The Head Coach of Asante Kotoko said he advised the club to sideline three players after his first few weeks at the club because he didn’t believe the players are ambitious enough to play for the club.
In an interview with Nhyira FM, the Portugues coach says that some players were not ready to play for the club and asked the club to sideline them.
“Before the Berekum Chelsea game, I had big doubts about one particular player, big doubt,” he said
“I told them (club management) I don’t trust this player. This is not because he missed the penalty in the game, I knew beforehand that this player was not committed to the team”
“I know you will ask me why I didn’t drop or change him before the game, I will answer this”
“Four weeks after I arrive at the club, I talked to the management and told them that some players don’t have the right to be here, It was nothing personal”
Barreto adds that the player’s work rate and ambition don’t match that of the team and it would be only wise to separate them from the squad.
“Because the way they are working is not the way the team wants. I suggested that the club stop these three players from training with the team” he continued
“Latif Anabila, Wahab Adams and Godfred Asiamah. The way they trained wasn’t the way the coach wanted” he added.
Mariano Barreto revealed that he would have sacked the players if it were up to him, but the management told him to continue with the players as they are managing to finish the league.
“The management told me we are trying to finish the league, so we should help them not to cause problems because the media will start talking and the fans will start asking questions”
Mariano Barreto adds that agreeing with the management was his biggest mistake at Asante Kotoko.
“I tried to understand what the meant, But I can tell you it was my biggest mistake. I have enough experience to know that players who aren’t 100 percent committed to the team will cause problems” he added.
“If we lose a game and some players come to the training grounds to laugh and make jokes, then something strange is happening” he concluded.
