“Different circumstances, we could have lost” – Tinkler admits Kotoko struggled against Lions

Asante Kotoko coach Eric Tinkler has admitted his side could have lost their 2-1 victory over Heart of Lions, despite being pleased with the three points at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.Kotoko secured their first Ghana Premier League win of the season on Sunday, but Tinkler was far from satisfied with their defensive performance.The South African coach said his team struggled to deal with Heart of Lions movement and rotations, particularly when the visitors’ attacking players moved away from their traditional positions.Disappointed with our defensive approach. Understanding when to press, how to press, the shifting, all of those things should have been better, especially against the rotational play that they create, Tinkler said.He explained that Lions attacking structure presented a difficult tactical challenge, with their wingers moving inside, midfielders making runs beyond the defence and their striker dropping into pockets of space.The wingers don’t function as wingers; they come inside. The two eights literally are making runs in behind. The striker doesn’t play as a striker; he comes into pockets, he said.Tinkler believes Kotoko must improve their communication and tactical discipline if they are to avoid opponents exploiting the weaknesses exposed on Sunday.Communication, all of these things. And for some of our players, it’s that tactical discipline hasn’t been taught to them. So it takes time for them to understand their roles, he added.The coach said the technical team will use the coming week to analyse the performance and ensure the same problems do not reappear in their next fixture.If other teams are going to see what happened today as a weakness, they’re going to look to try and exploit it. So we need to fix it so that it doesn’t happen in the next game, Tinkler said.Despite his concerns, Tinkler also pointed to the positives from the performance, including Kotokos ability to create opportunities and produce promising attacking rotations.He also defended the team’s overall performance against Debibi United on the opening weekend, when Kotoko were held to a 2-2 draw.The coach said he was disappointed to take only one point from that game but insisted there were encouraging signs.Was the performance better than what I’ve seen from the team last season? Yes. Did we compete against Debibi? Yes. Did they overrun us? No. Did they deserve to win the game? No. So there’s a lot of positives that I can take from that game, he said.Sunday’s victory leaves Kotoko with four points from their opening two matches, but Tinkler knows there is plenty of work ahead as he attempts to build a side capable of competing consistently.Different circumstances today; possibly we could have lost the game. Must be honest, he admitted.Kotoko will now prepare for their next league fixture away against Samartex as Tinkler looks to address the defensive shortcomings exposed against Heart of Lions.



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