Former Ghana international midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu says Ghanaian still appreciate the Black Stars team of the 2008 – 2017 vintage despite the fact that group failed to win any trophies for the Ghana national team.
Ghana hosted and reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) , reached the grande finale of the 2010 and 2015 editions. At the 2017 AFCON in Gabon , the Black Stars got to the semi-finals again.
“We could not win any Cups for Ghana but people still appreciate that Black Stars of our time than the current Black Stars. This is because we were working and the transition and the consistency was there” , Agyemang Badu told Fox FM.
The former Udinese player was quick to admit the individual quality available to head coach Chris Hughton as he wants the former Premier League manager to build a compact team rather than relying on individual brilliance.
“But let me say that there are plenty quality players in the current Black Stars but the problem is that , the team is based more on individual brilliance and so if some two or three of our talismans failed to show up or play well in our games then we struggle. That is the main issue we have now.”
There are also some new players in the team who needs time to adapt to our playing style and one of those is Inaki Williams. He is a fantastic striker at club side but he is struggling with the national. The team needs to understand his strength and help me adapt. He loves to make those forward runs but look at the midfielders we have playing behind him.
There are Salis (Abdul Samed) and Elisha who are known for passing the ball around and Kudus who also enjoys holding the ball , to try to dribble one or two opponents and do the one-two and so for Inaki who is playing with these type of midfielders , what he has to do to be draw back often to be involved in the play of the team else he will keep on making the runs but will receive less supplies.
The midfielders are not the type of players who will play those through balls for him to run into spaces to pick. So now the way forward is for the midfielders and Williams to build an understanding in order for him to start making impact in our games. At the moment looking at the team we have , we have to keep on relying on individual brilliance.” , Agyemang Badu concluded.
Ghana are placed in Group B at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Egypt , Mozambique and Cape Verde.
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