Hindsight: Laryea’s revenge, Ogum’s regrets, and the GFA’s (near) decade of decadence

In the not-too-distant future, Laryea Kingston will be awarded his Confederation of African Football (CAF) License A coaching certificate. Thanks, in no small part, to CAF instructors like Dr. Prosper Narteh Ogum.

Yes, the same man whose reputation was lacerated by Laryea’s Uganda team on Saturday at the El Abdi Stadium in El Jadida, Morocco.

To receive the CAF License A coaching certificate, a candidate must have mastered five main parts;

1. Theoretical & Tactical Sessions (match preparation, advanced systems of play, and positional coaching.

2. Practical Coaching (on-field implementation, demonstration, and execution).

3. Sports Science & Medicine (injury prevention & recovery, collaboration).

4. Player Management & Leadership (psychological conditioning, media & staff management).

5. Mandatory Internship & Assessment (supervised mentorship and final certification.

On Saturday, and in truth, throughout the tournament, Laryea Kingston proved that he has mastered theoretical and practical coaching.

When Eric Gyamfi scored the opener, Laryea Kingston reverted to a three-back system and handed the keys of the operation to John Owino and Muhoozi Henry.

Their job was simple: find Uganda’s interiors, especially the elegant Owen Mukisa.

Muhoozi moved the ball in a way that reminded Ghanaians of a former Starlet and Black Star.

Twice, Atsu Kpoeti got close enough to force Mukisa to pass to a teammate despite receiving the ball in promising positions.

But before long, Uganda’s well-choreographed attacking play paid off. Mukisa stung the palms of Starlets’ keeper, John Annan, in the 33rd minute, and from the resulting corner kick, Mukisa scored directly.

In the second half, Laryea doubled down on the approach, asking his wing backs to stay high and hold the width.

It was textbook football, executed with intensity and expressiveness that left many Ghanaians green with envy.

But it could have been different.

Two years ago, Laryea Kingston was Ghana’s Under-17 coach.

Today, he has qualified Uganda for the World Cup, for only the second time in their history.

Prosper Ogum

There is no hiding place for Ogum here.

And that is not to say he did not get some decisions right. He did.

Take, for example, the decision to retain

Narbi, Kagawa Mensah, and Ernest Ofori from the 2024 Starlets batch. It is an example of the continuity Ghanaians have always asked for; the right players being retained despite a failed youth project.

But that is as far as Ogum’s credit score goes.

There were no repeated patterns of play or any consecutive combinations. Across the four games Ghana played in the past week, it was hard to pinpoint where Ghana’s best combinations were and the structure to build around them.

Rather, the team relied heavily on the individual brilliance of Robinho Gavi, Eric Gyamfi, and Abdul Latif.

It is true that the team was wasteful and made a lot of poor decisions. But that is a characteristic of football at this level, and the best teams accommodate them.

They playform their best players in tactical contexts that allow them to influence the game repeatedly.

Ghana did not have that. As a consequence, the Starlets were not able to sustain attacks and created multiple scoring opportunities.

That is why every wrong pass, failed dribbling attempt felt like a missed opportunity. That is why the few missed chances seem magnified because those were the only moments of promise.

Beyond that, Ogum’s in-game management was also questionable.

Against Algeria, Ogum failed to protect a two-goal lead and settled for a point.

Three days later, the Starlets lost to Senegal even though their opponents were reduced to ten men in the first half.

Although Ghana had the whole of the second half plus stoppage time to recover, the Starlets did not seem prepared for how to deal with the extra man advantage they had.

The third match was a 3-1 win over South Africa, meaning Ghana had conceded four goals in the group stage alone.

So this is not a great look on Ogum, who signed a two-year contract in February.

GFA

There is not much the Ghana Football Association could have done differently here.

They kept the team in camp for as long as necessary and played a good number of test games to prepare the team.

Even in terms of scouting, the process still produced enough quality for the coach to have gotten better out of them.

The team may have failed, but there will be no lack of quality suitors for Gyamfi, Abdul Latif, and Kagawa Mensah, who have already had stints outside. Kpoeti is another to be excited about.

Where they should be held responsible is the coach they hired, and those they have hired in the past.

The Kurt Okraku-led administration has burned through nine coaches in just seven years.

Ben Fokuo, Paa Kwesi Fabian, Karim Zito, Maxwell Konadu, Frimpong Manso, Laryea Kingston, Jacob Nettey, Nana Agyemang, and Prosper Ogum.

Of the lot, Ogum came the closest to qualification.

It is hard to tell what the GFA wants to do with youth football.

They hire results-oriented coaches, only to ditch them for others they market as experts at youth football development.

There has been a lot of talk, but there is hardly any well-thought-through plan that reflects an admission of the problems that have set us back, and clear, well-resourced policies to fix them.

If nine coaches have failed, perhaps the appointing authority needs to take a hard look at itself.

Not just for the quality of coaches it hires, but fundamentally, its plan for the team. The environment it creates for these coaches.

System issues aside, basic things such as their people management are an issue.

By all accounts, Laryea Kingston is a gifted coaching mind. His point was celebrated and met with a lot of optimism.

Yet, he was frustrated to the point where he resigned over irreconcilable difference with the GFA.

Friends of the regime will tell you that Laryea resigned because he was too temperamental.

For a regime that has achieved very little, the speed with which they dismiss some of the brightest coaching minds over exaggerated attitude issues is frankly remarkable.

Maybe someday they will get it right.

But if Kurt Okraku’s administration cannot get it right at any point within his two terms of office, why should we be hopeful of a paradigm shift?

The continent is leaving us behind, and we can see it in real time.

Until 2025, Uganda had never qualified for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

On Saturday, they beat Ghana to ensure consecutive qualifications.

That defeat has extended Ghana’s absence at the World Cup for 10 years.

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)