5 observations from Ghana's game against Congo

Here are five things we learned from the game.

Telepathy is a key.

Coach James Kwesi Appiah has proved in his first stint that he has always been the master of rotation. He also has stood the trademark of getting in new players for the Ghana Black Stars squad.

Coach Avram Grant used to have a template side anytime he brought up a side to play for the Ghana Black Stars. Grant usually presented a first 11 dominated by the players who placed second at the 2015 African Cup of Nations. Kwesi Appiah in his second coming to the Ghana's national team has introduced players like Ebenezer Ofori and Thomas Agyapong.

Infield players could do with a rotation or two but it's high time the Ghana Black Stars had a concrete starting defense . With regards to the game against Congo, it was quite unfortunate that John Boye and Lumor Agbenyenu could not make it. However, moving forward coach James Kwesi Appiah should be able to get a set of at least eight defenders who could make the squad. This should mean at least two for every department of the defense. That will be able to ensure the team defends properly as a unit.

Experience could not count at this point in time.

Both sides started with two skippers with similarities in terms of career paths. Thievy Bifouma and Asamoah Gyan are two players who have both had English Premier League experience and now ply their trade in Turkey.

It was Bifouma who managed to make it count by lurking around after Joseph Attamah Lawerh loss concentration and let the ball of his feet. Thievy Bifouma was able to pounce on it and get the goal in. Asamoah Gyan was a pale shadow of himself throughout the game and that essentially caused Ghana in the first half. This indeed made things more complex for the Black Stars who could only pull level and not win the game.

The Black Stars team needs to show more fight.

The attitude of the Black Stars wasnshocking on the day. The first half seemed to have sucked all the energy out of Kwesi Appiah's team. The second half had the Stars start well but as the game went on, the body language of the players was quite worrying. It seemed like the side were up by 5-0. It was after Partey scored that the players on the pitch (and those on the bench) felt they could actually do something.

The players had to know that they really could do it and that energy should have emanated from the bench. It did seem as though James Kwesi Appiah had lost the game and that translated onto the pitch.

Ghana's senior national team has either a weak or non-existent succession plan.

Germany won the Confederations Cup with a select side with an average age of 23 years and 9 days. The larger part of the side that won the 2014 World Cup was pretty much on holidays. Around the same time, the Confederations Cup was ongoing when Germany won the U21 European Championship. This means Germany does have a complete set of players to fill in the boots of Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Manuel Nuer.

Ghana Black stars do not have any youth player to replace Asamoah Gyan as he nears the end of his career. It is actually more shocking that Joseph Attamah Lawerh who has been a consistent center back for his club Baseksehir was forced to play right back. This because Ghana has not been able to develop or found a right back and Harrison Afful remains the only right back in the Black Stars every now and then. It is back to the drawing board and Ghana football now needs to plan to experience serious improvement in the standards of the game because the state is being left behind.

Teamwork is more powerful than individual quality.

There is the saying that there are no “Minos” in football. That is definitely because football has grown and technical expertise are reaching very remote parts of the world. This indeed has got teams like Cape Verde and Zambia improve when it comes to performance on the African continent. Congo on the day defended as a unit and worked a game plan to the core.

Ghana depended on individual brilliance as it was quite unclear to determine the tactical game plan on the day. The key players for Ghana Black Stars like Asamoah Gyan and Dede Ayew failed to show up in the game. It was the relatively unknown Thomas Agyapong who brought the Black Stars back to life in the dying minutes but he did need that calm head. That would have got Agyapong to involve his teammates in the game.