Ahinful: Inaki needs new role in Black Stars
Former Black Stars striker, Augustine Ahinful, has advised the technical handlers of the national team to reconsider the role of Inaki Williams in the team to get the best out of him.
Advertisement
The former Atletico Bilbao player's goal drought for the Ghana national team has raised concerns, and Arhinful attributes this struggles to his misplacement on the field during international matches.
Williams has yet to find the back of the net in nine appearances for Ghana since his international switch ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This has led to questions about his suitability as Ghana's primary striker, especially given the other striking options available to Coach Chris Hughton.
Last Saturday, Williams was on the scoresheet for his club upon his return from international duties as Bilbao recorded a 3-0 win against Cadiz at the Estadio San Mames. It was the second goal of the season for the 29-year-old striker this season.
Speaking to Graphic Sports in an interview yesterday, Ahinful suggested that if the technical handlers could find a more suitable role for the Span-born player, similar to the roles he played for Athletic Bilbao, he would be a success in the Black Stars.
“The handlers of the national team should identify a proper position to play him because his club does not play him as a centre forward,” suggested Ahinful, who made 20 appearances for Ghana.
He was of the view that Williams did not receive the right services in the national team whenever he was deployed as a centre forward and wondered why the striker operated effectively from the flanks in his club but would be used as a lead striker in the national team without success.
Having personally observed Williams' performance against Cadiz in the Spanish La Liga last Saturday, Ahinful firmly believes that the national team has not been utilising the striker correctly to optimise his goal-scoring prowess.
"I wish Coach Chris Hughton had watched Inaki yesterday. Most of the time he plays from the right, or when his brother, Nico, is playing, they interchange positions from left to right," Arhinful remarked.
The retired player concluded that Williams' struggles in the national team were due to a lack of support from his teammates. He called upon the Black Stars' technical staff to find a more suitable role for Williams to ensure his effectiveness.
“He is not receiving the necessary services in the Black Stars. I believe he is being played out of position because in Bilbao he plays from the flanks. He has never been the centre person to strike so the coach should identify where he can play and fit him,” Ahinful, who plied his trade in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and Turkey, observed.
Accessing the performance of forwards Antoine Semenyo and Ernest Nuamah, Ahinful described their contribution as very good and said they had settled in well into the team.
However, he also noted that Nuamah occasionally displayed excessive exuberance and advised him to learn when to pass rather than taking on defenders unnecessarily.“They’ve done well but Nuamah needs to learn not to take players on all the time. Not all balls that you have to take on a player,” he advised.
