Mariano Barreto joined Asante Kotoko in March 2021 and began his quest to lead the club to the Ghana Premier League title after the club endured a difficult start to the season.
Asante Kotoko won three of their first five games under the Portuguese; they conceded two and scored eight goals in that period. Their only defeat was against Medeama who took their chances in Obuasi to shock the Porcupines.
Mariano Barreto has made several changes to his team lineups since he took over as he tries to give the players opportunities to impress him and perform for the club.
As a result, Players like Emmanuel Sarkodie, Osman Ibrahim, Evans Adomako, Patrick Asmah, Felix Annan, and the rest have had their fair share of chances to impress the coach, some took their chances and some couldn’t make use of theirs.
Richard Senanu was one of the players who failed to make an appearance under Mariano Barreto as fans are made to believe he is yet to impress the coach on the training grounds.
“Senanu is an option like the other player. He was on the bench, he is fit; all the players that make the matchday squad” Barretto said after he was asked about the player
“He has to fight like other players, why don’t you ask about Felix Annan. The coach selects players that are best for the team and what he sees in the training grounds” he added.
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Obviously, Barreto’s comments on Senanu suggest the player didn’t do enough to make an appearance in the team.
However, one of the players took advantage of Barreto’s comments and impressed in training and friendly games and is being rewarded with first-team appearances; Evans Adomako scored two goals in a warmup game and was rewarded a start against Inter Allies where he scored and assisted.
Evans Adomako endured a difficult start to his Kotoko career, the player was out injured after few games for the club and only regained full fitness a few weeks ago.
Although it is still early days, Evans Adomako now has the opportunity to seal his place in the starting lineup and also his future at Kotoko.
Patrick Asmah, Andrews Appau, Habib Mohammed, and others have all impressed the coach both on the training grounds and in games and have been rewarded with several appearances. Players like Emmanuel Sarkodie will have to do more to prompt the coach to give him another chance to impress.
