What is a "one man" team like?

After watching Chelsea struggle against both Inter Milan and Man City, two games Didier Drogba didn’t have a look in, I have been asking myself if there’s truth in the accusations that The Blues are a one man team. I like to see quality defending and as John Terry’s off-field problems are preventing him from putting in half decent performances lately, I couldn’t help but admire the masterful display by Lucio on Wednesday. He didn’t let Drogba have as much as a sniff on the Inter goal and Jose Mourinho who built an empire at Chelsea based on solid defending would have been thoroughly satisfied with what he saw.

The Drog was again shut out by Man City in that infamous no-handshake encounter at the Bridge and again Chelsea lost. Martin Tyler runs some interesting analysis on the importance of Drogba’s goals to Chelsea in his SkySport column. I find it curious that even Man Utd would fare better without Rooney than Chelsea without Drogba. Strange that United only seems to win when Rooney is on the field and scoring, as he did yesterday against Aston Villa in the cup final.

My questions today are:

1. Is there anything like a one man team?
2. If there is, what makes the one man so important? Is it that he is so good or the team is built around him?
3. Are there any modern examples of one man teams?

3. My answer to 3. would be yes, the Barcelona side of 2005-2007. They only seemed to play with one philosophy: “if you don’t know what to do with the ball, give it to Ronaldinho”.

When The Saints Go Marching In......

A week is a long time in football indeed. I mean in either proper football or American football. With the deluge of high profile events since I last posted here, it’d seem like eternity but it’s only been just over a week. John Terry has lost his England captaincy and generally been treated like a pariah by the British media, Arsenal’s kids have received the second part of their annual sodomy by Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney has made firm claims to the ‘best player in the world’ title and the New Orleans Saints have gone from outsiders to win the Superbowl by a comprehensive beating of the Indianapolis Colts. If the last part sounds gibberish to you, your brain is working fine – it’s American football after all.

Superbowl XLIV

You know what, the Superbowl isn’t half bad. It generates so much excitement that I got about forty emails inviting me to Superbowl parties; half from people who I genuinely know don’t like my guts much. In that sense, it’s like proper football. It unites this often racially / culturally split place. Or does it? I ended up watching the game in the house of one of my African classmates. It was his birthday as well so Superbowl XLIV provided the perfect occasion to host his African kins. Hang out with a bunch of guys speaking American slang, drinking Bud Light and eating nachos or go drink Guinness, eat grilled pork with Kelewele and crack Twi jokes? Easy decision. I was however intrigued by how my friends were deciding on which team to support for the night. One backed the Colts because he had a bet on them (fair shout), a few more went with the Colts because Indy had a black coach and the majority rooted for the Saints because New Orleans has a bigger black community than Indianapolis. Irrationality all round, but I guess sports has nothing to do with PHIL 101. In keeping with the sentimental choices around me, I offered my support to the Saints because they were the underdogs according to the experts, and I hate sports experts. Good reason? I don’t know and I don’t care. All I care about is that it worked, and the Saints defied the experts to thump the Colts 31-17, with this touchdown as the cherry on top.

How is the Superbowl not like the Champions’ League final? Many ways, but the most irritating one is the ads that run every other minute. Seriously, imagine Barcelona vs Man Utd being interrupted every now and then for ridiculous commercials like this one. For the organizers though, I don’t think it is in any way ridiculous. It is reported that each 30-second commercial costs about $3.0 mmillion. Little wonder then that the Glazers are struggling to manage Man Utd’s finances. Such extreme commercialization just can’t be achieved in proper football without destroying the soul of the beautiful game.

Arsene Wenger & Football Basics

That Didier Drogba re-played his role as the scourge of Arsenal in the latest episode of “Men vs Boys” doesn’t surprise anyone. What surprises some of us fans is the consistency of Arsene Wenger’s whingeing. Nobody likes to lose, granted, but most of the times it is best to accept defeat with good grace. That way you can work to improve areas in which you’re weak. Not with the erudite Arsene Wenger. His complaints about Chelsea not doing anything but just win are stale and dare I say, retarded. Football has a clear set of rules to distinguish losers from winners. To win, you just have to score more than the opposition – simple. The best comment about what football is all about, I found this week, was made by paulielogic, posting on on BBC’s 606 message boards: “football fans do cheer nice tricks and clever passes, but the biggest cheer is saved for the ball hitting the back of the net”. Brutally true and something for Mr. Wenger to ponder about.

Of John Terry, Men and Cheating

I think Fabio Capello made the right decision in stripping John Terry of the England captaincy but erred in passing it to Rio Ferdinand. That’s the football equivalent of saying I don’t watch pornography but don’t mind visiting strip clubs. If he wants a truly sanctimonious person to be England captain, he should look to Jesus Christ. If he can’t find him, he should hand the armband to Frank Lampard. Oh wait – he abandoned his four year old child to his wife and deserted the family home. See, every footballer (make that human being) has his faults. That’s why I believe the famously caustic British media did not treat Terry well to begin with.

My opinion on cheating is this: every man will do it, situation permitting. Does society honestly expect men not to cheat? Like really, really? I’m still very young, but have experimented with my sexuality enough to understand this: a man is hard-wired to want his genes to survive in this world. His chance of this increases with the many different women he makes babies with. How does he make babies with them? If you said sleep with them, you’re following nicely. To this end, he is always looking for sexual opportunity and seeks out sexual variety. Of course society has advanced and one now has greater control over the survival of his progeny than in times past. One therefore does not have to go round sleeping with every woman. It however doesn’t mean that a man has all of a sudden lost this desire to sleep with a woman his natures tell him will make good babies for him. Clear? I hope so. If not get a copy of Alfred Kinsey’s seminal work on sexual behavior among males. What then should a woman do for his husband not to cheat? Pray. Literally. Of course, men do have fiduciary responsibilities to their wives, not to hurt them in any way, including cheating on them. That is why it is so distasteful when a man gets caught cheating on his wife. The effects can be devastating and I agree that we should use our best judgement.

Not impressed by Angola 2010

The 27^th African Cup of Nations is going to be memorable for a long time to come. A tournament that promised so much will forever be remembered for the rebel attack on the Togolese team which preceded the event. I really feel sorry for Egypt, who delivered a masterful performance on their way to winning the cup for an unprecedented 7^th time. My wish is that the sheer class of this Egyptian side will not be lost on genuine footie fans. Best attack with 15 goals, 2 against for best defence, 6 out of 6 wins, best player of the tournament, best goalkeeper, top goalscorer, discovery of the tournament, 19 CAN matches unbeaten, 3 consecutive trophies. I don’t think there will be a more comprehensive dominance of an international tournament in our lifetime!!!!

The might of the Pharaohs aside, the football was not of the highest quality we have come to expect at Nations’ Cups. Too many of the star players just did not turn up. Watching Yakubu Aiyegbeni lumbering around the pitch like a replete Kung-Fu Panda, I wondered if these stars may well have been left to be with their clubs. It was definite justice that the two teams who clearly had the players enthused about the tournamnet made it to the finals. Unbelievable goalkeeping howlers, shocking misses, stray passes – you’d struggle to find any more of these at a major international tourney than was witnessed in Angola.

Let's take a look at the winners and many losers at this particularly tainted CAN:

The Player: AHMED HASSAN. Inspirational figure and the embodiment of everything good about the Egyptian national team: technique, stamina, grit, passion, level headedness. I challenge each of us to watch a replay of the time between Cameroun’s goal and Egypt’s equalizer in their quarter final clash. Those few minutes were an amazing testimony to bouncing back when you get knocked down. I hope guys like Sulley Muntari were watching.

The Team: With huge respect for the surprise success of Ghana’s kids, I’d have to hand this over to the EGYPTIANS. In the Egypt-Algeria semi final, I came to appreciate the proverb: “form is temporary, class is permanent”. Algeria lost the plot completely while Egypt simply just kept playing the football, right until the end. They went on to trounce their bitter rivals, all just for keeping their cool. Pure Class.

The Game: Angola 4 -4 Mali. Many candidates here, including the aforementioned semi-final and the Algeria-Cote d’Ivoire quarter final. I think the opening game edges them all for the shock factor and a demonstration of the unpredictability that makes our game so beautiful.

The Goal: Kader Keita vs Algeria. Seeing is believing.

The Clowns: Emmanuel Eboue vs Ghana and Nadir Belhadj vs Egypt. What were they thinking??

The farcical: Algeria 0-0 Angola. This was scandalous. The most annoying thing however is that it is perfectly legal and no action can be taken against either side. Tough luck, Mali. Next time take your destiny into your own hands!!

The bottlers: The Elephants. How this team manages to wow so much and disappoint so wildly is beyond me. I am one of those who were utterly seduced by the glamour of their stars and left clutching my face in shame. Lesson for the players among us: the hottest girl at the bar may not be the werewolf you’ve been dreaming her to be. Spare yourself.

The handsome: Renard Herve. A coach so ripped you could see his abs creating corrugations on the front of his shirt. A woman’s dream and a lazy guy’s nightmare.

The beautiful: Ana Paula dos Santos. Some men are born lucky and some men are born as Jose Eduardo dos Santos!!

The ugly: All the referees and assistants. Seriously, did anybody see a good looking referee at this tournament? Exemplified by Coffi Codjia, the referees were uglier than their outrageous calls.

The fashion sense: Alain Giresse. There is something always right about wearing a pair of hard khaki pants, a well pressed shirt and a blazer that was cut for just you. The Gabonese head coach brings business casual attire in emphatic style to a sport that is both business and casual.

The nonsensical: CAF. All of the officials. First, they fail to correctly identify the security issues inherent in Cabinda. Second, they fail to offer the Togolese team any support whatsoever. To rub salt into wounds, they ban the Hawks from the next two subsequent CANs, in a stupid show of power.

The Best XI (4-1-2-1-2) : El Hadary (Egy), Bougherra (Alg), Goma (Egy), Inkoom (Gha), Tiene (CIV), Song (Cam), Hassan (Egy), Ziani (Alg), Asamoah (Gha), Gyan (Gha), Gedo (Egy).

The coach: Hassan Shehata. Living Legend.

That’s it for CAN Angola 2010 then. Let me know what you think. In the meantime, I'll get ready for my first Super Bowl weekend experience, wondering what it has on Champions’ League final day.

Let the players, not the referees decide!!!

It’s unfortunate I have to start this post with a gripe. There has been some great footballing on show at CAN 2010 since my last article, with several surprises such as the qualification of Ghana’s youthful side into the semi-finals and Algeria’s elimination of the much fancied Elephants. Cote d’Ivoire vs Algeria was probably the best match to date and it’s such a shame that it had to be decided by a blatant refereeing error. There lies my gripe: the appalling standard of refereeing at this tournament AND FIFA’s obstinate stance against the introduction of goal line technology.

There’s been much debate on this topic. I’ll try to address some of the arguments against technology. One is that football is a human game, referees are human and so are errors. This argument from nature is a sentimental one and nothing more. Sure, things in their natural, unperturbed forms are beautiful. Natural forms however tend to be wild and unproductive. This is exactly what some of the recent decisions in the game have been: wild and unproductive. I believe that at some time in life people said that not being able to fly is a human limitation that we had to accept. Today, most people enjoy the benefits of flying. In sports, there were times that judges had to make a call on which horse crossed the line first in horse racing. I’m sure it was exciting then. Video technology is now used to determine winners and I don’t believe it has made that sport less exciting. If anything, it has made it fairer while retaining the excitement.

Perhaps the strongest argument is that technology will disrupt the flow of the game. I disagree with this POV too. I don’t believe technology will create anymore disruptions than we already have. Anyone who watched the Egypt-Cameroun game saw how many minutes were wasted on the Lions’ protests after that ghost goal by Ahmed Hassan. Those of us watching on tv had meanwhile seen what the correct decision should have been within seconds of the incident. In this era of powerful, instant replays, I can’t buy the “flow disruption” argument. Maybe fellow footie fans and administrators like Sepp Blatter need to watch other sports more. I was at the 2009 US Open (tennis) and it did not take me long to acknowledge the benefits of video replays in that game. The balls are hit so hard and fast it's impossible for line judges to be exact. Technologies such as the “Hawkeye” are therefore helping umpires make calls that their human minds could not have been able to make correctly. If you ask me, I’ll tell you that is progress.

The lamest argument by far remains the one which assumes that wrong calls even themselves out. They don’t and there are so many instances to cite from. England didn't get a chance to avenge Diego Maradona’s "Hand of God", Cameroun won the 2000 CAN over Nigeria because of a wrong call and the Eagles haven’t lifted the trophy since, Pedro Mendes will probably never get to score a winner against Man Utd in his life, Chelsea are yet to have redemption for Luis Garcia’s [no] goal. The list is endless. Unfortunately not all things come round together once they are gone. One is a pack of feathers, another is reputation. The third I can think of is a critical call in a crucial match.

The one point I seemed to agree with Seppe Blatter and his bureaucrats at FIFA on is that technology may be too expensive at first to be implemented throughout the game. His fear is that those at the grassroots will be denied an important aspect of the game that they will have to deal with when they hit big time. Upon further thought, I do not even side with this point any longer. I have news for FIFA: there has never been an equal distribution of resources for the development of the game across the world. I remember when in Ghana we would kick anything that bore a globular semblance around. We would even cut polythene bags into pieces, stuff them into a bigger one and tie it all round so we could get something to play with. That was our football. I’m sure kids growing up in England, Italy and elsewhere had their Umbro and Lotto balls to play with. This discrepancy in initial resource did not prevent us from spanking them really hard in professional contests.

I’m all for the introduction of video technology in football. It’s long overdue. The greatest danger is letting it dominate the game at the exclusion of its soul. I however believe we can manage this danger and not only make football richer, but also fairer. Gripe over!!!

On a more serious note, the semi finals of the CAN are going to be two cracking affairs. There are four permutations for the final and each outcome is equally likely. I’m however going to stick my neck out and make some bold predictions:

Egypt 1 -1 Algeria AET. Egypt wins 7-6 on penalties

Ghana 1-0 Nigeria

I think we are looking at Egypt extending their amazing CAN run to three successive trophies, I’m afraid!

Ghana 1-3 Cote d'Ivoire: through the rear-view mirror

So the Black Stars got beat by the Elephants. If you were surprised by that result, please see Dr Juma because you may be suffering from any combination of the ailments that his mystic treatment cures. Most of my guys who have been following the team were expecting this kinda result. In fact, one of them predicted a 3-0 defeat a few minutes before kick-off and only a dodgy penalty decision makes me cautious about ringing him up for the weekend’s lotto numbers.

Before you shout Nuff Crisis, I will ask that we look at the positives from the game. First silver lining is the chance given to the youngsters. Many a time, we have complained that the national team is a sort of gerontocracy, with too much emphasis on seniority. So with a total of eight members of the FIFA Youth World Cup winning squad going to Angola and guys like Dede Ayew getting a starting place, we should be happy with the prospects of young people in the senior squad. I was also happy to see other new faces, not necessarily from the youth team. I think Kojo Asamoah in particular continues to impress and is a source of real inspiration going into the future.

The second positive I take from the match is that we matched Ivory Coast quite well. Surprisingly well. There were periods in the second half (between Eboue’s red card and Tiene’s screamer) that I began to feel we could actually draw the match at least. Ivory Coast fielded a far more experienced team than Ghana (although I think the “Team B” argument is very lame). Holding them in check for the most part should be a consolation, even if the scoreline is more than unflattering.

Ghana still plays with good technique. I know some of you may disagree with me on this point but it is one I’m convinced of. We have that ability to keep the ball on the ground and play it in the classic Ghana style. We did not rush the play, although at times we could have done with more urgency. I’ll come back to this point. With football changing so much in the last decade, placing more emphasis on power and lightning speed, it pleases the occasional purist in me to see Ghana play the ball as we did when building our reputation, especially with the youth squads of 1990-1997.

The brightest spot remains Michael Essien. About two months ago, a Chelsea fan I met in bar was adamant that Michael Essien is in the top three best players in the world. His argument was this: besides Ronaldo and Messi, there’s nobody else out there who can change a game the way Essien does. Although I did not agree completely with his conclusion, I saw the logic of his premise. Essien is definitely a game changer. This was evident in how the game swung the way of the Stars when he came on the second half. He’s got amazing drive, which carries the rest of the team on it. I was more than pleased to see him have so much influence in the game, even at about 50% fitness. He’s an untouchable. If Ghana is to have any chance at the World Cup, we'll need him fit and in top form.

Familiar weaknesses were all too prevalent in our game. First, can someone explain to me why Ghana still keeps such a high defensive line? I thought after this disaster, we would learn our lessons. The high lines make us very vulnerable to the counter attack and seeing as our defenders are not the quickest around, the technical team should abandon the idea altogether. When playing against a team blessed with pace like La Cote d’Ivoire, the last thing you want to do is leave a lot of space between the defence and the goalkeeper. It will be exploited and that’s exactly what happened for Gervinho’s goal. A related point is our inability to set proper offside traps. Again, this is a carryover from previous tournaments. There always seems to be someone too wary (or daft) to keep within the offside line and ends up playing the opposing strikers on. If a team doesn’t have players confident enough to set offside traps or quick enough to recover, it has no business indulging in that sort of thing. Get rid.

Another familiar theme is the incompetence of our strikers. Is it time Ghana played a 4-5-1 system seeing as our greatest strength is in the middle of the park? I would think it could be experimented with. Even though we played well during parts of the game, we rarely looked like scoring. Our strikers struggled to impose themselves on the Ivorian defence, until Asamah Gyan came on. Even then, we did not trouble a poor Boubacar Barry much. That our only real chance in the second half came out of a defensive error is not a good sign. I know this is a much talked about subject and I’ll be surprised if we do not remedy the situation before South Africa. There may be some sense in the pursuit of Mario Balotelli after all.

Although I mentioned Ghana’s still excellent technique earlier, I was still taken aback by how poor our distribution was. Maybe there’s something to be said about the terrible state of the pitch, but still it was very not Ghanaian. I also think we were not combative enough. The aggression we showed at CAN 2008 seemed to be lacking in the match yesterday. I don’t think the Ivory Coast is the strongest team mentally so going a little bit more physical may have ruffled them. We certainly have to improve in these stakes before we face Burkina, quite clearly the most physical side in world football.

This Ghana side has problems but I expect the Black Stars to beat Burkina. I still consider the CAN as a rehearsal for the World Cup though and on yesterday's showing, we have work to do before June

When it starts being a game again. At last.

First of, I think everybody should totally condemn the brutal attacks on the Togo national team. Such acts of barbarism cannot be excused on any grounds, including that of negligence on the part of the Togolese football authorities. Second, I respect the decision of the country to pull out of the tournament. I think it is fair to the players and the officials involved in the attacks to be excused from the pressure of competition immediately after.

Third and most importantly, I want us to talk about the football. Yes, the game on the pitch. Could there have been a better way for the tournament to kick off than this? I saw the first half and was completely turned off by the quality of play (or lack of it). Mali played absolutely shocking football in the first half and Angola wasn't any better. Guess what yours truly decided to do then. I went away for a team study session, only to miss perhaps the greatest comeback in international football history. Gutted. Absolutely gutted!

I trust that most of my crew watched the game in full so I'm counting on you guys to tell me what changed about the pathetic Mali team I saw in the first half. Did Stephen Keshi make any game changing moves? Did players like Kanoute suddenly show more interest and commitment in the last 20 minutes? Did Angola tire or become complacent? Was it pure luck like the 2005 Liverpool - AC Milan game?? Whatever it was, I think it was the best possible riposte to the rebels and a great way to draw attention rightfully to The Beautiful Game.

Ghana 2008: something for Angola 2010 to live up to!

The period between 20 January and 10 February 2008 was, and still is, the best of my life. There is of course no prize for guessing what took place. It was the 26^th African Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008. For those 20 days, Ghana was a carnival. The country was awash with the red, yellow and green colors of our national flag. For those days, any foreigner who came in to even the remotest of villages could have been excused for wondering what the nonsense about Africa being a sad, poor place was all about. There was little that was poor about Ghana for that period, and definitely nothing sad. All that mattered for those moments were the drums, the horns, the clappers and the whistles.

Working for CAL Bank on Independence Avenue at the time, I had the opportunity to see it all: from the clogged streets before Black Stars matches to the hysterical jubilations that followed their victories. I had never felt the nation so bonded as one before. For once, there were no tribes in Ghana. There were no political divisions. Everybody you met on the streets was a friend and you could hug them. Kiss them even. I watched all of the Stars matches at the Ohene Djan Stadium and I would give one arm to re-live that experience. Everything about it was enthralling fun. Even the clandestine schemes to get tickets for matches look like master lessons in Sun Tzu strategy in retrospect. The near one mile walk from 23 Independence Ave to the stadium was, for me, a ritualized procession to a holy ground. It made me feel like a member of a privileged few, chosen by a supreme being to embark on a pilgrimage.

Personally, Ghana 2008 came at an important point in my social life. One, I was settling into life as a young professional with more than a decent salary. Two, I had a new Peugeot 307 on loan from my "Sugar Mummy" Justina Laing (I love you!!!) to wheel around. Three, I had a crazy gang of friends who LOVE football. We had spent years chasing football around the world and finally the game had come home to us. Papa Amissah, Patrick Quantson, Nii Laryea Logozoo, Admoako Frimpong, and Clifford Clottey wouldn’t let this event pass without memory. And they sure didn’t. Put your hands up Messrs Guinness, Hennessy, Johnie Walker and Jack Daniels. You definitely played your roles to perfection. Finally, there was Stephanie Bamfo strutting by my side.

On the pitch, the football itself was magnificent. It was the tournament that produced the most goals in Nations Cup history and Ghana set the tone by beating Guinea with a stunning late goal from Sulley Muntari in the opening game. This was followed by defending champions Egypt producing a 4-2 win over Cameroon. Then came the upsets, as Angola recovered from a goal down to beat Senegal 3-1 and Guinea overcame Morocco 3-2.

The quarter-finals saw Ghana produce a memorable comeback to beat arch-rivals Nigeria 2-1, with 10 men. The Ivory Coast, tournament favorites, turned on the style in a 5-0 demolition of Guinea, only to come unstuck in the semi-final. Egypt walloped The Elephants 4-1 in one of the most breathtaking team displays I have ever seen. The Pharaohs then went on to beat Cameroun in the final to win the cup for a record breaking sixth time.

Samuel Eto'o scored five goals, making him the most prolific scorer in the tournament's history with 16, while Angola's Manucho burst onto the scene with four. Egypt's Essam Al Hadari produced world-class goalkeeping and his team mate Hosni Abd Rabou was easily the best player of the tournament.

I recount my CAN 2008 memories with a fondness of heart but I look forward to Angola 2010 in great anticipation. If it exceeds Ghana in any way, it will be the best footie tournament ever staged on African soil. At least, before the first ever 3D World Cup kicks off. In the meantime, share with me your best memories from Ghana 2008 and other Nations Cup events, as well as what you expect of Angola.