Appiah needs Mali win to satisfy fair-weather Ghanaian supporters

In a country where its football fanatics think Ghana has a birthright to win every football match against all teams, against all odds, Coach Kwasi Appiah has a daunting task as the Black Stars play Mali in the second Group B match in the ongoing Nations Cup tournament.

For many of those fans, a win is a must for Appiah in the game against Mali lest he begin writing his salutations of a resignation letter from a local coach who showed much promise but delivered little.

If the current string of draws in the tournament means anything at all to Ghanaians, we must begin to appreciate that no team came to South Africa for holidays or a stroll on the park just to be walloped and go back home.

Each team came on merit with a desire like that of Ghana, to win the trophy and go back home to put smiles on the faces of their passionate fans. That point must be emphasized to all who think that merely because Ghana is part of the tournament it must win it at all costs.

I agree that 31 years without a trophy is too long. We must break the jinx, but the needless pressure and occasional outright insults being hurled at the coach and the team is not the way to go.

Apart from goal keeper Fatau Dauda, not a single Black Stars player in the match against DR Congo played to the maximum. They all struggled. Yet a more experienced DR Congo team, managed by an even more experienced coach Claude Le Roy, could only manage a draw. They had to come from behind late in the game to secure that putcpme. For this result, Le Roy has been applauded as a master tactician who put up a messianic performance against Ghana.

On the contrary, Kwasi Appiah, who we say is largely inexperienced and who has assembled a relatively inexperienced team- though he had few options to do it any other way- has come under a barrage of criticism and threats from his own people because he drew his first game against an experienced team and an experienced coach. Hmmm. Football will always be illogical. His cross to bear is that he is coach for Ghana and he must win all his matches. And he must begin with Mali.

Four key issues came up in the match against DR Congo and a solution to all will be key as Ghana looks forward to their game against Mali on Thursday.

The first is Kwadwo Asamoah. The deployment of the Juventus star at left full back will always remain a topical issue but the point here is this: without speaking to Coach Akwasi Appiah, I have a funny feeling-and it may be wrong- that he has a headache deploying Christian Atsu, Wakasu Mubarak, Rabiu Mohammed and Kwadwo Asamoah in the same game.

I shudder to think what would have happened if Dede Ayew were to be part of the team. All these players have something in common. They are all skillful with their cultured left feet, and they are great passers, dribblers and playmakers as well.

It is always difficult deciding who to start and who to drop, not because one lacks the guts to do that as a coach but because each player could be a game changer at any point in time.

So the plan is as follows: Kwadwo Asamoah has some experience playing at left full back at Juventus. Ghana has a problem with our left full back. Why can’t we improvise and get Asamoah to fill that position; get him to join the attack at some point whilst defending at the same time. With that, we can have Wakaso and Atsu all starting at the same. What a repertoire of attacking line that is? And it worked perfectly in the two friendly games against Egypt and Tunisia as well as the game against DR Congo at some point. We have scored nine goals in our last three matches. Haven’t we? The problem in our last game was that we failed to cover up for Asamoah anytime he burst forward. And that left our defence exposed. 2-2 was not exactly the results the Ghana team expected but if I were, Appiah I would still maintain the current strategy, only with strict orders for the defensive midfielder to pay close attention to the left of defence. But I doubt that this will happen because it is a risk for which Ghanaians will not forgive Appiah if it fails.

The second issue is the central defensive pair of John Boye and Jerry Akaminko. It did not work on the day against DR Congo. I fell in love with Akaminko because of his confidence and his ability to initiate attacks from defence. But against DR Congo he was lost. His tackles were suspect and his needless shirt tagging, never mind how little it was, proved costly to the Stars. If Isaac Vorsah is fully fit, I would love to see him back in a partnership with Boye.

The third issue is the defensive midfield role. Derek Boateng on a good day is good but on a bad day is terrible. I am not one of those who thinks he had a terrible game against DR Congo. Like I said earlier, the whole team failed to jell and it would be unfair to lay the blame on the doorstep of Derek Boateng. In spite of his average performance, I remember his pass to Asamoah Gyan,early in the game that the Al Ain striker wasted. Maybe Anthony Annan, if fully fit, could start ahead of Derek, but I believe the latter has a role to play in every game.

Finally, our lone ranger up front -Asamoah Gyan. He was slow and lacked confidence on many occasions, but he still remains our best shot in attack. Rather than focusing on the usual tag of the doomsday striker that many have attached to him, we must look him as that striker against US in the 2010 World Cup; the striker against Angola, Nigeria all in the 2010 African Cup. Strikers mess up chances, even the best of them. Any serious employer who wants the best from his employee will not subject him to the most undignified insult and threat at the least mistake and still expect him to deliver.

If you want the best from our players, support and constructive criticism are what they need, not insults and threats.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for hopefully better game against Mali.