Kwasi Appiah’s Fair Share Of The “Blame Cake”

In sharp contrast to the heightened expectations of the Ghanaian football populace after the black stars impressively made the 2nd round and quarter final stages in their last two outings at the FIFA World Cup, coach Kwesi Appiah has been at the helm of what has been a shambolic performance, of a team embroiled in what has become a worldwide acclaimed drama series that even the renowned Adam's Apple writer, Shirley Frimpong Manso would be jealous of.

Yet in spite of the temptation to delve into the 'you may kiss the dollar' saga, that seems to have overshadowed the coach's own failings, this piece intends to fix the lens on the other sorrowful scenes (tactical and otherwise) that made Ghana the unexpected whipping boys of what was labeled the 'group of death' even before the 2014 edition had kick started.

Mind Boggling Decisions
Right from the beginning, the one thing that was certain was the fact that the Black Stars were going to need to be fully armed at the fullback positions to stand any chance of qualifying to the next stage of the Brazil tournament considering the quality of the opponent teams' wingers. Germany had the likes of Mario Gotze, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus (who got injured before the start of the tournament), Thomas Muller, Andre Schurlle and Lucas Podolski, and Portugal had Nani, Varela & Cristiano Ronaldo. So what was Kwesi Appiah's solution going to be?

The selection of the final 23-man squad for Brazil we were told was made with 'competence' being the hallmark, with Appiah himself explaining that each member of the squad should be world class and therefore be capable of holding their own against world class opposition otherwise they had no business being there.

Ironically though, he would go on to select only 6 natural defenders out of a possible 20 outfield player slots (3 of whom were fullbacks) and yet somehow have for each of the 3 group games,2 competent world class full backs on the bench whilst a midfield playmaker in the person of Kwadwo Asamoah wasted at the left back position. He had failed to plan and had disaster staring him in the face.

The fact that KA had 2 goalkeepers play in 3 world cup group games despite there being no injury concerns, on its own deserves all the flak it receives. Never mind the allegation by Adam Kwarasey that he was dropped minutes to the start of the Germany game even though he had been named in the first 11 hours before, and pay no mind to the claim that Asamoah Gyan and John Boye may have been the orchestrators of his demise, with the complaint that Adam could not communicate in the local language with his defenders.

Even if it were as reported, Boye would have been speaking for himself considering that all of the other defenders have in the past demonstrated a good command over the queen's language just as Kwarasey had, I still shudder to come to terms though with what language Fatau might have spoken to Boye to infuriate him so much as to make him go through with executing that horrendous technique that resulted in that own goal in our game against the Portuguese.

The crux of the matter however, is how come it was that KA could not make a decision on 2 goalkeepers, one of whom (Fatau Dauda) had been warming the bench at Orlando Pirates in South Africa and the other, (Adam Kwarasey) captain of Stromgodset in Norway who had just led his team to their first league title after 43 years and had been voted the best goalkeeper in the Tippeligaen. Jurgen Klinsman was able to settle on Jens Lehman as his number 1 choice despite the strong qualities of Oliver Khan before the 2006 World Cup, even though both were in-form top quality goalkeepers. KA on the other hand limbered up all the way to Brazil not knowing which hand to throw.

Failure to Groom a Competent Left Back
Having inherited a team with a full back problem as far back as Emmanuel Addoquaye Pappoe and the intermittently impressive John Paintsil, KA had his work vividly cut out for him as far as those positions were concerned. Since the 2006 world cup qualifiers till date (9 year period)as many as at least 18 players have either played in or been considered for this position including but not limited to the likes of Emmanuel Addoquaye Pappoe, Godfred Yeboah (TV3), Daniel Adusei, Hans Adu Sarpei, Habib Mohammed, Shilla Illiasu, Lee Addy, Nana Kwesi Asare, Daniel Opare, Harisson Afful ,Seth Owusu, Masahudu Alhassan, Abdul Razak Nuhu, David Addy, Kissi Boateng, Abdul Baba Rahman, Samuel Inkoom and Kwadwo Asamoah.

KA failed to groom a left full back when he took charge of the team and has been doing the rope-a-dope ever since. His former boss Goran 'Plavi' Stefanovich had thrown youngster Masahudu Alhassan onto the big Afcon stage in 2012 without featuring him in a single game (friendly or competitive) prior. A simple heads up would have sufficed, yet, the boy's potential was still obvious even if his jitters proved a match.

He grew in confidence as the tournament progressed but not for long, the Chipololo would boot the Black Stars out of the competition, this time with Lee Addy at left back and Masahudu relegated to the bench. Goran got his marching orders and Masahudu was to follow suit as KA who took over the post, had no interest in harnessing his potential.

Kwadwo Asamoah was to be his alternative at the Afcon 2013,at least we had to give Kwesi Appiah the benefit of the doubt considering he had played as a left back even for the Black Stars in his day, but this South African experiment failed, and badly too.

David Addy was then given a few call-ups along the way but his error against Montenegro in the final friendly prior to the naming of the 26 man provisional squad meant that he would not be considered as the solution for the left back position. Meanwhile, thanks to Sellas Tetteh's unfailing production line, David was not the only talented natural left full back to have come through the ranks. Jeremiah Akorful, the brilliant left full back with the additional feature of expert free kick taking was a revelation at the 2013 African Youth Championship, he too was ignored.

The world youth championship threw at KA another player who was good enough to even resign Jeremiah to the bench, Abdul Baba Rahman. Rahman was lucky enough to have received a handful of call ups but didn't quite get the opportunity to show what stuff he was made of. KA was the assistant to Milo Rajevac who took the likes of Andre Ayew, Samuel Inkoom, Jonathan Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah, all graduants of the 2009 under 20s to the 2010 World Cup. At the Mundial, Andre emerged the 3rd best young player and Adiyiah almost grabbed the winner in the quarter final against Uruguay but for the 'hand of the devil' Suarez, whilst both Jonathan and Inkoom were impressive against the USA in the round of 16.

The likes of Lucas Digne and Paul Pogba also graduants of the 2013 French under 20 team were on Didier Deschamps bandwagon to Brazil, whilst Jose Pekerman-3 time winner of the World Youth Championship with Argentina-selected Juan Quintero, the Colombian 2013 U-20 team's captain for the tournament .Even if KA had quality in many other areas, there was an obvious deficiency at left back, to which Baba Rahman could have been the solution, yet he turned a blind eye.

Fool me Twice Shame on me
After conceding a goal in the 1st minute against Montenegro earlier in March, the Black Stars conceded again in the 5th minute against the Dutch in another pre-world cup friendly game. The ugly trend was left unresolved; indeed, it reared its ugly head once more when Clint Dempsey slotted in the opener just seconds into the opening game against the Yanks. Only this time the stakes were higher, or maybe not so much for KA. In his own words, he was lying in wait for the opponent to wear down before introducing his best players, this was a case of a comedy of errors, yet we couldn't afford a laugh, the joke was far too expensive, for the first time in 3 world cup tournaments, the cedi had been floored by the dollar, even if the rate of exchange remained at that same 2:1.

A cruel trip down memory lane would reveal that Kwadwo Asamoah at left back was definitely a classic flash back into Afcon 2013.This certainly was not the first time KA had tried to pull off this apology of a master stroke.

In the first game against DR Congo, Kwadwo played well going forward from the left back position, however his recovery was not as impressive, not that he should be blamed, after all he was no left full back. Together with Derek Boateng-who as I recall played so many back and lateral passes that even Obi Mikel would be alarmed at, their play brought so much pressure on Jerry Akaminko that eventually he caved in to concede a penalty against Mbokhani ,the game would eventually end 2-2,.Jerry took the fall-KA apparently felt someone had to-, besides himself of course, and not even when John Paintsil got injured against the Burkinabes in the semi final was he re-called to action despite how useful he could have been considering the physical nature of the opponents approach.

However, amidst vehement protests, Kwadwo was brought back into the midfield for subsequent games alongside Rabiu (for Derek) and Harrison Afful to left back, the Black Stars won 2-0,3-0 and 2-0 against Mali, Niger and Cape Verde respectively. KA had learnt quickly, I thought, but not so fast. Against Burkina Faso in the semi final, after John Paintsil(the right back at the time)suffered an injury and could not continue. Guess what, KA moved Harrison from left back to right back in his place and pulled Kwadwo Asamoah from his playmaker role all the way to left back. The chief tormenter, whose combination of skill and power was causing so much fear and panic to the Burkinabe defense had been ordered back into the position that stifled his ability, the Burkinabes quickly rallied to pip Ghana 1-0 and what followed was an even more embarrassing 3-1 loss to Mali.

For the remaining world cup qualifiers Afful and Opare would go on to play at left back and Kwadwo would go back into midfield ,as Ghana marched on to qualify with aplomb. Finally, the nightmare was over, we must have thought, but again KA had other ideas.

Square peg in round hole-the Kwadwo Asamoah blunder

The decision to deploy Kwadwo Asamoah, arguably the most talented playmaker in the team again as a make shift left full back was met with a resounding 'HELL NO' yet KA's unnecessary stubbornness had no limits, he was determined to prove everyone else wrong.

The sketchy justification that he played in a similar position for his club, Juventus, was even more appalling than the decision itself. How KA could not come to terms with the fact that Juventus was a totally different team, with a different set of players whose characteristics differed from those of the players of the Black Stars left me as befuddled as distraught. Juventus usually set out in a 3-5-2 formation with Kwadwo Asamoah operating as a left wing back, totally different from the 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 systems usually adopted by the Black Stars in which he would be required to play as a left full back, requiring him to stick more to defensive duties than he would playing for 'Juve'.

Furthermore, Juventus boasted a midfield trio of Andrea Pirlo(a genius by the way),Arturo Vidal -who together with Yaya Toure could be the 2 most combative box-to-box midfielders in the game today- and French prodigy Paul Pogba. The black stars would struggle to match that level of midfield quality, even more so with Kwadwo Asamoah at left back.

In his playmaker's position, Kwadwo was voted the best young player at the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola, when KA was the assistant to Milo Rajevac. He had seen at firsthand what the boy could do in his natural role, as had the 25 million plus Ghanaian football fans. One would have expected that this fine player, at the peak of his prowess would have been unleashed to tear up opponents' defenses with his rare combination of strength and flamboyance, this should have been his world cup, instead he was shackled by a tactical sin that left millions disappointed.

Tactical Charade
Even though 2 left fullbacks in the persons of Jeffrey Schlupp and Harrison Afful had been named in a provisional 26-man team, Jeffrey was quickly dropped before one could say Schlupp and Harisson stayed glued to a front row seat in full glare of the horrifying first game against the USA whilst Kwadwo Asamoah occupied the left back position. Daniel Opare who was returning from an injury suffered in training and had not participated in any of the last two friendly games against the Netherlands and South-Korea , prior to the tournament, was started at right back Bizarre! Even then, Opare had surprisingly performed better at left back in the qualifying games for the Black Stars against Egypt and Zambia despite his preference for the right back role and Afful had given a good account at right back whenever called upon, although he was capable of manning the opposite flank as well. A strange sight, and even more so considering Afful's vintage display against the Germans in the next game. Painfully though, 3 precious points had been lost to the supposed weakest team of the group. What was expected to be a dream semi-final berth was fast becoming a very real nightmare, with Brooks (the greatest American after Abraham Lincoln) the unlikely hero.

At 2-1 up against Die Mannschaft, all KA had to do was to keep the team compact and hit the opponent on the break. Instead he turned it into an end to end action movie by keeping Afriyie Acquah on the bench when Sulley Muntari was obviously exhausted, afraid to repose trust in the youngster. Even though he rightly brought Badu on for Rabiu, the chap bumped forward as though we were badly in need of an equalizer instead of keeping to defensive duties. Also Atsu was erroneously taken off for Mubarak Wakaso who by the way with a little discipline would have been a better alternative at left back than Kwadwo Asamoah having played in that position earlier on in his career .

As if the embarrassment of the 3 million dollar cash flight was not enough, even the woeful Portuguese had us chasing the game all day long and again Kwadwo Asamoah was left at left back. Even if it seemed as though the tactic had finally worked against the Germans considering how well Sulley bossed the midfield albeit at such an unnecessarily huge cost considering we had already lost the opener, Sulley was not available against the Portuguese and neither was Kevin. At that point, I hoped, prayed even that KA would see reason to bring Asamoah into the middle of the pitch, agonizingly, not even when it was obvious that both Badu and Rabiu were chasing shadows did he see the need for such an alteration. At no point during the 90 minutes did he realize this.

Not even when he came home did he realize anything wrong with his monumental tactical goof. He went on to defend his decision saying 'He (Kwadwo Asamoah) attacked so well in the left back and defended so well. He gives a lot of options in terms of attacking for us. Whenever he goes forward, he is able to make an impact. It was difficult for the strikers to go past him .We had other options in midfield that's why I decided that Kwadwo should be at left back, and to me he did so well'. Clearly, KA misses the point that it's not whether or not the lad played well at left back, rather it is how much restriction it puts on the functioning of the team as a whole.

If in Sabella's stead, would KA have played Messi at left back if he could do well there, because he had attackers in abundance in the likes of Di Maria, Aguero, and Higuain etc?

Failed Promises/Mediocrity Rewarded
Appiah is reported to have told football411.com upon his arrival from Brazil 'Before the world cup, I told the media that I am not really worried about my contract with the GFA, I just wanted to concentrate on the job and do well(with the promise of going as far as the semi-finals) at the world cup, but unfortunately that did not happen, and although we still have issues to solve at the national level, I think the future is bright for Ghana football because we saw how the team played against Germany'!

For a man whose contract had been extended to 2016 with US$100,000 signing on fee and an increase in salary from US$20,000 to US$36,500, it sure would be a sorrowful sight to see him worry. However, since we are now being told to hope against hope for the promise that the future holds owing to our performance against the Germans, we might as well give John Boye a pat on the back for being the first defender to score a world cup goal for the Black Stars while we are at it, even if it was on the wrong side of things. Maybe we should also commend Fatau Dauda for providing the assist for Ronaldo's goal in the same encounter. The level of mediocrity is simply so disgustingly high, even Ignatius Gaisah may struggle to leap past it, one should probably need a pole vault to get over.

1 point from 3 games and a -2 goal difference is nothing to make us throw our hands up in despair; instead, a point against the tournament's eventual winners should ginger us to hope for a better tomorrow, yeah right. The idea of finding optimism in a situation where a team that achieved a place in the top 8 at the 2010 tournament (7th position) has been crash landed in the last 8 of the 2014 edition (25th position) is probably only comparable to hoping to see mythical dinosaurs don our Kente embroiled jerseys and play for us in 2018.

A similarly ridiculous tale was told in the aftermath of the failed promise to deliver the Nations cup in 2013.Appiah promised to bring the trophy home yet could only barely manage to toil past Cape-Verde, and to be pipped by Burkina Faso, and subsequently suffer a 3-1 humiliation against Mali. It was a similar shambolic performance that led to the sacking of Goran Stefanovic a year earlier. Plavi was shown no mercy, a website was set up to further the agenda, www.sackplavi.com for the simple reason that he had failed to deliver on his promise of delivering the Holy Grail. Claude Leroy jumped ship after his wishy- washy performance for getting Ghana only as far as 3rd in 2008. Yet Kwesi Appiah still holds a death grip on the job.

Upon his arrival from the Afcon, KA admitted to making some tactical errors, blamed some of the players for their underperformance, and gave the excuse that the players were very young and that the future was bright, he had selected not less than 10 players who had never played in such a grand competition, he said. Meanwhile, Milo Rajevac took a squad whose first eleven was dominated by U-20 players and yet managed to get the Black stars to the final of the 2010 edition in Angola only to be pipped by the more experienced Egyptians in the dying embers.

The excuse of selecting youngsters was something KA had picked from Plavi's rule book and it worked perfectly for him even if it didn't for Plavi, after all he is Ghanaian.

The explanation given by the FA was that it had spotted in him a 'certain hidden talent' which we the masses had not yet seen, the kind that Doya had, and for which reason the decision to let him continue at post justified the FA's decision as Doya managed to get us past the group stage in our maiden world cup against much more fancied opposition despite his Nation's Cup fiasco. Well, Brazil turned out to be a freak show, yet that is still probably not big enough a reason. Maybe he should be given the chance for at least 2 more nation's cup attempts and even 1 more world cup, after all the bar could be brought that low for a Ghanaian, even if we have been told in the past that the colour of a candidate's skin was of no relevance as long as he was competent. That it doesn't matter whether he was black, white or even green. Never mind, we are not expected to remember that, neither are we expected to have the staying power to sustain a vehement protest.

For Kwesi Appiah the future never comes. Not after the 2013 debacle and certainly not after this apology of a performance at a world cup that only comes around once in 4 years, preceded by torturous friendly and qualifying games for which we sacrifice our time and to which we lend our unflinching support.

Light at the end of the tunnel?
Louis Van Gaal should have the right to promise hope for the Orange owing to the swash buckling display of the youthful Dutch team that finished 3rd in Brazil, walloping the hosts along the way. But KA should have no such right, certainly not with this appalling performance.

Going forward, youngsters like Ebenezer Assifuah, Clifford Aboagye, Baba Rahman and Frank Acheampong, could be introduced to augment the team especially since a huge chunk of the blame has been heaped on Sulley, Kevin and Essien with Appiah's blushes somehow spared. For me the Black Stars under KA is a near house on fire, the repercussions, for some may be as serious as a heart attack.

Now that his mandate has already been extended, all we can do is to hope that it doesn't yield another horrifying footage. However if expectations are not met, expect to hear the same tune from that same broken record, 'I'm sorry, I made some tactical errors, the players are young, the future is bright, blah,blah,blah.

Samuel Anane-Aboagye

[email protected]