Keep Him or Not Keep Him: AC Milan//Sulley Muntari

More appropriate red stripes

The issue of whether Milan keep Sulley Muntari will be interesting to follow. All last summer both Galliani and Alegri talked about Mr. X (left sided midfielder) but didnt really follow up on it with the addition of Aquilani and the midfield got crowded.
Old war horses, Van Bommel, Seedorf, Ambrosini and Guttuso were all giving short term contracts last year (I think). Smart move, cos they have all had minimal influence/impact this year compared to last.
Flamini (supposed to be replacing the old boys) is negligible.

So there will be plenty of room in the ACMilan midfield freeing up soon. Question is whether Milan wants to keep this style of play with all that silky smooth flicks and dings. If u ask me they don't have enough soldiers, too many flare players, including Sulley with his 40 yard cross field dime assists and all.

I personally I don't think its a loss for either party should they not keep him, he has done enough to earn a shot with another top CL team with his MOTM performances. I have a feeling the new Inter coach, whom ever it will be (Fabio Capello :), will definitely want him to stay during the rebuild.

Mr. Allegri is turning out to be one of finest tacticians in the modern game and I'm sure he is plotting his next move on this issue, but Sulley is definitely giving him plenty to think about. Not to forget the telepathic chemistry Sulley seems to have with Zlatan (Best Striker in the World), should play a part in the decision making by the bosses.

Even being scandalous against my bianconeri

The wrong red stripes

What a difference a year makes, around this time last year we were asking the same question about Sulley, difference ism that was in regards to Sunderland. How pathetic, 10 months later, the Ghanaians there are gone (Asamoah Gyan and John Mensah), Steve Bruce is gone, Sunderland are rubbish. Not even sure how the gorgeous Menaye Donkor felt about the prospects of the North East of England as far as her career is concerned.

Guess Allah/God was in control the whole time and his way has been fulfilled for them. Keep the good stuff coming Sulley and good luck

Diaspora Dilemma

So it is now inevitable that next generation of international football "stars" for the various countries across the continent will be a blend comprising of 3.

1. The traditional player that comes through the ranks from youth to school to cults to pro to abroad.
2. The imported talent that crosses border from from neighbouring countries in search of greener grass.
3. The contingent in the diaspora.

While the first 2 are mainstays that have been around for years and years, the 3rd however is a new wave sweeping across the land. This has brought about new of plus/deltas that the FAs seem to be struggling to balance.
From my POV, the poor quality on offer in ANC2012 can be attributed to this. The African diaspora, I am referring to is not just the players born overseas to African parents but also covers all those who never had any significant professional career in Africa before leaving our shores.

Although the problems that FAs face are obvious and numerous the challenges that these players have to face are atrocious but its worth it to them, these including:

• Delayed or unpaid bonuses
• Football politics
• Cultural assimilation
• Language barriers
• Inferior coaching
• Poor training/playing facilities
• Gruesome traveling 
• Poor medical management
• Minimal player protection from officials
• Vulnerability to Asian match fixers
• Vulnerability of club roster spot
• Playing with teammates who could be significantly older
• Playing home games away from home.......................
• Did I leave anything out?

Despite all these, I think if managed right the upsides of the blends far exceed these problems. This should be a win-win-win for all parties involved. Which FA will get it right and set the example of how to balance these 3 talent resource pools? Hopefully soon, because I for one am not enthused by the watered-down field of talent we will have to sit through for ANC2012 and I am sure the situation will be similar at the next one, since it will be only 12 months later.

Was inspired to enter a post today by an old friend who has inspired me a ton over the years, will try to do a better job from now on :)

Humanizing The Bison

After what has been an impeccable career to this point, Michael Essien a.k.a Mr. Versatility has descended to the level of other mortals on the field. So I think this is the perfect time to pass judgment on The Bison’s best position on the field

For years we haven’t been able to determine what position was the strongest for the seemingly un-categorize- able Essien. This has been a dilemma for the bunch of coaches he has gone through for clubs and country. For a good 5-6 year window, the man was deployed in all sorts of positions from the middle to the right touchline of the field and for majority of those games he seemed like the best player that day. I have many memories of “man of the match” shifts he put in for positions 8, 6, 4, 5, 7, 2, and 10 (unless my memory is getting cloudy) from EPL, ANC, CL, WC and Quals. (Don’t think I need to explain these positions to anyone do I?)

There was always the baseless/useless debates among fans and analysts that “The coach is wasting him at right back (2)” or “The team is not getting the best out of him at center back (5)” or “The defense is missing his protection if he plays in an advanced role”,  as far as am concerned, that was all rubbish talk. No one at that time could possibly have known what his best position was. The man was just simply lights out in any position he was deployed.

Now that his play and physical prowess is declining his short comings are being exposed on a weekly basis. This season has shown Essien to be human in the middle positions, positions we thought were his main stays. At the moment I am thinking is at his best somewhere between 4, 7 and 2 all on the right (er)side of the pitch, he has declined in his ability to dominate the middle of the park. A few more weeks of his current form and we should know where his best is. Watching Mark Van Bommel play DM for Milan makes Essien look very ordinary.

Hope no one confuses this entry as a diss to Essien, because even in this poor phase is in, he is still much better than most midfielders in the game today.

Am I lying?

Right to left back--- Dan Opare 2nd chance?!

On board a united airlines enroute to Akron, Ohio for the weekend, I feel I should reflect on the Ghana BlackStars outings over the last 7 days or so.
If anything to at least distract me from the most obnoxious passenger I haver met. First words that blurred out when she boarded was "Maan am a gled agot fucked up before boarding". That should give an idea of how the rest of the flight is going.
So the balckstars have once again put smiles on faces all over Ghana and the rest of the continent. It's amazing how much respect can be gathered in a 4-5 years span. Don't know who to give credit to. I'll just heap it on Akwesi Nyantechi for now.
The Congo result was most impressive although the only footage of the game around is that atrocious clip from the Congolese News broadcast. From what's been said it seems Stevanovic has got the attack game going. That is great but from the England game it is obvious that he is not paying too much attention to the defense. Lee Addy's continuous abuse at left back was appalling and for him to show up like that is a disgrace. We are still waiting for his development and encouraging videos from his Red Star Belgrade performance gave some indication that he had turned the corner. Comparing his development to that of Jonathan Mensah is sad. Being the elderly, we all expect more from him.
Hans Adu Sarpei is not walking through that door to steady that position and hold the offside line. Is Afful the answer? 
I definitely know Rahim Ayew is not!
Or we have someone else coming thru the ranks?
It was interesting to see Dan Opare deployed to salvage the situation. That is a thought that I instantly fell in love with and haven't gotten ma mind off. Can the explosive young right back adapt to the left and be effective. Maybe someone should show him some Philip Lahm tapes on how to own left back with a right leg.
Given that Sammy Inkoom seem to have cemented the right back position for the next 10 years, opare would be doing the nation and his international ambitions true justice to grab hold of the opportunity, for the next 10 years. Unfortunate his injuries cost him his right back career for the BlackStars, but karma has presented a second opportunity at a legacy set by the man himself Isaac Asare who owned the position from u17, u20, u23 thru a long respectable BlackStar career.

Now time to socialize with ma fellow passengers :(

Great start by Goal_Africa

Sorry folks I have been so busy at work, I lost sight of the important parts of life, football. Glad and super excited about the Goal_Africa podcast that started last week. Big ups to ma man Sayed on the west coast for getting that started. I thought the first show started with a bang as some serious serious issues were covered including the potential impact of the North African unrests' on African football, with emphasis on the dominance of Egypt in the ANC.
A potential area to have looked at was the impact on the CAF champion's league as we all the teams from the north have typically thrown their weight around as the teams from the other regions have simply not been able to compete financially.
Could there be an impact on the strength of the northern leagues and cause a situation where the local league friendly stars might depart.
Sayed touched on the situation that the Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata might have put himself in the door way to be booted out with his political allegiance. All questions that will not be answered over night, guess we ll have to wait and see.

John Obi Mikel's coming out party, still waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rewind to the World U20 WC 2005, we all saw Obi Mikel and saw the future of Nigerian football continuing its dominance of the West African scene. In a tournament where no one was going to stop the Argentine machine behind Lionel Messi and Kun Aguero, Mikel John Obi (at that time) still managed to emerge as one of the stars with superb offensive display from midfield. The dribbling, the passing, the leadership all lead us to crown the wonder kid as Jay-Jay's heir.

      Then came the special 1, actually, make that special 1 via Old Trafford drama. Mikel's arrival at Chelsea has been the subject of much debate whether it be the transfer "kuluulu" or the development or underdevelopment of his game. I for one have always defended Mikel and have had much appreciation for the way he has been able to learn a new role different from what made him a star as a teenager. 

I have always maintained that Mikel's coming out party was around the corner, from African Cup of Nations 2008, to African Cup of Nations 2010 and finally the no-show of World Cup 2010, but am still waiting for the break out dominance. The one point I've always tried to overlook is how Chelsea has developed him into the player Nigeria doesn't need. 

      With Essien in and out of the midfield and Lampard also out I have expected Mikel to grab that midfield by the neck and show new boy Ramires the Chelsea way of midfield dominance, but this hasnt happened. I watched a woeful midfield display from Chelsea today in a 1-1 draw with New Castle. Most people are pinning the current poor form on Ramires' slow acclimatisation to Chelsea's play, but I blame ma boy Mikel. At this point I am acknowledging how much his play has let me down and I bow down in shame as I don't see any development both offensively and defensively. His statistic without either Essien or Lampard are unacceptable regarding Chelsea's win percentage. The most shocking stat of all is his goal output on a senior level for both club and country 

Chelsea 158 games : 2 goals

Nigeria 30 games : 2 goals

      This is unacceptable even for a defensive midfielder. Those who want to blame Chelsea go ahead. Those who want to blame the "Special 1" go ahead. Those who want to blame Nigeria go ahead, but I blame the kid himself. At 23 he still has a lot of time to make right of what has gone wrong with a much hyped and promised career, but I don't see it.

The Crows have landed again, TP Mazembe

SQUAD

TP Mazembe

 

    It been 10 years since I really did justice to following the CAF Champions league from start to finish. Back in 2000 my beloved home club Accra Hearts of Oak conquered the continent in spectacular fashion with great away performances and the heroics of the then supernatural goalkeeping by Sammy Adjei as well as the the great partnership between Ishmael Addo and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour.
    In the 10 years of my exile from this incredibly difficult tournament, an old power on the African continental scene has woken from almost 40 years of hibernation and re-established its dominance. The great Congolese team that dominated the continent in the late 60s are back and are looking unstoppable. With 4 straight trips to the finals of the competition from 1967 to 1970, their might was unparalleled but as with many things in Africa somebody had to go and ruin it.
    I knew TP Mazembe won the competing in 2009 but I didn't follow the competition in depth. I haven't followed it this year either but I decided to at least watch the finals which I know are usually late in the year. Not only are these bad boys back in the final, they have already won the first leg 5-0. That is done and dusted if you ask me, so should I even bother watching the second leg? Of course I should, why would I miss an opportunity of history being rewritten. Having said that Esperance are no mugs and have dominated this same competition in the past, so I expect them to give a good account of themselves in redeeming some respect for the 0-5 away embarrassment.
     I look forward to seeing how a giant from 40 years ago becomes a giant in the modern era with the following thoughts in mind:
What does the success of TP Mazembe mean for Congolese football?
Will the Congo National team be able to break this Egypt-West African strong hold on the Nations Cup?
Are we about to see the next big African name in Europe break the recent trend?
Which players will stand out?
Can the grab the opportunity to shine in the FIFA World Club Cup?
Anything else to look out for.................?

Ps. Hope all can see the striking identification with the Old Lady in Turin

CAF Orange African Champions League Final Second Leg
November 13th 2010
Esperance (Tunisia) - TP Mazembe (Congo)