Ghanasoccernet.com columnist Nii Ayitey Tetteh conducts a navel-gazing exercise into the Black Stars dour barren with Sudan in the Nations Cup qualifier.
If you were asked what emotion filled you after the 2012 Africa Nations Cup qualifier between Ghana’s Black Stars and Sudan’s Desert Hawks at Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on October 10, 2010, what would your answer be?
Disappointment, frustration or dejection? I bet it would be fulfillment or delight if you were Sudanese huh! Well, the match ended scoreless but for the Sudanese, it felt like a victory after executing to perfection a well rehearsed strategy in closing down the Stars. No wonder they celebrated with careless abandon after the match.
In spite of the fact that the Black Stars still lead Group I with 4 points having a better goal difference than Sudan who are on the same points, many questions have been asked. Yes, questions not criticisms, just questions, after all it’s just a temporary blip.
Even established football teams occasionally produce such lackluster performances right? So, no need for hard hitting criticisms, just a couple of soft questions requiring soft answers to allay fans’ apprehension.
Team:
Caretaker coach Kwesi Appiah would invariably be a target for a section of fans for the Black Stars’ uninspiring output.
But in as much as I empathized with the ‘king of cool’, I could not help feeling that he had contributed to the situation.
Mr. Appiah, why is that when you were playing against a relatively weaker side on home soil with all the advantages, you still chose to stick with the highly defensive system bequeathed you by your ex-boss Milovan Rajevac.
Mr. Appiah, as intransigent as Rajevac was, he learnt that he had to vary his formation as per the opposition.
You should have taken a cue from Milovan’s last game against Swaziland when he abandoned his love affair with 4-2-3-1 for a more attacking minded 4-4-2 formation.
Okay, Mr. Appiah, granted you perceived in your wisdom to pursue continuity with the 4-2-3-1 formation, why did you not at least start out with the players accustomed to the system ala Emmanuel Agyemang Badu and Prince Tagoe?
Instead, you chose to start Bernard Kumordzi and Jordan Ayew, who though very gifted, clearly struggled to fit into the system. Oh Mr. Appiah!
How I wished you won this match even by half a goal. You know what; this result only gives further ammunition to foreign coach advocates to further beat down local coaches.
Not so fast though, even Rajevac lost his first match in Libya, but unfortunately for you Mr. Appiah, you are one of our own and a different rule applies.
The ‘rule’ states that for our own kind, there can be no patience. Sad, very sad indeed.
But Mr Appiah, not to worry, the players have questions to answer too. On the day, there was so much tactical indiscipline it reminded me of football back in primary school.
Okay, that is pushing it a bit too far, I take it back, but folks, how professional footballers could play with total disregard to tactical organization raised more questions.
Could it be that the coach did not have any tactical plan (which is hard to believe) or the players simply abandoned it and decided to roam the field as they wished?
If it is the latter, then it would only reinforce the notion that local coaches would not be respected by the foreign based players. Hmm!!! If the players disagree, let’s recap their performance.
Richard Kingson: You cannot question his output neither can you commend him because he was not tested by the Sudanese. It was a boring day for the Blackpool goalkeeper. On a scale of 1-10, I would give him a 5.
John Paintsil: One question for you Johnny boy. Why were your crosses so poor? Well, since you did not cause any major defensive lapses on the day, I would give you a 4.
Hans Adu Sarpei: How does he keep churning out one disciplined performance after another? He played it simple, tackled and joined the attack cautiously. I would give him a 5.5.
John Mensah: Dude was very sluggish on the day. He played like he had been dragged onto the field. To make matters worse, he made one touch too many in central defense and if the Sudanese strikers had been sharper, they could have punished the Stars. Mensah’s disinterest was so evident that when the team needed a leader, he was visibly lost. Mensah gets a 3.
Isaac Vorsah: Make no mistake, this six foot plus player is imposing in defense but his ability to read the game was seriously lacking on the day. Too many times he was caught making bad judgements. Vorsah gets a 4.
Anthony Annan: On a personal level, it was not a bad outing for Annan, but his partnership with Kumordzi did not flourish allowing the Sudanese to completely seize the midfield. Annan gets a 6.
Bernard Kumordzi: I was excited to see him start but the fact that he did nothing out of the ordinary and with the team being off colour, it made him look bad until he was substituted. Kumordzi gets a 4.5 for his efforts.
Kwadwo Asamoah: The only bright spot on the day. His industry and urgency was admirable. Created a lot of openings and won many free kicks which were wasted. Good game but one advice for Kwadwo, please stay away from the corner kicks. It’s not your forte. Kwadwo gets a 7.5
Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew: He was tightly marked from the beginning but as the game wore on, he found a way of freeing himself except that he overindulged when he had the ball. Dede gets a 5.
Jordan Ayew: The young man clearly showed potential but that was as far as it went. He tried and in fact got in a couple of decent crosses but faded when the going got tough. His big brother Dede should also advise him to tackle a little more. His promotion might have been premature. Jordan gets a 4.5
Asamoah Gyan: The red card summed up his night; frustrating! Gyan actually got himself into a couple of decent scoring positions but on those occasions he delayed unnecessarily and wasted the chances. ‘Baby Jet’ needs to stay off music and refocus on football. Seems like he is becoming complacent. His frustration got the better part of him and thus the red card for pushing a Sudanese player in retaliation. Gyan gets a 3.
The Subs: Emmanuel Agyemang Badu replaced Bernard Kumordzi but apart from injecting pace into the game, he did not add anything significant. And oh! Emma, last time I checked the post was still located on the field not in the stands. He gets a 4.5 for his efforts. Emmanuel Clottey came in for Andre Ayew and showed good ball movement but no killer instinct. He gets a 5. Prince Tagoe also replaced Jordan Ayew but was missing for long stretches; he was virtually a ghost on the field. He gets a 3.
The Management:
I heard in some quarters that the team played badly in protest of unpaid bonuses. Well, I don’t believe it but what I believe is that psychologically it may have played a part.
So, management also has a couple of questions to answer. How is it that 3 months after the world cup, bonuses are still outstanding?
Until March 2011 when the Stars play Congo in the next qualifier, would management appoint a foreign coach or Kwesi Appiah would be given another chance as a foreign coach would have been given?
Would a world class coach be employed or another journeyman would be given the job?
Well, the questions are many and until we have answers, I have one more for you. How did you rate the Stars last night?
Nii Ayitey Tetteh