Tactically Incorrect!

I wouldn’t say my heart was broken by the performance the Black Stars put up at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Wednesday. Personally, they need to be congratulated because, i think they have come too far in the African Cup of Nations tournament and as patriotic and passionate that I am, I had no option than to support them this far and will even support them come Saturday, the 9^th of February, when they play their third or fourth place with the hawks of Togo.

However, I am sad because some group of persons is playing with the emotions of the numerous football loving Ghanaians and it’s not amusing anymore. Ghana is currently ranked at twenty-six in the FiFA/Coca-Cola World ranking  as against ninety-six for the Stallions of Burkina Faso and it really doesn’t make sense the way they outplayed the Black Stars team and dominated the game especially in the extended thirty minutes of their one-twenty minutes duel.

Football has changed but the word pedigree hasn’t. It has even become enriched and more worthy of the meaning it bears. History has never really helped anybody but it can’t be omitted from our discourse, after all, nothing happens in isolation. Ghana has a very rich football history ahead of the Stallions, not to talk about the two times we have participated in the FIFA WORLD CUP competitions, the various juvenile world tournaments, numerous African Cup of nations we have won, and the kind of leagues our players feature in, one would have excepted a demolition from the Black Stars but Alas!

There was nothing technical or planned about the way the Black stars played. They were just playing with one simple mind; not to allow a goal or at best, score one to their opponents, and that was enough to engage them for the one-twenty minutes they were going back and forth on the playing field. The team lacked character on the field with the exception of a couple of them. They looked despaired, worn out and psychologically inept. Most of them were assigned different roles which did not bring the very best in them and to think that we were experimenting at a tournament where stakes are so high is unthinkable.

A manager of an entity should be allowed to carry out his day to day activities in peace devoid of influence from any quarters unless otherwise, as long as the company’s objectives have clearly been clarified and handed over to him, but no one looks on while he does things wrongly, and if truly, it’s the tax payer’s money that pays them, then we the shareholders can at least say our mind, even if it won’t be used as a working tool.

Generally, black stars as a team can win a match on a very good day even without a coach. These players are already good and playing in top notch teams and have a lot of exposure and experience but may lack the ability to instill discipline among themselves with regards to training, selection, mentoring and other related activities hence the need for a coach and it is just practical for everyone to see the added-value he brings to the team.

In that, the Manager of the Black Stars may know what he’s doing but I think he lacks the art of imparting it, just like we all have had so many teachers and lecturers in times past but only some were able to teach us by really communicating to us. Some usually lack the know-how of the art even though they are well vested in the art, so by implication, I am saying that he may know his work but he lacks the ability to express it and the earlier we all know that teaching is an art and can only be effective if the teacher has mastered the art of teaching, the better for us. Simply put, not all teachers can teach.

Right from our opening match, that lackluster performance was displayed by our Black Stars when we saw the Congolese equalized the two goals we had scored earlier which continued through their subsequent games. Even though, they won all their matches with the exception of last night’s, they were always given a raw deal by their opponents.

These players must be made to understand that we are about twenty-five and counting million Ghanaians from far and wide and it will be edifying for them to know that accepting invitations to play for Ghana is not a favour they are extending to us but a platform and a privilege extended to them to make name for themselves by glittering and dazzling like the stars they are supposed to be.

It is not enough to always reach the medal zone thus raising the hopes of the nation in whose interest they are competing only to deflate our bulging and increasing happiness. This would have been the fifth consecutive times Ghanaians have gotten to the medal zone only to be defeated from the year 2008 when Ghana hosted the African cup of Nations. In our various works, when we do not perform, we are either made to pay by stalling our promotion or some are made to forfeit some of the perks they would have enjoyed. In extreme cases, you were asked to serve some kind of punishment, so why does it look different when it comes to our national teams? Are they not working for mother Ghana? Why do they keep calling them back? Is that all we have as a nation? 

I don’t think any player is indispensable and players should not be called up into the teams because of their long stay or age. Every Ghanaian player plying his trade either here in Ghana or any part of the world must be given the chance to justify their inclusion and selected on merit not forgetting their current form and the teams or leagues in which they play. We have to desist from inviting players on name basis or your past achievement. The stallions had ordinary players who were hungry for laurels and every one could attest to that by saying ‘the stallions deserved a win’. Yes, they deserved to win because right from the second half, the odds have been against them which saw one of their goals disallowed and one of their players sent off.

It’s time the syndicate at the GFA is shuffled or changed to bring in results. We want results and it’s achievable by all means necessary. The cup drought that has hit the Black Stars is flooding our senses, we want a change. We don’t want to go into tournaments hoping and wishing to win. We always need that mental build up and psychological prepared to win at all times and they didn’t have to hold press conferences for us to discern their seriousness because it will be evidenced on the park like we saw in the Stallions.

Ghana Black Stars and their handlers must rise above mediocrity and give us a renewed energy and psyche to rally behind them because no one likes a team which lacks purpose. We want our heads raised up above the waters, that is why the Ghanaian team which will pass as the worst of our time needs to be reviewed and the necessary changes effected. We want players who are passionate like Bance who will be seen all over to the delight of everyone. I can’t say much than to wish them well in their third place match which comes off on Saturday.