Positions Kwesi Appiah needs to fix in his team heading into AFCON 2019

President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Black Stars to win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations to be staged in Egypt.

I believe, the call from the president has been embraced by every single Ghanaian, because the West Africans have gone 37 years without a continental title.

Ghana last won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1982, so I can confidently say that Ghanaians born in the 1980s and beyond have never witnessed the football powerhouse win the AFCON.

lateral defenders. In modern football, the lateral defenders are those who initiate the attack.

Lumor Agbenyenu and Daniel Opare were deployed to the left and right sides respectively but the duo gave us few attacking options. Lumor triumphed over his markers but his final delivery was very poor and he repeated several mistakes in defence.

Daniel Opare who has been given all the opportunities in the Black Stars, once again failed to justify why he should get a future call-up. The Royal Antwerp defender couldn’t establish himself in the game and his repetitive mistakes even aroused the anger of the fans who at a point started to shout at him.

Black Stars vs Kenya Pulse Ghana

In the middle of the park little was seen of Thomas Partey in the game. His ball control and retention were below average, looking at his pedigree and the benchmark that he has set for himself as the player with most goals since Kwesi Appiah took charge of the team in his second spell- six goals.

Kwesi Appiah should create much competition in his midfield since that is the department Ghana are spoilt for choice. Alfred Duncan can be an option on a day that neither Mubarak Wakaso, who had a good game or Partey seem to be struggling. He was only introduced in the 81^st minute and per his form, this season with Serie A side Sassuolo, just about nine minutes doesn’t befit his status.

Andre Ayew became fans favourite some years back because of his skills and his ability to hold on to the ball, coupled with his threat in front of goal. He seems to have lost those qualities that made him an untouchable in the Black Stars. On the left wing of Ghana, he offered little to create space for the team.

There was a clarion call for Emmanuel Boateng’s inclusion in the Black Stars after he emerged as the first African to register a hat-trick against Barcelona when his former outfit Levante stunned the Catalans 4-3 last season in the La Liga.

Kwesi Appiah handed him the chance to prove his worth and he scored on his debut. Ghanaians began to think that the long-awaited successor of Asamoah Gyan has arrived. Boateng struggled to replicate his last season’s form at Levante and he has moved away from the La Liga to the

Chinese Super League which has attracted a lot of quality players in the European leagues lately.

Emmanuel Boateng put up perhaps his worst display in the shirt of the Black Stars against Kenya. He couldn’t take on his markers, nor torment his opponent's goal area and was subsequently withdrawn from

the game.

Jordan Ayew, who is supposed to be the most in-form Black Stars striker was a pale shadow of himself in the Kenya clash. Jordan Ayew’s asset is that he is a ball playing centre forward. He doesn’t score a

lot of goals, but his ability to create opportunities for his teammates enhances the attacking play of his team. All these were missing. No wonder he was replaced by Caleb Ekuban, the scorer of

Ghana’s winner.

Moving forward James Kwesi Appiah needs to fix the goalscoring problems in the Black Stars. The need to create competition by using productive players in that role should paramount and should eschew the

use of big-name players who sometimes offer little to the team's success.

Some of the players are hungry for success and these are the players he should opt for.

As it stands now the chances of Ghana in conquering Africa looks slim.

However, with three months to the start of the competition he can organise his team well to get the cohesion and team play required of any potential championship side.

Who knows, maybe Ghana can do ‘a Cameroon’ in 2019, since the five-time champions had lost all their spark prior to winning the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. In the end, with determination, the mission which appeared impossible was realized.