{"id":323390,"date":"2017-05-29T11:30:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T11:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=323390"},"modified":"2017-05-29T11:30:56","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T11:30:56","slug":"quaos-monday-moanings-gpl-returns-starlets-tears-arsenal-win-war-of-wembley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/quaos-monday-moanings-gpl-returns-starlets-tears-arsenal-win-war-of-wembley\/","title":{"rendered":"QUAO\u2019s Monday Moanings: GPL returns, Starlets tears, Arsenal win War of Wembley"},"content":{"rendered":"
Citi Sports editor, Nathan Quao, returns with his column and this week, his attention is on the Ghana Premier League Week 16, the Black Starlets\u2019 loss to Mali in the AFCON U17 final and Arsenal\u2019s victory in the FA Cup final.<\/em><\/p>\n Kotoko win on GPL restart<\/strong><\/p>\n It seems Kotoko chose a good time to get their first win in the Ghana Premier League since March. On the day the league resumed for the second round, the Porcupine Warriors found victory on the road at Tema Youth and though it was not pretty, it was very valuable.<\/p>\n Winning is the best thing in football whether you are on a high or you are going through \u00a0a very tough spell. For Kotoko, getting that 1-0 win in Tema Youth will remind them of how good they can be and maybe that was what new coach, Steve Pollack, had been telling them during the first round break.<\/p>\n Kotoko\u2019s numbers were very poor after the first 15 matches: they scored only nine goals with 6 coming at home, they traveled poorly with 4 losses on the road and there was a sense of despair.<\/p>\n It is very early to say that Pollack is the saviour but after listening to him a few times, I believe that he can get them going again. He fancies the simplicity of the game and he will urge them to play without any fears.<\/p>\n The road is long but if Kotoko\u2019s management want to see the end of the journey, they should give Pollack time to work and Pollack must also be ready to demand a lot from the players else he will be the victim.<\/p>\n WAFA experienced another stumble on the road after losing 1-0 to Inter Allies in Accra. That was their second straight away loss following their 2-1 reverse against Hearts just before the end of the first round of the league.<\/p>\n I remember stating in my column from a few weeks back that I disagreed with WAFA coach, Klaus Rasmussen\u2019s assertions that his team was not aiming for the league title.<\/p>\n I still do stand by that because WAFA have every right to go for the league title. They do not need to be held back at all. They have the right players and philosophy to get important points away from home and so, Rasmussen needs to know the difference between guiding young players through pressure and numbing their senses to glory.<\/p>\n They are now second to Aduana and things will get more complicated of they do not fight for more on the road.<\/p>\n Starlets fall to Mai in U17 decider<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The conversation after Ghana\u2019s loss to Mali in the final of the U17African Championships has been one focusing on the team\u2019s capabilities, the coach\u2019s work and the general worry at the failure to win a football title these days.<\/p>\n The truth is that Ghana were second best to Mali in the final and sincerely, I found it strange. Mali were not going to be push-overs but the urgency and smartness needed to play and win a final were lacking in the Ghanaian team.<\/p>\n Maybe, I am being over-critical but I felt that the team could have forced penalties by scoring an equaliser. They ha chances too but they were not put away.<\/p>\n What is done is done already and there is some time between now and the World Cup in October to fix things. A large part of the team needs to kept because there is no need to radically change the tactical direction of the team.<\/p>\n However, the team will need a very good central midfielder to keep things in check when the runners like Eric Ayiah and Emmanuel Toku go up the field to find goals. The rate at which the opponents ran through the midfield was very alarming \u00a0in some of the matches.<\/p>\n I will not call the group \u2018overhyped\u2019. They have done really well by making it to the World Cup for the first time in 10 years but the foes from the other parts of the world will take some stopping if Ghana will win its third U-17 World Cup.<\/p>\n