Our final next two games before entering December (Christmas Season) of 2023 is against Hasaacas Ladies FC at Home (Madina Astroturf) on Saturday, 18th November 2023 at 3pm
Having returned to winning ways and still unbeaten since the start of the 2023/2024 season, three more Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League points are up for grabs this weekend, and Coach Freeman Amponsah previewed the game in his regular pre-match brief press with Berry Ladies FC Media team on phone.
The boss was asked about team news, his relationship with Coach Basigi, Gifty Amewoyi’s future and more.
Here’s a full transcript from the brief phone press…
on the latest team news:
A few are still in contention to play, and we are also liaising with the physio to clear some injuries. We need to give them 24 more hours to give them a chance to be involved in our trainings, but we won’t know anything until Friday.
on if anyone is definitely not available:
Priscilla Sintim Agyemang is for sure not. Mumuni is for sure out and probably one or two will be out. There might be a few more but that will depend on the physio’s report.
on Jacqueline Amponsah being called up for Black Princess and if she will be brought back like last time:
Hopefully not. We want our players to play for their club and play for their national teams. Jacqueline couldn’t feature in our last game because she was so much focused on national assignment, and we have enough players to play her role well. She didn’t train yesterday and let’s see if she can make it on Saturday.
on Christabel not being selected for Black Princess this time:
Well, I don’t know the real reason. That’s a question for management and Coach Basigi. I know how important for her it is to be in the national team and how much she enjoys being there in the last few experiences. That’s a decision that’s not in my hands.
on Priscilla Agyemang and Rahinatu Mumuni’s procedures impacting the amount of time they are out:
No, hopefully not. There’s progress and they are really doing well. Hopefully it’s going to be weeks and not months and they are working towards that. They need support and hopefully the injuries will heal in the right way, and they’ll have them back, because they are big players for us.
on Gifty Amewoyi and if she will be selected soon:
Gifty is one of the best Goal keepers we have at camp, and she understands the assignment. She is not even pressured to start, and she is gradually studying the games.
on Coach Basigi and how he’s doing at both Black Princess and Hasaacas Ladies FC:
I’m not surprised at all. I think he was already a coach before he started coaching (he laughs). He is a leader, someone very intelligent that can navigate very different scenarios really well. He understood the game really well. He speaks several local languages, and you can tell straight away that he is going to be a top coach. Obviously, he’s a had a very strong career already as a coach before taking up the black princess role. What they did last year was incredible, especially the way they did it. In this Women’s Premier League, we all have difficulties. We all have good moments and I’m really happy to see him doing what he’s doing.
on how tough Hasaacas Ladies is this season:
Looking back on the games they have played and the results they’ve got, in some of them they merited much more than what they got. I don’t think it reflects actually what they deserved in games. But that is the difficulty of this league. Sometimes when you deserve more you don’t get it because the quality of the oppositions is so high. But the way they have transformed their way of playing, the club, and how they continue to play with the belief that they do, for me it’s remarkable.
on similarities in the style of football between the two managers:
I think we have a lot of similarities in what we want to happen in games. I think the approach and the way we do it is probably different, hopefully it is different, but I really like what he’s done.
on beating Essiam Socrates Ladies and go 3 games unbeaten:
I was very pleased with the performance, the way we won the game and how much we restricted the opponent to have a chance to get anything from the game, but there is still a lot to play for, the league is really tight, and we still have to do a lot to be where we want to be.
on the flexibility of Fakiha Alhassan given the injuries we have up front:
I’m really happy with her. Obviously, it’s been almost 4 months or so since she joined us, we knew all her quality and what she could bring to the team and that’s why we bought her, because she can fill different positions, but as well different needs and qualities that we didn’t have in the squad when we want to do something different, and against Essiam Socrates Ladies FC she showed again her quality.
on if there is unwarranted pressure on Doreen Graham and Victoria Salifu:
I don’t know. I can tell you that I’m really pleased with the way they are performing. Obviously, looking at the numbers, just specifically the numbers of what they are producing in front of goal, those have to be improved and we have to improve them, but in many other areas of the pitch, what they give to the team at the moment is really important and we need them always in each game.
on players attracting interest from clubs in the January window:
We have no messages from other clubs. I can talk about my players, how much I like my players, how much I like our new players blending with the old players. We want all players with us for the season, that’s for sure.
on trying some of the new players:
They are still racing (against the clock). They are trying everything that they can so let’s see. It’s a possibility but as i said earlier, they are not in a rush, they are studying our game play, and we have FA Cup as well so obviously they will be featured.
on having so many injuries at once and the depth we have in the squad, if we need more depth in January:
Some of the injuries we had were bad luck, some have been long term injuries with some special players, when we didn’t have a lot of depth. So we can talk about the depth, but sometimes you have to talk about specific positions. For certain units we are a little bit shorter, but it’s the challenge of the season. Other people have to step up and that is a good test for the team as well; how we take those moments, and how we respond to that, and so far the team is doing well.
Thank you Coach and all the best in our Coaching Course: Thank you too
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Copyright 2023 Berry Ladies Football Club. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.berryladiesfcgh.com as the source
