Ghana’s head coach Otto Addo has identified defensive vulnerabilities and communication issues within the team, particularly in the backline following the conclusion of the March international window.
The Black Stars lost 2-1 to Nigeria before playing out a pulsating 2-2 draw with Uganda at Grande de Stade Marrakech in Morocco on Tuesday.
While the two friendlies gave new coach Otto Addo an opportunity to assess his young squad in preparation for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Mali and Central African Republic in June, the results extended Ghana’s winless run to seven games across competitions.
He attributed some of the challenges the team faces against Nigeria and Uganda to the absence of key players and emphasizes the importance of defensive cohesion and organization.
He outlined plans to address these issues in the coming months through monitoring players and implementing corrective measures to strengthen the defensive unit.
“We conceded too many goals that is right and I think the defensive line as they played today game and the other games haven’t played together and you could see the communication amongst the players was not as good as we wanted to have. Truly it’s difficult if key players in that role are missing.
But like I said, I got a lot to see today and I also saw who can be an option and may be who is not. We will be monitoring the players in the upcoming months and we will make the right conclusions for our upcoming matches in June.
We have to improve in our defensive positioning, closing gaps, recognizing situations and taking the right decisions defensively. Like I said counter pressing, closing gaps, defending in the last third and passing lanes was not that good but we have to work on it and do better next time”.
