Black Stars need a coach who can inspire players to perform – Ignatius Osei Fosu

Former Dreams FC coach Ignatius Osei Fosu has called on the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to select a head coach who possesses the ability to inspire Black Stars players to perform at their peak. According to Osei Fosu, the search for a new coach should not solely concentrate on the candidate's tactical abilities but should also prioritize someone with the right personality and leadership qualities to unlock the best in the players.

He insists that the available talent among Ghana's players means the upcoming coach should not merely focus on imparting basic football principles but should concentrate on motivating and engaging the players to execute his strategies on the field. Osei Fosu believes that players at the international level already possess the necessary technical and tactical understanding to carry out fundamental tasks.

Citing examples of Antoine Semenyo and Mohammed Kudus, he argues that seasoned players like these do not require instruction on basic aspects such as forward runs or progressive passing. "Nobody in the world is now going to teach Semenyo how to make forward runs. Nobody is going to teach Kudus how to make a forward pass. It is about how you inspire them to play," he emphasizes.

Osei Fosu stresses that teaching tactics alone is not enough to guarantee a player's commitment on the pitch. He explains that a player's lack of desire to make a run will remain unchanged, regardless of how thoroughly the coach has explained the movement, whereas a motivated player can instinctively make the right decisions. "If a player doesn’t want to run, no matter how much you have taught him where to run to, he will not make the run.

But if a player is willing to make the run, even if you have not taught him, he will make a very good run," Osei Fosu explains. He posits that inspiration can stem from various elements of a coach's work, including tactical approaches, training methods, and the coach's personal interactions with players as individuals. "If you don’t have a coach who can inspire players to play, inspiration to play can be using tactics, tactical approach.

It can even be your training session. It can be your personal approach towards human being," Osei Fosu concludes.