Akonnor advocates interaction among coaches
Black Stars coach, Charles Akonnor, has called for a new system which can afford national team trainers the opportunity to share ideas and help one another in their line of duty.
The former Black Stars skipper, who was appointed head coach of the senior national team in February, is yet to play any official game following the suspension of football due to COVID-19.
Advertisement
System of play
In an interview with the GFA website Akonnor said, “We need to understand that we must have a set-up which each and every national team will follow from top to bottom. So if you are playing, for instance, 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 which the Black Meteors used during the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, the journey of players to the top will not be long.
“We must have that understanding because that is what they do out there,” he noted.
Coaches’ interaction
“National team coaches must have a relationship so that we can share ideas. We should be able to share ideas because I don’t know it all; they also don’t know it all. We need to help one another and that is a barrier among the coaches, it’s a fact,” he stressed.
“I am open. I want a situation where the national set-up will have that bond in terms of tactical play. Before I got into the national team, I was in the Under-20 team. Otto Pfister [former Black Stars coach] saw me in an international match. The following week he called me into the Black Stars because there were similarities in the style of play and what he needs and it was easier.”
Black Stars identity
“I have a tape of the 1978 Nations Cup squad and observed how they played. We will modify it a little bit — that style has been my idea.
“It is not about what I want, it’s about the demands of the people and I know the style of play that our people are interested in — we entertain the crowd, play a very constructive football but we have to be efficient at the end of the day because that is what matters most.
“You play, entertain and you don’t win and you will see what Ghanaians will tell you,” Coach Akonnor revealed.
Expectations
“Ghanaians are passionate about the game. I know what they want and how I can manage to get them what they want is the problem my technical team have to solve.
“And I think we will do this in a very positive way.”