The good news for Black Stars head coach Chris Hughton is that the horror shows put up by his team against Mexico and USA are in the rear mirror.
The bad news however, is that there are two big games for him and his side to get back on track ahead of the 2023 AFCON.
Games against Madagascar and Comoros in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this month are must wins for the Black Stars and with that comes extra pressure looking back at the disjointed performances the four time African champions put up in the Land of the Free.
As soon as the Black Stars latest squad is named, the focus is bound to be drawn to the makeup of the team’s forward line considering the team has consistently disappointed under the guise of the former Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle United manager.
To be fair to Hughton, Ghana has been in a rotten state offensively many years before his appointment as the man tasked to bring the fifth AFCON title to the land.
C.K. Akonnor, Milovan Rajevac and Otto Addo presided over anemic offenses before Hughton and nothing looks to have changed.
This is a concerning issue especially at a time where regular members of the Black Stars forward line are faring well at their respective clubs especially their production in the immediate past round of league games in Europe.
Inaki Williams scored his fifth of the season in Athletic Bilbao’s 3-2 win over Villarreal while the most watched league by Ghanaians, the EPL, had Mohammed Kudus score a worldie and Jordan Ayew combine with Jeffrey Schlupp to give Crystal Palace a 2-0 win over Burnley.
Ayew registered his fourth assist of the season in the process and Kudus continues to show why Manchester United made a massive mistake by signing Antony ahead of him from Ajax Amsterdam.
While Schlupp hasn’t featured for the Black Stars for a while, he still could make a sharp return to the team just as other Black Stars players have done in the past including his Palace teammate Jordan Ayew.
Seeing the Black Stars struggle to create and score chances isn’t surprising looking at Hughton’s background as a former defender and his imprint as a defense first coach.
He has reiterated the need to win as the most important aspect of his game plan in several press conferences but winning demands scoring at least a goal and looking at his players score in recent weeks, it is clear adopting a defensive approach from an attacking standpoint is the best way to utilize Ghana’s group of versatile, athletic (minus Jordan Ayew) and hardworking wing forwards.
In upcoming games, the Black Stars need to create chances by pressing opponents high up the pitch to win possession and have the forwards closer to goal than their average positioning in prior games.
Antoine Semenyo has scored twice this season for AFC Bournemouth and both goals came off Bournemouth’s possession win in the opponents half.
His more recent league goal scored against Burnley came after the former Bristol City player won the ball inside Burnley’s half.
He proceeded to run at goal before planting the ball in the bottom left side of the post. Like Semenyo, Jordan Ayew won the ball off Burnley defender Jordan Beyer and played the ball across the 18 yard box for the galloping Schlupp to tap home.
Between Ayew, Semenyo and Williams, there is a high level of work rate Hughton can work with to generate consistent pressure to force teams into such mistakes.
It is encouraging that Hughton has shown a tendency to play with a back three with wingbacks since this shift in formation means wingbacks have the freedom to make darting runs like the one Schlupp made to the back post to meet Ayew’s cross for the goal.
There is a bit of a dilemma for Hughton as Williams has done his best work at Bilbao this season playing on the right side of a three man unit behind Oihan Sanchet.
That is the same position Jordan Ayew has played largely for Crystal Palace that has generated four assists and a goal in 13 games in all competitions this season.
Shifting Williams to the lone attacker’s spot hasn’t aided Williams performance for the Black Stars as the Spain born player is still yet to score for Ghana and has struggled to put in decent performances.
However, he has generated goals, shots on target and a ton of pressure on opposing defences by playing on the shoulder of the last defender and running on to long passes from deep.
In a 3-0 win over Cadiz, Williams run to meet a knockdown header off a long free kick from goalkeeper Unai Simon. In a 2-2 draw against Valencia, Williams provided an assist but missed out on scoring despite having his shot saved after making a run to meet a long pass in the 26th minute.
This aspect of Ghana’s attack is lacking but there are signs things could get better looking at the profile of defenders who can make such long passes for him to run on to.
Alexander Djiku and the fast improving Abdul Mumin can do this and though he did have stinker of a game against USA, Nicholas Opoku showed off this quality by picking out Ernest Nuamah with a pass that led to Nuamah’s goal to put Ghana up 1-0 against Liberia in a friendly game.
At this stage in his football career, Chris Hughton won’t change his ways as a defense first coach and is sure to be reactive than proactive.
However, in the face of what looks like an attack minded approach, Hughton’s defensive chops is still advantageous here as a high pitch press aids his team generate goals while alleviating pressure on the defensive line.
Through the scoring output of his players this past weekend, Chris Hughton might have just stumbled into a solution to the Black Stars scoring challenges.
