GOING THE MILO WAY; THE ROUTE TO SOUTH AFRICA

I’ve got to admit that up to the Ghana-Benin game, I had a few doubts about the tactical expertise of Milovan Rajevac, but after the way the Black Stars defeated Mali in Bamako, I’ve got to hold my hand up and say that I have been proved wrong; but I am delighted that I have. Mali were always going to be Ghana’s most difficult opponents in Group D, and before the game there was much talk about how the likes of Frederic Kanoute, Mamadou Diallo and Seydou Keita among others were going to trouble the Black Stars, but Milo clearly had other ideas

First of all, he needed to protect the heart of Ghana’s defence and he did. I have always maintained that Michael Essien is one of the top three ‘policemen’ in the world in terms of protecting the back four. It must have been a massive relief for Milo that he turned up after a court case nearly wrecked his participation. With Anthony Annan at his side, the Kanoute threat was effectively nullified and that allowed John Mensah, who had a superb game at the back, Eric Addo, John Paintsil and Harrison Afful the time and space to clear the ball time and again. I mentioned in my last piece that pace is not an asset for both Mensah and Addo, but the work put in by Essien and Annan meant that positioning, and not pace was important and both central defenders showed excellence in positioning and awareness, another plus for Milo. Indeed, this proved crucial in the first twenty minutes when the Malians were all over the Black Stars.

Clearly Milo was playing a counterattacking game and with a formation which saw young star Opoku Agyemang, Kwadwo Asamoah and Prince Tagoe supporting Matthew Amoah upfront, the Black Stars were always going to be a danger attacking and so it proved when Tagoe set up Amoah, whose diving header cleared the bar. All in all, the work rate of the players was phenomenal; a far cry from the performance against Benin and every player played his part. Asamoah showed what an emerging talent he is with his ability to hold on to the ball and his goal has indeed made him an instant hero. Agyemang’s enthusiasm may have netted him a yellow card, but it kept the Malian defence busy and Tagoe’s work rate down the right was outstanding. Essien broke forward once and this resulted in a poacher’s finish by Amoah for Ghana’s second and this underlined the Chelsea star’s reputation as one of the world’s finest midfielders; he knew exactly when to stay put and when to attack

It wasn’t a pretty sight, but Milo’s tactics did the business and two wins out of two without a goal conceded is Ghana’s best ever start to any World Cup qualifying campaign. Besides, the points won are what matters. The Black Stars will go to Sudan highly confident and if they can play at least as well as they did against Mali, then the Ghana Football Association can start booking hotels for the team in South Africa.

I have to say that this win clearly shows that the days of over-reliance on certain players is a thing of the past and Milo himself will be delighted that he will have selection problems for Ghana’s remaining games. With the likes of Samuel Kyere, Isaac Vorsah, Samuel Inkoom, Junior Agogo, Joe Tex Frimpong among others waiting in the wings, it looks like Ghana is almost spoilt for choices.

Ah, I can hear most of you ask, but what about Sulley Muntari? Indeed what about Stephen Appiah? I will come to the Appiah issue in a moment, but first let’s take a look at Muntari. The Inter Milan star has blown hot and cold for Ghana in recent matches and until the emergence of Kwadwo Asamoah, looked far too comfortable when playing for the Black Stars. In other words, even though he is hugely talented, the fact remains that he has been inconsistent for both club and country. Now, I reckon Asamoah’s performance will give him a kick up the backside, make him fight for his position and thus help him understand that though he is important to the Black Stars, he is not indispensable to the team, as claimed by his mother in a recent interview with a Kumasi-based radio station.

Stephen Appiah is a legend for Ghana, no doubt about it. He made history as the first player to captain Ghana to its first World Cup and his displays for Ghana have, until his injury, been simply a pleasure to watch. I know that I have received heavy backlash from fans, fellow journalists and football big wigs on my views regarding Appiah’s inclusion in the Black Stars, but my position has not changed and I will restate it and give reasons. Appiah has not played competitive football for almost two years and as a result his sharpness is gone and he may be physically fit but not match fit. His fitness concerns have been well documented and that is why he has not been able to get a club yet, not to mention the small matter of 2.3 million euros, a sum owed Fenerbahce the moment he decided he wasn’t going to play for them anymore because the club had misdiagnosed his injury. Christophe Daum remains a huge admirer and his return to Fenerbahce as coach might see him attempt to bring Appiah back to finish his contract which expires next year. If and when that happens, the Ghana captain will regain match fitness, do a thorough check on his knee and return to the starting eleven for Ghana. Until then, I still believe that at best, because of his football brain, Appiah should study the game from the bench and come on in the last 15-20 minutes, rather than starting the match because of fitness concerns. If he is not adjudged fit enough to play, he can still travel with the team to inspire them, but Milo should pick players on merit, not on sentiment. A case in point is Junior Agogo, who is currently without a club and promptly lost his starting slot to Matthew Amoah, who but for injury would have been one of Africa’s top scorers in Europe. What is good for the goose……..

I will end by saying that even though the Bamako win hasn’t guaranteed Ghana qualification to South Africa, the journey has indeed been made easier and Milo and his coaching and playing staff only have to be consistent and the job will be done. It looks like the Serbian way is the way to go; after all, another Serbian, Ratomir Djukovic took Ghana to Germany 2006, and now the Black Stars are on course, using the Milo way.