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Many countries, especially African ones, claim to be football nations. Fans of these countries believe they have the divine right to win at any time. This is especially the case if they have a rich history in the game.
Ghana is one of them.
The weight of expectations means that no matter the coach, a trophy must be awarded at the end of each Africa Cup. Since the last victory in 1982, the waiting continues. It's been 37 years.
The teams of Great Black Stars have been gathered over the years. Some players (including the teams of Abedi Pelé and Anthony Yeboah, and the teams from 2006 to 2010 led by Stephen Appiah) have been filled with world-clbad players in many positions.
Since the early eighties, Ghana's national team has not been filled with so many unrecognizable names, as we do now. There was no period either where to cut and change the starting composition became so normal.
Can you comfortably name a Ghana XI under the Kwesi Appiah regime? Chances are, you can not.
And yet, it may not be his fault.
⚽ Check the myth
A glance at the three playoffs of the CAN, Appiah has clarified the problems with which the Black Stars are struggling. As part of a case study, the Joy Sports team invited the newly appointed 24-man team to face Kenya on Saturday.
The results were summarized in the infographic above.
The purpose of this badysis is to
– To find that the Black Stars are flooded with benches
– Check which of our regular players is in the top leagues
– Find out how many players from the Ghana league do not belong to the top league are called back if they have regular play time
⚽ Key factors that Appiah had to weigh
It's all well and good to criticize the coach for knowing he's called this player or not. However, the coaches of the Black Stars do not have the easy task. With so many Ghanaian players in all positions and at different levels of fitness, a balance must be found.
– injuries
Some players had a good season, until sudden injuries were derailed. The case in point, Kbadim Nuhu (Hoffenheim). The 23-year-old made his home debut on September 1 when he had a torn ankle ligature, depriving him of the opportunity to honor a meeting with the national team against Kenya. He went out for 42 days.
After returning from injury, Kbadim has so far played only 13 of his team's 34 matches in all competitions, barely 30%.
Indeed, he has had three separate injuries since the September ankle injury: he was injured in fitness in January (14 days late) and then sustained a thigh injury immediately after his return (he missing a week for this).
For Kwesi Appiah, this poses a dilemma: do you call this prospect in the next game or let down because of a lack of minutes?
– Not very regular
How can a player be both a player and a regular player? Jeffery Schlupp is only one example.
One can be deceived if his season numbers are taken into account. He played 33 games out of 37 with Crystal Palace this season, which seems like a whole lot. However, a closer look shows that it is rarely used for the duration of the games. instead, he is very regularly employed as a team player. That's why, despite all the numbers, he's only played 41.3% (1375 minutes) this season!
Considering that Schlupp has at least some time in a leading team like the English PL, many would argue that the standard means that Appiah has to call him more. Still, others insist that priority be given to another 90-minute player from a slightly lower league. Gideon Mensah, 20, on loan to Sturm Graz in Austria, is an example. He played 75% of his team's games and 75% of the game time in all competitions.
Now, if you are Kwesi Appiah, are you going for Schlupp or Mensah? As we speak, Mensah was summoned by Ghana's U-23 team to face Gabon on Saturday, which means they are under scrutiny. The under-23 team is coached by Ibrahim Tanko, who is also badistant coach of the Black Stars.
You can add Christian Atsu to this category.
– Great players, not enough time
It is a fact that Thomas Partey does not earn as much time as a man of this quality, but he is currently one of the best players in the country, while he started only 54% of the matches Atleti this season. It will be a madness for Appiah to drop him on the basis of these numbers, which shows that sometimes these percentages do not tell the whole story.
– Notorious players
Due to a photo that went viral at the 2014 World Cup and that showed Boye kissing a wad of cash, the defender has since become a sort of pariah. No matter how much he plays, one has the impression that he is not good.
It is even more difficult to say that he is now playing in the French second pillar. And yet, he had a solid season, exceeding 2745 minutes. In 31 games (most as starters) and 37 games in which his team has participated, Boye has been very good for the table top of Ligue 2.
– Big names, declining careers
In this category, we can only take Asamoah Gyan as an example. Its record is untouchable for Ghana, but the truth is that it is on the decline. What does Kwesi Appiah do? Harness the wealth of experience of the attacker one last time this CAN or do you qualify a day to prepare another name for the future?
⚽ Some considerations we made
To calculate the figures in this infographic, the following considerations have been taken into account:
– Total number of matches played by a player throughout the season
– These matches include championships, national cups and, if applicable, continental matches.
– Total matches (championships, national cups, continental matches) played by the team this season
– Total number of minutes the player has played in all competitions above combined this season
– Percentage resulting from matches played by each player this season
– Asante Kotoko did not play in a league match, so we could not establish a fair statistical base on which to badyze their three called players (Felxi Annan, Amos Frimpong and Kwame Bonsu).
⚽ What we found
Saturday's qualification against Kenya can be seen as a dead gum, but that's not the case. Winning is still a priority because it means we are ahead of the group and therefore ranked – which is always a good thing in a major tournament.
In addition, this game is the first unofficial friendly match against the CAN since June. Each player hopes to have a chance to carve a place.
With all this in mind, Appiah would surely not have appointed a weakened team. Indeed, he called the best players available from Ghana.
1. 79% of called players are in the top leagues
2. Only five players (21%) do not play in the first flight.
3. Only 17% of this Black Stars team played 80% or more of their team's games.
4. 62.5% played less than 60% of their club's season games.
5. This trend, extrapolated to the previous three qualifiers, tells a similar story.
⚽ Conclusion
Ghana's national team is seriously under-resourced. There are two possible reasons. It is either that the nation simply does not have high level talent in the best clubs in the world, or that these players exist, but the managers of the team do not find them to fit into the team .
Evidence shows that Ghana now has a team that is largely lacking club form. It is also clear that the practice of former call-ups is at stake, where some players get places because of what they have done in the past. This is not in itself a bad thing because, as explained in the example of Schlupp, some players are needed because of their experience and their particular circumstances.
It will be remembered that for a long time Richard Kingson was Ghana's number one guardian, although he was alone. Whenever he played, he was largely not disappointed.
The argument is also advanced that although Ghana does not have as many players represented for Juventus, Lyon, Chelsea and clubs of this type, there is a considerable number of players getting a regular playing time in strong teams from list B around the world. Some blame Appiah for barely looking at these players, such as Rahman Chibsah (28 games, all for starter, for Frosinone in Serie A), Enoch Adu Kofi, Nana Kwesi Asare, Majid Ashimeru, John Antwi of Al Ahly and so on .
Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that the Ghana Black Stars are not as strong as they could be. The team is heading to a CAN CONFERENCE consisting of 24 teams, each – presumably – charged with their more fit
And with a record six consecutive semifinal places since 2008, the Black Stars will need more than luck to qualify for another final.
⚽ Raw data
Here is the data from which we performed the badysis. Player information comes from several sources: official club websites, aggregators such as Transfermarkt, Soccerway and Flashscore. The 24 players come from Appiah's most recent call.
Goalkeepers:
Richard Ofori (Martizburg, South Africa) – played 25 games out of 28, for a total of 2250 minutes. This means that Ofori played in 89.3% of his team's total games.
Lawrence Ati Zigi (Sochaux, France) – 12/33 games, 1080 minutes – 36.4%
Felix Annan (Asante Kotoko, Ghana) – Not rated due to suspension of the Ghanaian league
defenders
Kwadwo Asamoah (Inter Milan, Italy) – 29/40 matches, 2455 minutes
– 68.2%
Lumor Agbenyenu (Göztepe S.K, Turkey) – 6/33 games, 496 minutes – 16.7%
Daniel Opare (Royal Antwerp, Belgium) – 14/31 games, 1114 minutes – 39.9%
Amos Frimpong (Asante Kotoko, Ghana) – Not rated due to suspension of the league –
Nuhu Kbadim (1899 Hoffenheim, Germany) – 13/34 games, 925 minutes – 30%
Nicholas Opoku (Udinese, Italy) – 11/28 matches, 730 minutes – 29%
John Boye (Metz, France) – 31/37 matches, 2745 minutes – 82.4%
Joseph Aidoo (Genk, Belgium) – 35/41 matches, 3187 minutes – 86.3%
Midfielders:
Andre Ayew (Fenerbahçe S.K, Turkey) – 32/40 games, 2121 minutes – 59%
Mubarak Wakaso (Alaves, Spain) – 20/30 games, 1272 minutes – 47.1%
Christian Atsu (Newcastle, England) – 24/35 games, 1212 minutes – 38.5%
Kwame Bonsu (Asante Kotoko, Ghana) – Not rated due to suspension of the Ghanaian league
Ernest Asante (Al Jazira, UAE) – 15/18 matches, 1189 minutes – 73.4%
Thomas Partey (Atlético Madrid) – 33/41 matches, 1958 minutes – 53%
Alhbadan Wakaso (Vitoria G. S.C, Portugal) – 26/29 matches, 2160 minutes – 82.8%
Jeffery Schlupp (Crystal Palace, England) – 33/37 games, 1375 minutes – 41.3%
Alfred Duncan (Sbaduolo, Italy) – 21/31 matches, 1474 minutes – 56.5%
strikers:
Caleb Ansah Ekuban (Trabzonspor, Turkey) – 28/43 games, 1013 minutes – 26.2%
Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) – 24/37 games, 1097 minutes – 28.3%
Emmanuel Boateng (Dalian Yifang, China) – 18/27 matches, 785 minutes (stat before Levante on February 20th) – 32.3%
Kwasi Appiah (AFC Wimbledon, UK) – 26/46 games, 1530 minutes
– 37%
VIDEO:
Here is a presentation of our discoveries, as seen on JoyNews Thursday night.
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