Well, ain't that cute... Listen, it appears you don't agree, but from my angle it's quite obvious that Ghana is more talented than us and has a deadly counter attack. Ceding the majority of the possession and sitting back is a sound approach, at least initially. Remember, Ghana will be very confident from their past history against us and I bet they will come out to attack. They may get themselves into trouble if we can counter that. Allow them to feel like they are building up plays, dominating the field, and spring them unexpectedly on the counter when the opportunity arises. From what I've observed from their recent games, they appear to have a tough time breaking down stout defenses and thrive when a defense is ragged and stretched. We should not fear their possession in midfield as in my opinion, they are not the greatest team in penetrating a crowded defensive zone as highlighted in the Netherlands match where they created basically nothing (the dutch played 5 in the back). With Beckerman back there acting as basically a 5th defender, we will have adequate coverage to force them to resort to unlikely long shots and cause them a lot of problems penetrating the danger zone. Our boys haven't shown the greatest ability to hold on to the ball in midfield due our lack of technical abilities on the floor, and one mistake could be costly as Ghana appears to finish those mistakes. They press a lot and with their physicality we need to be wary of pulling another Clark or Reyna situation. We have a propensity to throw people forward and get caught out in the back on a turnover. Our best bet is to play a conservative game, absorb pressure, and take our opportunities on the counter. That's my tactical approach on the game based on what I've seen from Ghana so far. We'll see what happens and what JK does. I bet it will be remarkably similar to my approach.
If press reports from Brasil are to be believed then Ghana will have a massive fan advantage in the group. Apparently they seem to be Brasilians favorite second team. 10000 tickets for training sold out within minutes and apparently their arrival to Brasil was greated by rapturous crowds. Probably a lot to do with ancestral issues and the close ties of Afro-Brasilians with the former Gold Coast region. The Ghanaians themselves are in shock at their welcome. A few players have already commented that they feel more at home in Brasil then they ever did in South Africa...
I heard thing regarding the last send off match between Nigeria and the US. The Nigerian papers were claiming it was going to be a pro Nigerian crowd in Jacksonville. I take these reports with a grain of salt.
Wondering how Nigerian fans would even think they could outnumber American fans in an American stadium. Very interesting!
Not sure if this was linked to (very long thread) but this is an excellent preview http://theshinguardian.com/2014/06/12/tsgs-usa-vs-ghana-preview/
Massive difference btw Jacksonville and the largest slave state in the history of the planet. Whereas in the US, a tiny fraction of plantations had more than 10 slave, in Brazil's Nordeste -- where most of the group games are to be played -- 300, 400+ slave plantations were the norm. In the US, the small number of slaves per owner meant that it was easy to separate families, ethnic groups and even cousin ethnic groups, that could not and did not happen. The result was that Blacks in the US were severed from their cultural post. Only a tiny amount of words and musical instruments survived. Not the case in Brazil. One thing is for a team to expect a lot of fan support from an immigrant nation (but in a not all too diverse place like Jacksonville), but it's entirely different to arrive in a region that takes pride in the Yoruban heritage that they never lost (despite many efforts to the contrary). Trust me. This is different.
Spot on. Unlike African Americans, Afro Brasilians never had to reclaim their cultural heritage and African pride. Also I never had the feeling that football is big among African Americans. Even if they did feel a connection it could be they couldn't care less. 10,000 tickets sold in mintues for a training session? That alone suggests massive support. Naturally its hard to really know whether crowd support really matters or not, but its pretty obvious to me that Ghana and possibly other African countries will have support unheard of outside of South Africa.
I stopped reading it after this: "The centerbacks are John Mensah and John Boye. Mensah, the defacto leader, has bouts with recklessness. He, of course, hauled down Dempsey for the critical penalty in 2010 and clattered into Egypt’s Mohammed Salah in the box for a key spot kick that briefly put the 6-1 result in doubt." John mensah is no longer part of Ghana team, Jonathan Mensah is. And neither of the mensahs played against Egypt.
They got that all mixed up. Jonathan Mensah as a sub 20 year old defender did bring down Dempsey in the box in 2010 leading to Donovan's penalty kick. But it was Rashid Sumaila who conceded the penalty against Egypt.
Cameroon and Nigeria play alike. Coincidentally, their current rosters are also similar. They have good strikers, a couple of great midfielders and everyone else is alright.
Overall its not a bad report. Found a few other mistakes, probably resulting from the lack of knowledge about Kwarasey and Opare being injured. I think he has the starting line-up wrong. Also - Jonathan Mensah was 20 in 2010... its his prerogative to make mistakes. He's 4 years older now.
I don't think the author did a good research because senior mensah, who's no longer with the team led Ghana defense for a long time. Jonathan Mensah isn't a defacto leader.
Cameroon has very good defenders as well. The players are there - they do however lack the team. And Potash is right - Cameroon and Nigeria do play alike, but Nigeria has the added bonus that they actually have someone who does a good job at playmaking in Mikel. Cameroon were clueless here.
That too. A lot of minor or major mistakes in analyzing the squad. But tactically pretty good analysis.
We'll have to disagree on this. People forget that once upon a time he was the best young playmaker in the world.
In U-17 and U-20 WC's, he was more of an attacking midfielder and very talented at that. He went to Chelsea and they stuck him as a holding midfielder.
Its off-subject. But Mikel will be Nigeria's do or die. If Nigeria turn any heads it'll be thanks to him. If they don't then wellI guess his last chance to prove he's best played as a deep lying playmaker will pass him by... So by the end of this tournament one of us will be proven wrong For what its worth Mikel was the best midfielder (as a playmaker) at the African Cup of Nations in 2013 and was one of the best midfielders (as a playmaker) at the Confederations Cup.
Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew has served notice that the Black Stars are battle ready for their opening game at the World Cup against the USA. “We are 100% focused and counting on the support of the people of Maceio in our first game [against the US]. The training facilities are in good shape,” the 2009 Under-20 World Cup winner stated. He added: “Psychologically we are ready for the US and prepared for the World Cup. Portugal and Germany are looking forward to win. We should be patient, fully prepared and shock the world by coming out of this group. We can do it even though is going to be difficult.” http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/artikel.php?ID=312847