Asante Kotoko’s new head coach, Mariano Barreto, has yet to take charge of his first official game for the club but he has already seen enough in one game and he was not impressed by what he saw.
Barreto, together with his two assistants, watched from the stands as Kotoko gave away an early lead to draw 1-1 with Techiman Eleven Wonders in a Ghana Premier League in Techiman last weekend.
The Portuguese, 64, was named Kotoko coach late last month but missed a chance to take charge of his first game after failing to complete his work permit registration before then.
The former Black Stars coach will be in the dug-out when Kotoko face Bechem United in an outstanding Ghana Premier League game at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the game, the former Maritimo trainer reflected on his observations from the team’s last game and was ruthless in his assessment of the team’s performance against Wonders.
“I missed the chance to be on the bench and that was not easy but Johnson and Gazale did their best. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the match and we have to accept the result because Wonders created really good chances and Razak [Abalora] saved us.
“We started well and scored a goal like we are burning, but suddenly we started to play, for me it was disgusting looking the way were playing; running and putting balls in front etc, and it gave confidence to the other team and they started to believe.
“After that, it was like a tennis game; ball here, ball there.”
“Second half, I had a chance to come into the dressing room and we tried to change a few things but some players are not in good physical condition.
“It was a very confusing game,” he said.
