African Cup of Nations’ Evaluation & Projections toward the WC

They are the lifeblood of the Ghana Football. As the Apostle Paul said in Acts 2:47, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” When I had the privilege of speaking to other football gurus, they tell me what if the country doesn’t have the constant flow of new young-blood coming into this area of sports the Black Stars will become full of experienced players without the passion. We can disagree or agree on this statement, but the fact is that “there is no a single manufacturing company without a warehouse,” as the National Head Pastor of the church of Pentecost in Austria, Pastor Obeng Eshun once said. Show me a church in which new believers are not coming in, and I will show you a church that is stagnating. Basically, every society needs to have youth because they are the ones who have vibrancy and life to take over when the going gets tough.
The Ghana Black stars, despite being branded the underdog throughout the series came on strong and appeared unstoppable till the last five minutes of the final match. Upon all the odds against them, albeit, parading bunch of inexperience but soccer warriors, plus all the hullabaloos that hit the stars camp before the games, these young men, simply put, were unstoppable. Collectively, they determined to die a little, to go the extra mile to put smiles on our faces. They deserve the 'hero praises'.

As the title of my article pre-suggest, the intent is not only to alert or draw Milo's attention to his suspicious technical abilities, but also to put his whole body frame on his toes about the way many of us think, he has been under utilizing and mismanaging his selection and the substitution strategies. An evidence of a statement below is based on Milovan’s own comment during the final match interview. According to him, Dominic Adiyiah could have delivered with the same level of perfection in the game; however, it was too late.
Does the coach have this confidence in Adiyiah? Then what happened? Why couldn’t he used Adiyiah and Asamoah Gyan up-front in some of the matches, but rather, ignored him throughout the entire tournament? Why Milovan sat the young striker; even though, he knew the player was capable to perform to his, coach’s, satisfaction?
Why Milovan used Opoku Agymang throughout the entire tournament when he knew Adiyiah could have contributed too? Even Silas Tetteh, the Under-20 team coach was able to know that Adiyiah is a better player than Opoku Agyemang and that was why Adiyiah was used often during the Under-20 WC. Allow me to come back to Opoku Agymang’s evaluation later.
Some fans were and even are still calling for discontinuation of Milovan’s contract as the head coach of the Ghana Black Stars due to his defensive tactic implemented during the CAN games. Those people or fans should cool down because reading a game isn’t as simple as we think. My understanding behind Milo’s defensive tactic against his African Nations’ opponents was due to the fact that none of these teams had dangerous strikers like Ivory Cost has. Yes, the defensive tactic applied by the coach worked for a while which most of us knew what was going to happen eventually when encounter a more experienced, prolific attacking nation.
The result at the end of the final match proved our educational guess in terms of the tactic the coach used. Contrary, this doesn’t mean he should be fired. Remember, the country has only four months to compete against the world’s best in the world’s stage tournament. In a sense, there is no time to replace a coach. Even though, his best wasn’t good enough, he did what needed to be done to the best of his knowledge from the resources at hand. Therefore, I plead to all to give the coach a second chance because even putting this youngsters’ team together and leading them to the finals, to me, has giving the country a solid foundation to build on. In other words, Milovan should be kept for now till the end of the WC. Evaluate him after that to see if there has been any improvement.
Talking about evaluation, the standing-in captain, Richard Kingson, the Black Stars’ back bone, is the most experienced goalkeeper the country has had for a long time. Kingson’s performance during this year’s CAN, proved beyond average and unless a disaster strikes, God forbid, the country certainly is in save hands. There is no fear when it comes to goal keeping because Olele, once again, has performed consistently.
The two back ups Milovan picked couldn’t be assessed but I’m sure they are not bad.
Samuel Inkoom, as all will bear me witness, has become a solid defender with his anticipation, over lapping and crossings. I wish the WC could have a team “B” separate tournament. The world would have seen that a true defender has surfaced. This young man has the zeal to maneuver and has become a threat to our opponents. Concerning the Black Stars right-full back position, like a friend said, “no problem” because the country has the two players it needs for the world stage, John Painstil and his back up, Samuel Inkoom.
Evaluating the country’s full backs, the weakest-link, a position, which, not long ago, was giving all Ghanaians’ headache before the Angola 2010 tourney, was the left-full back. Folks, how do you like it now? Are you satisfied?
Lord Hans Adu Sarpei has once again taken over, as usual. Ghana Football Association, (GFA) I say, thanks to you for listening to the fans and allowing Sarpei to become the missing rib to the defensive department of the team. As you can see, giving each other second chances has been the key to this success. In simple print, the fans cannot function without GFA and likewise. We need each other; no matter how you look at it. This goes to the players and the GFA as well. There will be no GFA without the players and vice versa.
His back-up, though should be Milovan’s concern from now till the WC. Ibrahim Ayew was seen couple of times as a suitable candidate to back Lord Sarpei, however, didn’t see much of him. Moreover, as a defender, height really counts. I know Ibrahim can play and should be shaped to back Essien instead. My recommendation is to have a telescopic apparatus on David Addy. I wrote about him and Samuel Ikoom immediately after the Under-20 WC as the main assist to then the strikers, Ransford Osei and Dominic Adiyiah. Therefore, if Samuel Inkoom has made it, I have no doubt about David Addy. He is tall, young and has the prerequisite to become a back up player to Hans Sarpei.
The Black Stars central half back was also a concern. Most of us have been pleading for Erick Addo’s rest from international assignments. We ask GFA and Milovan to understand this because we all want the country to prosper in the coming WC event. Eric Addo has served the country beyond his capabilities. No one doubts that. He has done very well as a patriotic citizen and needs to be rewarded for that. Contrary, as I mentioned in one of my articles last month, Milovan should allow him to rest for good internationally unless there is a drastic change in his performance. Eric Addo’s movement is not as sharp as it was four years ago.
As for now, Isaac Vorsah could be able to take that position effectively based on his recent performances. We all know, Vorsah is a midfielder even in his club, but it seems, Milovan has shaped him well to fit the puzzle. Do we need Lee Addy to stick around, you bet, upon all his petty, petty, mistakes which nearly cost the team a fortune in Angola? My question to all who agrees for the inclusion of Lee Addy to SA is if the player is shaking during CAN tournament, what do we think will happen during the WC tournament? This is Milovan’s job to continuously use Addy in international friendly matches so that his confidence level will reach the peak befor the WC games.
The central full back, of cause, has been mounted by the Rock, the team’s assistant captain, John Mensah. By the way, what happened to Jonathan Quartey and Jonathan Mensah? During the Black Stars encounter with Ivory Coast, we all saw the importance of height. This was the reason, Milovan brought in Lee Addy to pair with Isaac Vorsah. Therefore, in terms of the two Jonathans I’ll leave it to the public to debate on it.
Ghana Black Stars has had effective defensive midfielders for a while and it seems that every time a regular midfielder gets hurt, the country produces a new defensive midfielder to step in. The last time Michael Essien was hurt, Anthony Annan was discovered and now through Annan’s absence, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has been discovered. As in every competition, an experienced and fitted player will usually be picked over an inexperienced fitted player. Therefore, with this in mind, the country has Agyemang Badu to back up Anthony Annan in our defensive midfield position.
Opoku agyeman for his fighting spirit, and overall dedication to the team, I will say he is not bad, but not a Black Stars material. It was obvious on the field that he lacks the techniques on the big stage and has a lot to learn. I will advise Milovan to allow Opoku to grow a little while participating in Black Meteors matches instead. This is because he always runs with the ball straight into the opponent. Why fight to have possession of the ball then turn around to waste it? He lacks creativity and therefore is of no threat to an opponent. In the world cup, possessions of the ball will be a valuable commodity to the team and therefore, cannot afford to waste it. The country will need dangerous attackers and his performance during the African Cup of Nations indicated otherwise.
Prince Tegoe and Laryea Kingston have a battle in their hands. The right mid or the right wing position will need to be fielded before it becomes a burden on our shoulders. None of the youngsters demonstrated the capabilities of taking that position.
In terms of the 8th position, I didn’t see any of the young players taking it as well. Hopefully, Michael Essien’s surgery will heal fast and get well to give him ample time to join his colleagues for the sake of match fitness.
Can GFA tell the public the outcome of Prince Beateng’s documents? If nothing has been done then I don’t see why. I suggest GFA keeps on pressing toward Prince Boateng’s citizenship. This is the time for them to concentrate on him and shouldn’t sit till the dying minutes before trying to speed up process. Derick Boateng should be surveyed too because Essien will need a back-up even though he is termed “Bison.”
Center forward, the Ghana Black stars striking position has been placed in the hands of Asamoah Gyan. Here, I don’t see any dispute except his back-up. If you ask Milovan this question he may probably respond with Matthew Amoah’s name. This is where most of us are questioning the coach’s substitutions abilities. Milovan insisted in using Matthew Amoah for the first three games in Angola and there was no improvement. Guess what, he used him again after all the evidence of poor performances from the striker. I said it and will continue to hit the nail until it sinks. Matthew Amoah’s inaccuracy is preventing him from doing well. The player had a clear shot against Ivory Coast in the 18 yard box and the ball almost went to throw. Including him to SA would be a waste!
I’m sorry to say it but I have to. If we can be honest with ourselves, we wouldn’t have being in this predicament. As the article mentioned in the fourth paragraph, Adiyiah should be given the opportunity to compete with Matthew Amoah to solve this striking problem. I believe Adiyiah has the edge over Amoah because, even though, Adiyiah is inexperience, he has the skills and the speed. Adiyiah, moreover, is accurate in both his passes and shootings and the Under-20WC games is the yard stick compared to Matthew Amoah’s. Therefore pairing him with Asamoah Gyan with a 4-4-2 formation would be deadly to any opponent in a sense that both have the skills and the speed to complement each other.
There is no other player in the Black Stars, both experienced and inexperienced, at the moment who could compete with Kwedwo Asamoah for the number ten position. Unless Appiah becomes a teenager again, I doubt his chances of taken the “Play-Maker” position away from the Midfield General, Kwedwo Asamoah. The young midfielder is skillful and has the vision to go with his qualities. As of now, I don’t think Stephen Appiah should be allowed to take part of the trip to SA.
Here is my reason. It will kill my soul to see Capito sitting on the bench. On the other hand, it will certainly be unfair to the country and also a punishment to the team to see him playing whilst the General is on the bench just because GFA and Milovan wants to do Appiah a favor. If such incident occurred, I don’t think GFA and Milovan will like the outcome at both on and off the pitch.
Andre Ayew has made a name for himself within these few six months. The media expects him to fit his father’s shoes but I will say the young man will need more time. Beside, I think we should allow him to tread his own path because he and his father definitely have different finger prints. In another words, we should allow him to develop his own style and stop comparing him with his father because they are not the same. A fact to this statement is that one is the father and the other is the son. At least, this should tell the differences between two.
Again, Andre has demonstrated the qualities to become a second back-up player to Sulley Ali Muntari behind Hamminu Dramanni at the left wing position. The young lad needs to know when to release the ball. I have been saying it severally in terms of his selfishness which is also one of his obstacles. With time, he should be able to learn and adjust to become a better player. At the moment, he should be directed to the Black Meteors for proper nurturing.
Funny hah, it is usually the new comers who want to do the most when they know the least. These young players’ little hearts, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, are full of zeal and passion but don’t understand the ground rules yet. They are too hot to be pushed aside but for the sake of Mother Ghana, we should close our eyes and do the right thing. Granted, the young players need the old players to stabilized them. They need old players to teach them. Likewise, the old players also need the younger ones. They need the younger ones’ zeal, passion and the excitement to remind them of what they have forgotten. This is the reason of mixing the experienced and inexperienced together.

In all things, get understanding, get wisdom.