started
bearing fruits”.
With the league
started, Coach Korak says he is no more going to push the
players so hard at training but will spend time rehearsing
strategies and maintaining the level of fitness they have
achieved.
