A poor game mercifully came to an end in the 89 minute. Even referee Mark Clattenburg appeared tired of the tedium...
Ghana dominated in midfield for large parts, evidence of superior team chemistry and the GFA's wisdom in maintaining consistency in playing philosophy even while changing coaches, but with little cutting edge in the final third, save for the brilliant slide pass from Asamoah that Gyan wasted in the second half.
Early on Quincy Owusu troubled a Nigerian defence short on confidence, morale, and not a little pace. But his influence would decline as the game progressed. Some players flatter to decieve; Quincy simply flatters, having long lost the power to decieve!
Overall Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic should be the more satisfied of the two managers, having seen a string of fringe players in action, especially the young Massawudu Alhassan at left back, who appears a good prospect.
The Nigerian team again showed the fallacy in its 4-2-3-1 tactical formation, whose imbalance was repeatedly exposed by the cross-field diagonal pass, with acres of undefended space in wide areas.
The default defensive position of the wide forwards, Nsofor and Musa in the non-possession phase was to slide horizontally into central midfield, which then had them struggling to cover the wide areas when Ghana switched play to the flanks.
What is more, the use of another forward, Ike Uche in the middle of the trio behind the central striker produces another imbalance in the center of midfield and an undefended zone in front of the the two deep-lying central midfielders. In possession and on the offense, his performance was very good, but the role itself, compromises the defensive integrity of the team in the non-possession phase.The issue here is not so much the use of attacking players as wide forwards and behind the central striker, but the role definition, work rate and tactical discipline of these players. The organization of the 4-2-3-1 under Siasia requires tremendous work rate from these players to maintain the tactical balance of the team. I am unconvinced that any of Nsofor, Musa, Obasi, Osaze or Uche can provide this on a consistent basis.
In my considered opinion, the options before Siasia is to transit to a 4-3-3 formation as I had recommended here.
Another option is to introduce a midfield player in the role behind the central striker, much like Steven Gerrard's role behind Fernando Torres at Liverpool a few years ago. However such a player must by nature have the turn of pace to maintain the high tempo attacking game that Siasia seeks and that matches the qualities of our attacking players.
Nosa Igiebor could be a valuable player in this role. Another option would be John Chibuike at Rosenborg, who has experience in midfield and attack.
Tony, once again you hit each point on the money. In fact, I will add that - going back to the Guinea game - bringing in Nosa was not a problem it was who he replaced him with. Had he dropped one striker - yes even while chasing the goal that we didn't need - we likely would have had them pinned back in their half which conserves energy given we would be playing half the field. But getting to the Ghsna game, given we don't have any natural wingers (musa is the closest but he's very raw & blows hot & cold) we really need a middle trio to launch a platform to support the three strikers. The missing piece as you alluded is a scoring central midfielder who will make late runs from midfield to give you that second 'striker' presence in the box as gerrad, lampard, kaka, etc have done during their career. That third guy will close down some gaping holes in our midfield defensively which will make the other two midfielders more effective & see more of the ball. It will also buy our fullbacks time to push up & support the attack and midfield. Ironically, said role has always been a hallmark of siasia's youth/ Olympic teams. He did deploy a striker there (promise or Obasi in bejing) but their tactical positioning was more sound. In every single game I've watched the SE play under siasia the positioning of the supporting striker and work rate have consistently poor which effectively makes a 4231 look like a 442 or worse yet a 424. I hope siasia solves this assuming he is retained.
ReplyDeleteFollowing up, in addition to Nosa, haruna lukman is worth looking at as a scoring midfielder. Rabiu Ibrahim should also be monitored now that he has found a club.
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