Maxwell Konadu- “William Opoku Mensah was playing out of the instructions” as Ghana’s ‘Fabio Capello’ explains why he substituted former Karela man
Asante Kotoko coach Maxwell Konadu has explained the reason he substituted his forward William Opoku Mensah for Richard Arthur in Week 10 of GPL against Ash Gold at Baba Yara Sports Stadium last Sunday.
After being held to a goalless draw at home, Kotoko have been under criticism for the results, with new signing William Opoku Mensah receiving most of them all after he failed to score from an error caused by Ash Gold defense in the second half of the game.
Mensah had the ball inside Ash Gold box but the former Karela United talisman tried dribbling Miners goalkeeper Frank Boateng, but Boateng traced the striker to the extreme as possible given the whole situation to catch the ball off the path of the striker. However, Opoku was simply slow and not smart enough to convert that chance.
He was immediately substituted after missing that clear opportunity to put the Porcupine Warriors ahead when they had been closely held tight by their regional rivals.
Most people have interpreted Maxwell Konadu’s decision, who most Pundits in Ghana referred to him as ‘Fabio Capello’, to substitute Opoku Mensah as furious.
But the coach has highlighted entirely different reason for replacing Opoku in the second half, where the trainer believes the striker lost focus in terms of tactical instruction.
“He (William Opoku Mensah) was playing out of the instructions given to him. He was asked to play on the left side, he told the media after the game.
“We have monitored the Ashanti Gold side for a very long time. “We knew they will make an error for us to register a goal, the chance came but we couldn’t utilize it”
Opoku Mensah has not been bad for Kotoko since joining the Porcupine Warriors on a free transfer earlier the season. He grabbed his debut goal against Liberty Professionals coming on as a sub for Naby Kieta.
The former Karela United man relished his debut for Kotoko, and called it “a great feeling” (to score for Kotoko in your first game).
“I am happy to have registered my first goal, and hope to continue scoring for Kotoko, he said in a post match interview.
Commenting on that goal, he added “the situation looked difficult and tight being in the midst of many defenders, however, I manged to get my head to the ball”.
