When Inaki Willimas announced his nationality switch back in June 2022, Ghanaians welcomed the news with immense joy.

Some claimed that the Black Stars now have a proven target man, if not cut in the mode of Asamoah Gyan, with diverse qualities to lead in the lines.

But life at the Black Stars has been far more difficult for Inaki, contrary to what Ghanaians anticipated.

Inaki is still waiting for his first goal in a Black Stars shirt after five matches. Due to his struggles, some Ghanaians are beginning to have doubts about the players' abilities.

The Athletic Bilbao forward has become topical following his huge miss against South Korea, which luckily fell to Kudus Mohammed, who converted and gave Ghana a needed first win at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

His miss did not go under the radar as some Ghanaians, who have run out of patience chastised.

Obviously, Inaki has not lived up to the hype, but there are some key factors that have contributed to his difficulties that should be highlighted.

Here are the three reasons why Inaki has not lived up to expectations

Good movement but poor chemistry

Inaki's major problem with the Black Stars has been chemistry. The forward has been excellent with his movements and runs in behind, but the balls to locate him are either delayed or not accurate.

It has been evident in the games he has played. Team chemistry and getting to understand his movement will certainly improve over time and when it is sorted, everything will fall into place.



Lack of movement and space creation in Ghana's attacking third

Modern games are typified by movements and space creation and that's a problem with this Black Stars side.

Whereas Inaki has been moving quite well and creating spaces, those are most of the time, not occupied and left unattended to.

In the game against South Korea, Thomas Partey on more than five occasions had to gesture in frustrations over the inactivity of Ghana's forward line.


Victim of Black Stars' system

The Black Stars system is also another problem to pinpoint. Ghana's system prioritizes defense, which isolates Inaki as the lone striker and is expected to win aerial duels and hold up play.

On the contrary, Inaki lacks the stature to compete and win aerial duels when the team decides to go long. The only time he exhibits a good hold-up play is when the ball is at his feet.

Therefore, the defensive approach limits Inaki's involvement in play and he tends to have fewer touches in games.

Pressure to get off the mark

The hype around his switch and beginning his international career with a long drought seems to have putten Inaki under pressure.

He came close to scoring against Portugal after playing smart on goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, but he was in a hurry to put the ball at the back of an empty net and unfortunately tripped. The Portuguese recovered and cleared their line.

And against South Korea, he was close to grabbing the winner for Ghana. Gideon Mensah cut back a cross for him in the box. At the moment, all he needed was to calmly get the right touch but instead miscued the ball as Kudus slotted it from the other angle.


Hence, in as much as the Black Stars need to improve in the aforementioned areas, Inaki Williams needs to get his head at the right and not rush things.

Watch an episode of Sights and Scenes from Qatar below



Watch an episode of Sights and Scenes from Qatar below



EE/BOG