Stephen Gyamfi

Washington DC, USA.

Let me make a mea culpa; I am not much of a football coach, much less an expert. But the current player-selection and formation strategies being employed by the Black Stars vis-à-vis coach Rajevac in the ongoing World Cup 2010 have caused me to question whether these tactics have been smart. My answer is unequivocally no, as Ghana has not been able to score a single goal, but for the ones gained through penalty kicks.

First, Asamoah Gyan is doing well but could do even better if provided support in the frontline in the persons of either Mathew Amoah or Dominic Adiyia to put pressure on the opponent’s defence. The so-called 4-4-1-1-lineup strategy being used by Ghana has been an abysmally failure- resulting in the Stars not being able to score goals.

Forget about coach Milovan Rajevac not supposedly emoting with Ghana’s win over Serbia; effective team selection and strategies would be the key to the Stars advancing to the knockout stages of the World Cup. Hence, the high-scoring teams such as Brazil, Germany and Argentina, always have, at least, 2 to 3 strikers on the frontline putting constant pressures on their opponents.

Second, the seeming inability or unwillingness of Ghana’s coach to make key substitutions when they matter most leaves much to be desired. Otherwise, why would coach Rajevac be making changes with just few minutes to the end of the game? What effective contribution can a substitute player make with only 3 minutes left in the game?

Last, coach Rajevac must understand that experience matters. Fielding well-tested players such as Muntari and Appiah even as substitute in a timely manner could bring the needed momentum the Stars need to catapult to the next level.

Long Live the Black Stars, Long Live Ghana; Long Live the Great Ghana Fans!