Maxwell Konadu explains why Samuel Frimpong and Nettey played in midfield against Legon Cities

Maxwell Konadu explains why Samuel Frimpong and Nettey played in midfield against Legon Cities

Asante Kotoko injury concerns continued in their narrow 1-0 win against Legon Cities on Friday night at the Accra Sports Stadium as three players went out injured in the first half of the game.

Goalscorer Osman Ibrahim was the first to be substituted after he went down holding his groin minutes after scoring what would later be the only goal of the game, his replacement was Evans Adomako.

Adom Frimpong also went out a few minutes later and was replaced by Sulley Muniru, the final substitution was made by half time when Keyekeh was replaced by defender Samuel Frimpong.

Maxwell Konadu deployed Samuel Frimpong to the midfield to play alongside Sulley Muniru in the second half while Evans Adomako moved up front to play alongside Kwame Poku.

Christopher Nettey vs Legon Cities. Credit: Dada Oliseh

The Frimpong-Sulley partnership seemed off as it invited Legon Cities to attack and create more chances than the Porcupines in the second half. In bid to stabilize the midfield, Maxwell Konadu asked Nettey to move to the midfield and Samuel Frimpong dropped back to the right-back position.

Many found the tactics and setup strange but it was good enough to stop Legon Cities from scoring an equalizer.

After the game, Maxwell Konadu was asked to explain why Latif Anabila wasn’t deployed into the midfield since he was the only central midfielder left on the bench.

“We can’t put everything out there, because Anabila just came from injury and the way the game was developing, we didn’t want a player coming back from injury to play in that tempo; anything could happen. So we needed a much-fitted player to go and play so we have a much better 45 minutes.

When asked why Samuel Frimpong switched with Christopher Nettey later in the game.

“We have many versatile players and they can play in different positions. At a point,  we were planning to bring Asamah to the midfield. So that is how good they are, they can play two to three positions and when we move them around, they are comfortable” he added.

Asante Kotoko will be looking to continue with this winning mentality when they face Great Olympics in their next game.