Football
Michael Oti Adjei, Special to ESPN 7y

Ghana's reality check tour leaves Appiah pondering

The proverbial honeymoon period didn't last long for Ghana boss Kwesi Appiah. A thrilling 5-0 win on his first major task back as Black Stars coach followed by two losses on the bounce in friendlies.

Ghana's tour of the USA for games against the host and Mexico were supposed to provide validation of Appiah's ways. Instead it has provided the coach with some difficult questions to ponder before the resumption of world cup qualifiers in the last week of August.

The Black Stars are due to play two games over a one week period in the 2018 qualifiers as they play catch up to Egypt. On the evidence of the last two games, Appiah's work, already made difficult by a five-point deficit he met against Egypt is even more complicated.

While Appiah and his team of new names deservedly earned praise for the way they dismantled Ethiopia on his second debut, it was obvious the bigger test was yet to arrive. Mexico and USA have provided those tests.

In both games, Ghana has not been adrift of quality or invention. They have instead lacked a cutting edge and the sort of finishing a team that is chasing a five-point deficit needs.

They had chances against Mexico and missed them. Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty and then scored a stunning beauty against the USA. If the Mexico game underlined the lack of cutting edge, the USA games exposed deep issues about the defensive make-up of the team.

John Boye made too many basic errors and without the Columbus Crew right back, there seemed to be bare thin options.  Rashid Sumaila didn't exactly fit in that team and when Jerry Akaminko went over to play in that position, he just could not cope. 

The Turkey based defender, back to the international fold after two years could not deal with the pace of the game. Those convinced that he had simply been called up out of empathy for an injury he suffered before the last world cup may have found more evidence to back that.

Yet he wasn't the only player who looked out of place.

Mohammed Abu just didn't cut it. Maybe his performance explained why he barely gets games at Columbus Crew. It will be a major shock if he is back in the side any time soon.

Then, there was David Accam who spurned yet another opportunity to press his case for more involvement in the Black Stars.

Appiah would have taken all that into consideration for his next two squads. He has spoken of giving players the opportunity to stake their claim and while many took it against Ethiopia, a lot blew it in the last two friendlies.

And on the evidence of the outings in Houston and Connecticut, Appiah may be forced into a climb down.  Mohammed Abu and Isaac Sackey have not looked like the upgrades or even equals of Emmanuel Agyemang Badu and Mubarak Wakaso.

It is almost certain that Appiah will need Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan at their best for the rest of the qualifiers devoid of the drama that marred the Ethiopia game. The pair bring genuine quality and experience to the side and it seems pretty obvious that Appiah needs both for two dates in August.

Appiah can cite many mitigating factors for the way the sort of results his team had in the US. The travel arrangements were at best amateurish.

Captain Asamoah Gyan complained about how they had arrived at the team's camp in Connecticut in batches from Houston and missed training. Appiah also had to deal with the unavailability of several key players even though that point becomes irrelevant especially when you consider that the two teams his side played against were not exactly at full strength.

If there is anything the two games in the US has showed Appiah it is that his team building effort will be slow and painful. It is also that he may have to accommodate egos and players he would rather not have around.

It may also be that while the likes of Oforo, Lumor and Dwamena have proved fantastic breakthrough players he can't simply wish some of his established names away so soon. And what this tour proved too is that there are too many players who just won't cut it at this level for him.

Appiah said he needed this game to get a good sense of who is fit for his team and who is not, to advance his team building effort. The evidence could not have been more compelling. 

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