Number 10 please come again!

I’m back again. Yep I know it’s been a while (precisely a month) but this world cup has had me glued to the television. Don’t worry I will be having 2 posts up for you in the next couple of days. I would begin by talking a little about Tuesday night; some of the memes and pictures coming out on the social networks were hilarious. To be honest Brazil have been winning ugly all the way through this tournament and its sad to say but I thought that winning this way would only take them so far and a lackluster poor performance would be coming very soon. Number 10’s have been vital in this tournament with all top goal scorers playing in that role, apart from Thomas Müller who has sorted drifted from a false 9 and number 10.

Evidently with Brazil without their main man and poster boy Neymar Jnr and talisman captain thiago Silva things went from ok to bad to horrendous. Conceding 4 goals in 400 hundred seconds is atrocious it reminded me of the Liverpool vs arsenal game at Anfield in terms of swiftness and decimation of a highly ranked team.

During this tournament I had really hoped that one of the African sides would perhaps progress to the quarter finals two made it out of the group stages Nigeria and Algeria and fought valiantly however they were knocked out by France and Germany. I was rooting for my home country Ghana but they failed to win a game, this wasn't because they weren't good enough but bottom line is they couldn't take their chance and where not clinical enough in front of goal. Look at Germany yesterday they were brilliant, efficient and ruthless in front of goal.

Not since Abedi Pele has Ghana produced a number 10 of such quality. Ghana have always been fantastic on the counter attack and were so close in South Africa to making their first ever semi final appearance in a world cup, cruelly they were knocked out by Uruguay.

Since then Ghana has been seen as a rising team but we lack a number 10 playmaker that can find pockets of space in-between the lines of a team and create. An example of this sort of player who I watched and admired was Juan Román Riquelme.

He was a player known for his creativity, passing, vision and skills. I remember the 2006 world cup. Riquelme was the key in a sequence of 24 passes made by the Argentine team, setting up their second goal scored by Esteban Cambiasso when Riquelme fed Javier Saviola, who slipped a pass inside for Cambiasso, Cambiasso knocked the ball into Hernan Crespo who back-heeled a return pass back to Cambiasso who netted from 12 yards. Crespo described the movement as "the most beautiful goal"

  

Have a think and ask yourself this question when was the last time you say a world class African player in the role of a number 10. I haven’t seen anyone like that for a long time. Africans tend to dominate central midfield roles because of their speed and strength.

My theory was brought to light even more in the USA after they had scored in the first minute we struggled at times to break them down, don’t get me wrong USA are a decent team who are set up very well, but it’s at these times that a classic playmaker can break down a team.

Overall I thought Ghana’s world cup went o.k. but didn't reach its full potential. Well done for Asamoah Gyan breaking Milla’s record as Africa’s top world cup goal scorer with six goals. But when you don’t take your chances at international level like Jordan ayew had to square the ball to Gyan to make it 3-1 you will always ask yourself what if????