It appears Black Stars head coach Milovan Rajevac has started blame game ahead of the match against Morocco on Monday. The Serbian tactician has stated that players reporting to camp late has affected his plans for the tournament. The absence of majority of the players has not been the best for strategic preparations. It becomes arduous for a coach to embark on tactical work with few players.
“Unfortunately this decision from FIFA to allow players to stay in their clubs in this period affected our plans for the preparation since most of the time we didn’t have many players to work with. Many training sessions we had 7 or 8 players and 3 goalkeepers so it’s very difficult to do some tactical work to prepare the team the way we planned in the beginning.”
The decision by FIFA and CAF to allow African players stay with their respective clubs till January 3, 2022, has not been the best in terms of preparations for the tournament. The decision did affect plans of all participating teams as they had to reschedule traveling and camping arrangements.
Black Stars, for instance, had to leave Ghana for Doha, Qatar, with five local players. The number later increased as days go by. The day for departure got changed as they were looking at how to get the numbers before they hit the gear running.
Obviously Milovan Rajevac has a genuine concern to worry about, in relation to when players were allowed to join their National teams. Early preparations as put together by the team could have made a great deal for the coaches and their players.
It is however compelling to state that, the decision by FIFA and CAF has affected all National teams and that cannot be the yardstick for any individual coach. Coaches have had to improvise because of the repercussions.
Milovan Rajevac and his back room staff must focus on putting things together and get the best out of the players.
The outcome of yesterday’s game must inform them of what is left for the team to surge and excel on Monday. There were many loopholes which ought to be repaired as a matter of urgency. The timing and decision are not the only major factors that could account for a team’s dreadful performance in the tournament.
All teams are bearing the heat associated with the decision and that cannot be the basis for Milovan Rajevac to exhibit incompetence in the competition.
Content created and supplied by: Abdul-Jalilu (via Opera
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