Ghana coach Chris Hughton has addressed Inaki Williams’ goal-scoring situation for the Black Stars, emphasising the need to find the right strategies to help the forward score.
The former Spain international is yet to score a goal in his 10 appearances for Ghana since his debut in September last year, despite his impressive goal-scoring record for his club, Athletic Bilbao, where he has netted 13 league goals since his Ghana debut, including four in the current season.
Williams had promised to score his first goal in the recent match against Mexico but came on as a substitute in the second half, playing for just over 25 minutes. As Ghana prepare to face the USA on Tuesday night, Williams is expected to be in the starting lineup.
Hughton shared his insights ahead of the USA match, saying, “What we have with all of the players are a short period of time, so if I answer the question in two ways: At club level, he plays in two positions but generally, he is a number nine, a centre forward. At this moment in time, and for a good part of the season, he has been playing on the right-hand side in a three.”
He continued, “As regards the goals he scores and his performance, this is because of what he is able to do at the club. He has day-to-day contact, day-to-day training, and a way of playing that obviously suits the team. What we can’t do is we can’t fault the work rate that he puts in. He is a player that is prepared to run behind. We just need to get the formulas right where we are able to provide him with the service.”
Hughton stressed the need for proper service to Williams, stating, “The service can come in two ways. It can come from the wide areas or it can come from runs over the top. And I think over the period of time, we haven’t been able to provide him with that type of service.”
He concluded, “Some of that is sporadic; we have games where we have had good possession in the middle of the park and look for runners. But probably, as I said, we need to find the right formulas to create chances for him. And up until this moment, we haven’t been able to do that.”
The Ghana-USA match is set to take place on Tuesday night at Geodis Park, and Ghanaians can watch the game on Wednesday dawn starting from 12:30 am.