Eric Tinkler Responds to Maxwell Konadu and Karim Zito Over State of Ghana’s Pitches

Eric Tinkler, the South African tactician of Asante Kotoko, has responded to comments made by the club’s former players and coaches, Maxwell Konadu and Abdul Karim Zito, regarding the state of pitches in Ghana.

Tinkler, who arrived at Asante Kotoko with a CAF A Licence and over 30 years of experience in elite football, recently expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of pitches in Ghana as he prepares the club for the upcoming season.

“As I previously stated, the quality of the pitch may not mean much, but it is extremely important. How are you going to improve a footballer on a pitch like this? You will not improve him. I can’t teach them much when we play on poor pitches, and you can see the disappointment on their faces,” Tinkler said.

Konadu and Zito, both former players and coaches of Asante Kotoko, reacted to Tinkler’s comments, expressing similar views that the South African coach should focus on managing and winning games on the pitches available to the Porcupine Warriors.

In an interview with 3Sports Ghana at the club’s training complex at Adako Jachie, Tinkler addressed the comments made by Konadu and Zito about the state of pitches in Ghana.

“I’m not trying to make an excuse about the pitches. The fact is, football is about entertainment. People want to come to the stadiums and be entertained,” Tinkler emphasised.

He questioned, “How are you going to be entertained when the pitch is not in good condition? How are you going to be entertained if we go back to the old-school English football, where we’re just playing long balls because the pitch only allows us to do that?”

“Am I being entertained? No. We want to entertain. We want to play a brand of football that is entertaining, and that’s going to bring fans to the stadiums. We want to develop players that we can move into Europe,” he said.

“People want to criticise. Like I said, I’m not on social media. I stay away from it because I know there’s only going to be bad comments and bad opinions, so hence, I don’t follow. What’s their opinion? It doesn’t mean that it makes them right.”