Asante Kotoko’s Ghana Premier League (GPL) season seems to have taken an acute turn towards an upward trajectory. Despite the terrible start to the 2023–24 season, the Kumasi-based club looks to have put their appalling start behind them after becoming the first team to win consecutive games in the league with wins over Accra Lions and Aduana Stars.
After picking up just two points from an available nine in their first three games of the season, the 24-time GPL champions have managed to secure back-to-back wins, racking up six points and failing to concede a single goal in the process.
The obscure irony surrounding the team’s most recent eye-catching performances and game-winning prowess has been attributed to how the team has managed to overturn their last season woes, conceding from headers and aerial balls to scoring from crosses and headers this season, with a chunk of the praise being heaped on their newly signed attacker from Berekum Chelsea, Kalo Ouattara, whose two-headed goals in the last two games have reignited the team’s chances of priding themselves as one of the favorites to win the title despite the sluggish start.
The Journey
The team’s defensive misfortunes came to light on matchday 26 of the 2022–23 season, when a Gazale-led Asante Kotoko side succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Berekum Chelsea at the Golden City Park, with current Kotoko forward Kalo Ouattara amongst the goalscorers for Chelsea in a game where Kotoko’s title challenge was thrown into doubt.
The most notable take from the game was how they conceded all three goals on the day, failing to prevent crosses from wide areas and also struggling to deal with crosses and aerial balls despite starting the game with a center-back pairing of Mohammed Alhassan and Mohammed Sherif, both players with an average height of 6’1” (185cm).
The problem will not be noticed in the subsequent game at home to Aduana Stars despite conceding a goal from a cross from the right-hand side, which the defenders failed to deal with. A 2-1 comeback victory will be just enough to overlook the existing issue, with Eric Zeze’s world-class finish instead becoming the talking point of the game.
An away game in the next game against a relegation-threatened Great Olympics at the WAFA Park will provide an opportunity for the opposition to once again remind them of their woes, with the Olympics taking the lead in the game after Kotoko once again failed to deal with an aerial ball that was sent in for Olympic striker Michael Osei to put his side into the lead and eventually win the game.
The Porcupine Warriors will go on to concede similar goals against Tamale City, Gold Stars, and Karela in subsequent games before ending the season in 4th position, while concerns remained over the club’s defensive inconsistencies and struggles as the new season approached.
The paradigm shift
The 2023–24 GPL season started with Kotoko reappointing Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum as the club’s new head coach, an announcement that the Fabulous fans will receive with so much ecstasy and high expectations.
The second stint of Prosper Ogum will begin with the Porcupine Warriors picking just two points from their first three games. An opening day goalless draw against the newly promoted Heart of Lions, followed by a 2-1 loss to the Gold Stars, and another barren stalemate against Karela at home will condemn the 24-time GPL winners to one of their worst starts to a GPL season in recent times.
Despite the team’s early-season struggles, one of the few positives from their opening has been how the team has managed to transform their last-season Achilles heel [conceding from crosses and set pieces] into their biggest weapon [scoring from set pieces and crosses].
The center-back combination of newly signed center-backs Henry Ansu from Berekum Chelsea and Nuru Deen Mohammed from RTU has been Ogum’s most consistent choice in the entire team, with both players starting every single game under the manager.
With an average height of 180 cm, the defensive pair has enjoyed a great start to life in the Ashanti regional capital, keeping three clean sheets in their first five games of the season as well as, to a greater extent, helping curb the team’s biggest enigma by conceding crosses and set pieces.
Kotoko followers will love to hear that statistic on any day, but will even go ahead to celebrate the fact that the team has been able to metamorphose their last season woes into huge strength this season after winning their last two games, 1-0 wins over Accra Lions and Aduana FC, both goals coming from a Kalo Ouattara header.Some will say it’s too early to start celebrating the good signs, but in reality, Fabulous fans will be very elated and super charged for the new season, knowing how this new team has been able to turn last season’s plight into a major strength.
Source: Josiah Oko Ouaye
