Hearts of Oak are the official draw masters of this season’s Ghana Premier League.
If in doubt, you only need to look at the numbers.
Sunday’s goalless draw with Young Apostles was the sixth for the Phobians in just eleven league matches.
Hearts have scored only eight goals this season. If you think that’s bad, consider this: those eight goals were scored in just five matches.
That means Didi Dramani’s men have failed to score in six of their eleven league matches.
To put matters into context, when Asante Kotoko put four past Karela United two weeks ago, they achieved half of Hearts of Oak’s goal tally for the season (eight).
But it is not just the fact that Hearts are not scoring goals.
Flat-track bullies
They are only scoring against the league’s weakest sides.
When Hearts beat Dreams F.C. in Tema, Dreams were second from bottom at the time of the defeat. In fact, it was in the period when Dreams F.C. were losing every game, five defeats in their opening seven league matches.
The Phobians’ next win was against Eleven Wonders. Wonders were bottom of the league at the time of their defeat to Hearts – and have since remained there. They are still without a win after eleven matches – eight losses and three draws.
Next was Berekum Chelsea, who, like the Phobians’ previous opponents, were also in a sticky wicket at the time the two sides met. Chelsea had managed just one win and two defeats in their opening four matches before facing Hearts. From then on, they won one and lost three of their next five league games, including the defeat to Hearts of Oak.
Hearts of Oak’s last win was against Holy Stars, and they are currently 17th on the 18-team league table.
That trend portrays Hearts as flat-track bullies who only excel against the league’s weakest opponents.
It is not, in itself, a bad idea. If Hearts beat every team that they are supposed to – which is 99% of its opponents, they win the league.
The problem, however, is that Hearts are not winning enough, and the few teams they are beating are the league’s weakest opponents.
Why are Hearts not scoring?
When you watch the highlight reels, Hamza Issah’s miss against Dreams F.C. and Frank Duku’s miss against Swedru All Blacks suggest a misfiring team.
However, there is a reason those are the only clear-cut chances you would see from eleven matches. Hearts are simply not creating enough chances.
They do get into some promising situations. That is not in doubt.
What they are not able to do, however, is find an unmarked attacker in the box to create a clear, goalscoring opportunity.
Hearts of Oak simply do not do that enough.
Besides the poor quality of the final deliveries, Hearts do not sustain attacks long enough to create the kind of momentum that forces goals.
It explains their gradual slip away from the title hopefuls. It is the price for Hearts of Oak’s impotence.
Impact of their impotence
Hearts are now five points behind league leaders, Aduana Stars, after failing to win any of their last three league matches.
Last week, Didi Dramani highlighted the need to score more frequently.
At the moment, it is hard to see where the goals from given the remarkably poor scoring options.
Mawuli Wayo and Hamza Issah, the club’s top scorers this season, have scored two goals each. Hussein Mohammed, Enoch Asubonteng, George Paaku, and Frank Duku are the club’s other goal scorers, with each scoring once.
The Phobians’ next three matches are against Vision F.C. (home), Karela (away), and Nations F.C. (home).
For now, the walls remain where they are.
But the voices of dissent, who were amplified to defeating levels in the week of the 0-1 home loss to Asante Kotoko, are quietly becoming a chorus.
That is why, for his own sake, Didi Dramani needs to turn the corner before he gets turned over.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.