Subject : BEYOND GHANA VS. AUSTRALIA WORLD CUP MATCH
To        : Milovan Rajevac (Coach of Ghana’s Black Stars)
From    : Nii Ayitey Tetteh (Columnist, Ghanasoccernet.com)
Good evening Mr. Milovan Rajevac,
I know you are really not in the mood to read mails, I know you are busy probably reviewing the 2010 World Cup Group D match between Socceroos of Australia and Ghana’s beloved Black Stars . Indeed you are not alone coach, millions of Ghanaians are engaged in the post match analysis as well.
It is interesting that though the Black Stars did not lose, the 1-1 draw actually feels like a loss.
Ghanaian fans feel the Black Stars wasted a wonderful opportunity to have secured three points against an Australian team that had one player, Harry Kewell, sent off.
Had we exploited the one man advantage and won, it would have reduced the pressure to win the last group match against the Germans on June 23, 2010 in Johannesburg’s Soccer City.
Though the Black Stars sit on top of the group with 4 points, having beaten Serbia 1-0 in the first group match, the Stars would need at least a point to ensure qualification.
So Mr. Rajevac a.k.a Milo, kindly spare a few minutes of your time so that together we can review the match and strategize ahead of the last group match against the Germans.  Here are my thoughts which I believe is representative of many a Black Star fan. And oh, don’t worry about the language, I would keep it very simple, you would not need Nenad Glisic to interpret.
LOOKING BACK
Milo, you know what, one question that has been on my mind since the referee blew the final whistle is how for 65 odd minutes, when we had one man advantage, you did not change your formation to a more offensive one. Milo, don’t you think it would have served us better playing two strikers rather than leaving Asamoah Gyan alone upfront. Gyan’s efforts were just not enough to overcome the combined efforts the Aussie’s central defenders Craig Moore and Lucas Neill.
Milo, you should have taken a leaf from Greek coach Otto Rehhagel’s book. In their game against Nigeria, coach Otto Rehhagel quickly substituted a defender, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, and threw in Celtic striker Georgios Samaras clearly to put more pressure on the Nigerians after Sani Kaita had been sent off. This ensured that Nigeria’s offensive threat was neutralized and Greece went ahead to win the match 2-1 from a goal down. That’s the way to go Milo, way to go. In our case however, you stuck to the 4-2-3-1 formation, indeed at a certain period, the Aussies looked so comfortable like they were the team with the one man advantage. Milo, I think you need to be more flexible and adapt formations to suit match situations.
Milo, have you realized that 12 games and counting, the Black Stars have not scored more than one goal in a match. Indeed, it’s even worse when the Stars concede first; we end up losing, the best being a draw. Milo, this very discouraging. Ghanaians have aptly captured our lack of bite upfront as the ‘One Goal Project’. This ‘Project’ got us to the finals at the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola in January alright, but it was not without tense and anxious moments. The situation doesn’t seem to be improving at the World Cup. In fact, it’s worse as the team has failed to score from open play, rather relying on two Asamoah Gyan converted penalties to secure four points. Curiously in both situations, the penalties came about as a result of hand ball situations by opposing players in the penalty box. May be we should term this one ‘Hand of God Project’. The Big Man up there is probably helping us out seeing our helplessness.
Indeed, Ghanaians wouldn’t mind another penalty victory so far as it ensures a second round qualification. But there in lies the problem Milo, we leave winning our matches very thin. It has been said in certain football quarters that for a team to secure any decent result against Milovan’s Stars, you only have to score at least one goal and you are home and dry because the Stars would not score more than one and with respect to this tourney, just keep your hands down and the Stars would not score. Hmmm!!! Ghanaians are not amused at all Milo, you have to do something and you must do it quick. Please feel free to digest the following suggestions ahead of the German game.
LOOKING FORWARD
Ahead of the German game, two issues need to be addressed if the Stars are to come out unscathed: Improve the attack and boost the central defense. When the Stars lost Chelsea’s Michael Essien through injury, many thought the Stars were going to struggle in the middle of the park, however new boy Kevin Prince Boateng has linked up pretty well with Anthony Annan to ensure that the screws have been tight in midfield. Milo, credit to you for having the vision to put Kevin in the ‘Essien’ role. However, coming off the Australia game, it is evident that upfront, Asamoah Gyan needs help; it is evident that Prince Tagoe’s role would be more useful in a central role than working fruitlessly on the wings, switch Andre Ayew to the right and play Muntari or Owusu-Abeyie on the left. It is also evident that Kwadwo Asamoah is not himself and needs to be operating fully fit.
Considering that the Germans play a similar system, with Thomas Mueller and Lukas Podalski running the wings and the slippery Mesut Oezil likely to play behind Cacau, who would likely replace the suspended Miroslav Klose, it is absolutely essential that our defense would play out of their skins on Wednesday night. Milo, tell your medical team to work overnight to bring back defense ace John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah to full fitness. Lee Addy and Jonathan Mensah clearly displayed their naivety and the Germans, who need to win to avoid elimination, would not be that forgiving.
A QUESTION OF TACTICS
This World Cup has clearly shown that the gap between the so called established football nations and minnows has greatly narrowed and that the team that picks the right formation and deploys players to their strength is the team that wins. The Germans are thus very beatable only if the right formation and changes are made at the right time. So Milo, like the saying goes, the ball is your court. I’ll take a break now and allow you to ponder over these thoughts. Catch you on Wednesday night.
NII AYITEY TETTEH
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