The Black Meteors were walloped by the Young Atlas of Morocco in the ongoing AFCON U23 tournament at the Prince Abdellah Stadium.
On the back of beating, Congo in the first game, the onus laid on the technical team and the playing body to continue right from where they left off in their first game.
Three changes were made, Emmanuel Yeboah, Salim Adams, and Hafiz Ibrahim replaced Afriyie Barnieh, Emmanuel Essiam, and Sylvester Simba in the starting berth against the silky Moroccan outfit and what followed after that was purely calamitous.
In this piece, I chronicle a few observations from the game that saw us lose heavily at the expense of our opponents.
To start with, the technical make-up of the team which embodies, Coach Tanko, Godwin Attram, and Michael Osei need to apologize for the disastrous performance they put out and hope to pacify Ghanaians with an improved result against Guinea on Friday.
I am sure the whole team is currently down but there is little time to moan over spilled milk, the damage has already been caused. They have a few days to turn things around, a recovery on Wednesday and training on Thursday, and a day later the game proper, that’s when the technical team and the psychologist of the team have lots to do in psyching the boys for the task ahead. It’s not easy to come back from a 5 -1 pummeling but they need to make a major statement against Guinea or face an early exit from the tournament.
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One thing that runs through most national teams is the long haul it takes for them to settle in games, this impression needs to be remedied as soon as possible moving forward. Our lapse in concentration and complacency that saw us concede two late goals against Congo in regulation time was evident against the Young Atlas. We conceded two goals in the opening seven minutes and the third at the 30th-minute mark, a worrying trend that needs a quick resolution. You hear people say, oh “For Ghana, we take a lot of time to settle in games, and that takes almost 15-2-0 minutes” before the team settles into its structure. An opposition that starts well, and possesses a better game plan and tactics will always capitalize on your frailties.
Fatawu Issahaku. A player that splits opinions on both edges of the table. Many a time, the recurring question is where to play him on the attacking third of the pitch, whiles some have played him out wide because of his blistering pace and attacking skill set, others also resorted to playing him centrally, in the opening game, he started wide before he was thrust into the middle, where he pre-assisted the Meteors’ opening goal, he nearly scored a belter from a long range but for the post he missed out on what would have contended for the goal of the tournament. I think the young man has a lot to learn in the game, if he’s playing out wide, he has to take on opponents, cross more, and cut in from the flanks as well. The other times, he takes too much in releasing the ball when his teammates are in a better position to make good use of the ball, tends to overdo some of the dribbles which causes the team most times when it’s in possession. Hopefully, the technical team pick up on that trait and tinker with his game to suit the national objective of the team.
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Another thing I’m yet to come to terms with is the lack of squad depth and the impact our substitutions had on the game. Coach Tanko effected two changes bringing on Emmanuel Essiem and Daniel Afriyie-Barnieh who both started the first game and dropped for the second game for Salim Adams and Nsobilla Dominic but had minimal impact as the team trailed their host by 4-1 at the point of their entry. It was as though the technical team was bereft of ideas on what to do, just throwing on every available player they felt could impact the game, and that backfired in their faces.
Finally, I don’t know if playing the host nation had a thing on our boys, they gave the opposition far too much respect in the game, they couldn’t settle properly on their shape and structure, missed out on most of the second balls, barely strung passes perfectly, sloppy in build-up and possession. It was just dire watching our boys play
The Black Meteors have all to play for against their West African opponents, Guinea, anything bar a win will mean an early exit from the competition they have been tagged to win.
