Chris Hughton: 6 things Ghana coach must prioritise

A statement from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on Sunday, said Hughton will be assisted by George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani.

Chris Hughton with Otto Addo and George Boateng Pulse Ghana

Pulse Sports has compiled six things Hughton must change as Ghana coach:

Make selection process competitive

The foundation of every successful team borders on competitiveness. There should always be competition for places in the team.

However, that is something that has been lacking in the Ghana national team for some time now and it must change under Hughton.

The former Northern Irishman is known to be a very professional coach and it must show in his squad selection and ultimately the selection of his starting line-ups.

A new generation of talented players is coming through, so it is important that the selection is based on merit in order to ensure only the best players get to wear the Black Stars shirt.

Discipline

Player discipline wasn’t a problem during the Qatar 2022 World Cup but the shenanigans from the 2014 tournament in Brazil cannot be forgotten so quickly.

Hughton has been around this team for close to a year already and that means he is abreast with the culture within the Black Stars.

If he’s going to succeed, though, he’ll need to stamp his authority and ensure that discipline continues to prevail in camp. Footballers are like students and once they sense any hint of weakness, they’ll exploit it.

Past coaches have failed in this regard but Hughton’s experience at the top level should be enough to see him stamp his authority.

Give local players a chance

This is a very controversial topic, but many fans of the Ghana Premier League would love to see the league’s best players handed national team call-ups.

When Daniel Afriyie Barnieh and Danlad Ibrahim made the squad for the 2022 World Cup, it wasn’t a gift. They actually earned those call-ups and that is all local fans are asking for.

That when a player on the local scene measures up against his counterparts playing abroad, he is not hindered by the fact that he plays in Ghana. Hughton has a huge job on his hands and it remains to be seen how he’ll handle this particular subject.

Bring through youth players

The last time Ghana actually promoted players en mass from the youth teams to the national team was in 2009, after the Black Satellites won the U20 World Cup.

Since then, there’s been a couple of young players who have made the progression up but there’s still more room for improvement.

Building a team for the longer term requires that the old guard is systematically phased out but their replacements must be ready first, for the transition to be perfect. Hughton’s record of promoting youth isn’t really impressive but he needs to get the balance right in his current job.

Resist interference

The Ghana FA President is on record to have said that he has an input in which players are invited to the national team.

While that is not entirely wrong, Hughton must make sure that he beats off any form of direct interference from the GFA. It’s okay to welcome suggestions, but the ultimate power to invite a player should rest on the shoulders of the coach and his backroom staff only.

These interferences have plagued the national team for years and one of the reasons why many are excited by Hughton’s appointment is that, he is widely viewed as a man of his own and one who would not bow to outside pressure when naming his squads.

Winning

Hughton must also instil a winning mentality into the Black Stars. The squad Ghana boasts currently is one of the most talented on the continent and is potentially an AFCON-winning side.

The only way to make Ghanaians happy is to win and keep winning. The 2023 AFCON may come too early for him, but the team will nonetheless be expected to make an impact at the tournament, while qualifying for the next World Cup is non-negotiable.