Asante Kotoko head coach Propser Narteh Ogum has disclosed the tactics that aided him guide Asatne Kotoko to record their first ever win over WAFA at the Red Bull Arena, a ground which has been a no go area for the Porcupines since the times when the club was known as Feyenoord.
The league leaders extended their lead on the league log from 7 to 10 following their historic 1-0 victory over relegation battling WAFA at the Red Bull Arena at Kogakope. The team WAFA as not a new side to Asante Kotoko coach Prosper, who only left them as their head coach at the beginning of this season to join the Porcupine Warriors. He knows the club’s set up, culture, system of play among others, and that may have made the work a bit easier for Ogum.
However, Ogum has stressed that it never took a mere familiarity with the WAFA system to him as their former coach to be able to beat them, but rather much of a tactical display which went into his game reading ability on the day.
“One I know the team [WAFA] very well and again I think we prepared very well for this game irrespective of the fact that I know how the team looks like and how the team plays per their team culture and per their game model, I think we also looked more disciplined, more determined, more confident and more patient on the ball and without the ball, and I think that made us to win today”, Ogum told reporters after the game.
Asked of his assessment of how the game went and what accounted for the win for his side, he indicated that WAFA lost concenctration after enjoying too much of ball possession, and Asante Kotoko capitalized on that to punish them.
“I think it was a close game. We gave them the spaces, we gave them the chance to possess the ball because we knew if they possess the ball for long there was the tendency that they were going to lose concentration, and if you look at the goal we scored it was for them possessing the ball for that long time thinking that they could push up on us and then we got the ball, one to receive, two to give a penetrative pass and then the defensive line was opened and we got the chance to score”, he explained.
The defeat to Asante Kotoko means WAFA remain 17th on the 18-team league log with 26 points, 3 points behind 16th place Eleven Wonders with just 7 matches to end the season.
