TALENTS BUT NO IDENTITY!

TALENTS BUT NO IDENTITY!

Footballing Philosophy; The Importance.

Ghana have been stuck in a dark era now for over 30 years, where the one shining light has been Cairo in 2009, the only night the fans can truly say Ghana football has been where it is supposed to be. It is therefore safe to say nobody at the Football Association will be satisfied until winning the African Cup is a reality and realistic objective on a regular basis.

Finishing in 4th place in 2013 AFCON will not have done Kwesi Appiah many favours in convincing the critics who have had their reservations about him, however, he is adamant progress is being made and those who are prepared to look a bit deeper into what is actually going on will probably be inclined to agree. The first thing Ghanaian fans need to come together and understand is the level of decline that Ghana football has actually been in. The Football Association has been in terrible hands with money being spent in the most irresponsible ways possible, with no real investment and attention to talent recruitment and development, and most importantly, fitting a particular philosophy. In short, there has been no identity to Ghana football.


For the purpose of this article, a footballing philosophy, which could also mean a footballing identity is defined as a set of beliefs about how football should be played on the field tactically.
From the Merriam Webster Dictionary, 'philosophy' is defined as:

"the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group."

Having a clear, identifiable and strong philosophy in approach to football; i would argue that every successful and sustainable team in today's world of football has to have one.

In 1974, the Dutch didn't actually win the World Cup but they created "total football" pioneered by Rinus Michels. With sheer beauty and movement, that was not seen before, the Dutch team showed how football could and should be played. This would be a defining moment in the history of Spanish football and where the foundations of "total football" and youth development were put in place for the present day after FC Barcelona recruited Rinus Michels. The end result? Two European Championships in 2008 and 2012, and the World Cup in 2010.
More so, German football has arguably never been in such a strong and healthy state. As both the German national team and Bundesliga clubs have a unique way in approach to football, their employment of 'gegenpressing' or counter-pressing. A highly organised approach to regaining possession and minimizing space for the opposition.
Since 2000, Bundesliga clubs and the German national team have benefited from the radical improvement of their footballing infrastructure, a masterstroke by the German Football Association (DFB). The Bundesliga clubs and the German Football Association work in harmony to their mutual benefits, besides the investment in youth development and coach training, the Bundesliga clubs, as part of their tactical repetoire, employ 'gegenpressing' or counter-pressing. This has been the identity of German football, and the success story was evident in the 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League.

At least the Ghanaian fan out there will be happy to see Ghanaian clubs dominating, and not just participating in the CAF Champions League, right?
Ghana football, however is in many ways akin to English football. We have the talents here in this country but do no have a philosophy. The football is open and 'loose', which is a great thing and a bad thing at the same time. It gives the freedom to players but also can lead to chaos.

To bring back the past glories, things have to be changed from the ground up, from not only the administrators, youth recruitment and development policy, but also the philosophy, atmosphere and an identifiable collective goal within Ghana football.