We were more matured, established than current Kotoko players - Yussif Chibsah

Former Asante Kotoko midfielder Yussif Alhassan Chibsah, has claimed that players in his days flourished more at the club as compared to players of today because they were more matured and established.

Chibsah makes a case that during his time, Asante Kotoko went in for more established players who needed little time to settle and come to terms with what representing a club like Kotoko meant.

The former Ghana international joined the Porcupine Warriors in 2003 after enjoying an impressive 4 year spell with King Faisal FC.

Chibsah’s influence in the Kotoko setup grew gradually as he built a solid playing relationship with players like Stephen Oduro, Edmund Owusu Ansah, Michael Osei and to some extent Charles Taylor.

In recent times, players who have been marquee buys for Asante Kotoko have failed to live up to expectations with some being transfer-listed barely a year after signing.

Speaking to FMIG in an exclusive interview, Chibsah disclosed that playing for Kotoko was very attractive then and players had to adequately ready themselves for such an opportunity.

He narrated “When I was at King Faisal, we use to camp sometimes together so we were close to each other so we use to see them and even before Kotoko approached us we already had in mind that one day this team should approach you”.

Chibsah went ahead to speak about the quality they had in the playing body and why they thrived at the club despite the enormous pressure from the fans and other stakeholders.

“I think the difference as compared to now, most of the players that came to Kotoko were established players, they were matured enough to contain the pressure that coming especially from fans as compared you could see that some of them you could see that they’ve not really matured to stand the pressure from the club” he said.

At 36 years, Yussif Chibsah is now retired and work on the welfare of Ghanaian footballers as he is a key member of the Professional Footballer’s Association of Ghana.

He won 2 leagues titles with Asante Kotoko plus other domestic competitions before transferring abroad to Swedish side Gefle IF in 2008.