BLEAK STARS-MY TAKE ON OUR AFCON FORTUNES SO FAR.

 

I am the last person you should ordinarily listen to when it comes to football. While I do enjoy the game and the tinge of excitement that comes with the national team playing, I do not have any mastery or deeper understanding of the technical or tactical aspects of the game. Therefore, you can treat this piece as one borne out of observation than experience or expertise. Like many other Ghanaians who share an opinion on our team, despite not having any technical knowledge, I also think all is not adding up technically and tactically for our team. In this piece, i share some of my observations, as a lay man who feels obliged to be heard in the capacity as a citizen and someone who is vicariously attached to the fortunes of the Black Stars.

 

Defensive Approach not helping

 

In both matches, I have seen a tendency for our technical team, led by Christ Hughton, to heap our defence mechanism anytime we are privileged to hit the back of the net. By this approach, we appear to assume, rather erroneously, that we can maintain our lead mounting stronger defence. This flies in the face of intuitive reasoning. Till date, I do not understand why Ashimeru, an incredible offensive midfielder, would always be replaced with a defensive midfielder anytime we appear to be winning. I wonder why our handlers think they could defend away the stiff pressure that the Pharoahs would mount, sacrificing offensive minded players for players with defensive mindset. Maybe it is time the handlers are advised by the popular maxim that the best way to defend is to attack. Doing otherwise have proven so costly and the earlier they wriggled themselves out of an overtly defensive orientation, the better would it be for our fortunes.

 

Truly, I blame the two goals we conceded against Egypt roundly on the technical team. Foremost, the thinking that we could defend our way through the mounting pressures from the Pharoahs, a reason we sacrificed our offensive minded midfielders for defensive ones is to be blamed for the goals we conceded in that game. Secondly, while Inaki patently caused our goal, I can’t blame him that much. This is what you get when you place a player who has hardly any better ball possession skills on the wings. That forced him to look behind all that time as that should reasonably be a safe haven. Trust me, a player like Joseph Paintsil or Nuamah, would not have thought of giving that long back pass. A worse, they would try keeping the ball until such that our players pulled along.

 

INAKI

There is absolutely no doubt that Inaki is a brilliant player. In Spain, where he plies his trade for Atletico Baobab, he is one of the most admired figures. He is not only personable and affable, he comes across as a person who will avoid confrontation, a diplomat at heart, even from the way he manages and responds to on field incidents. These notwithstanding, I am cringed to say that I have not been too impressed with the way he has been used. Even without any technical training in coaching, I am convinced that Inaki is not a winger. From my observations, it is clear to me that he is not the player that could create anything meaningful along the flanks for any team, despite his respectable talents. I see Inaki as a quintessential striker, whose talent is only useful when a situation is created for him. The success he has achieved where he plays is only on account of how rightly they have deployed him. Most of the goals I have seen him score has been one that pitched him directly against the goal keeper. Truly there are strikers like that. We have seen strikers like Matthew Amoah, Charles Amoah Agoogo, Prince Tagoe and others, who though not too skilful, have an incredible success at goal. By repeatedly playing him in positions that do not favour or bring out his best, I am convinced the current handlers are regrettably causing disaffection for this man who has a great potential to build the reputation that some of our leading strikers have built over the years. Agan, arguments that some of our players have flagrantly sidelined him needs to be interrogated.

A porous Defence

Besides the difficulty with finding goals upfront, our fortunes in the defensive turf have not been pronounced. The communication between those marking our defence lines have not been convincing. I am still not convinced Salisu and Djiku are truly our best response to the innumerable attacks that is typical of AFCON matches. Our goal keeper is also becoming too comfortable, over commanding and wanting when it matters most. May be, it is time others were given the opportunity to prove themselves. I have not loved how he has approached most aerial balls. His approach of parrying away the balls, even when he could arm-clench them, do not make me too comfortable. A lot needs to be done to keep the goals we so struggle to score.

Kudos, Kudus

Kudus has been brilliant. His composure is top-notch. Despite carrying the country on his shoulder, his emotions do not give any incline of pressure. He has proven to be a formidable and a clinical finisher, creating screamers out of nothing. While he has been brilliant, I think he will need to be supported. We cannot continually rely on him for our fortunes, as things may always not go his way. The technical team needs to find ways and techniques to win without this towering responsibility on this chap. Gradually, he is fast walking into iconic status in the national team and he needs to be supported.

Conclusion

We cannot go into the AFCON with a ‘progressive’ and unannounced budget and still impose an emotional pressure on our people to calculate our chances. Our technical team must rise up to the occasion and prove themselves. More than before, we expect them to give us a reason to continually believe that there is always light (Stars) after the Darkness (Black). Ghanaians will not forgive them and while we do not have any technical appreciation, we know when a team needs some improving.

 

Osarfo Boateng Samuel

Author, Trainer and Researcher.

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