How can England ‘figure out’ Ghana when the Black Stars are still searching for an identity?

England’s analysts may have spent the last few days circling Ghana’s weaknesses from the Panama game, but there is one problem with that exercise: what if the Ghana they are studying is not even the real Ghana yet?

A circulating tactical breakdown from the English media has highlighted obvious gaps in the Black Stars’ shape during their 1-0 win over Panama, particularly the distance between centre-backs Jerome Opoku and Jonas Adjetey.

At times, the pair were so far apart that the space between them looked inviting enough for England’s runners to attack, whether through diagonal balls from Reece James or direct movement from Harry Kane and the supporting cast around him.

On the surface, it is easy to see why England would be encouraged. Ghana did not look compact enough; their back line could be stretched, and there were moments when Panama found routes into areas that stronger teams would punish far more ruthlessly.

But this is where the story becomes more interesting. Are England really studying Ghana’s tactical blueprint, or are they simply studying a team that is still improvising under a new coach?

That distinction matters.

Carlos Queiroz has not been in the Ghana job long enough to build a settled identity.

There has not been enough time to fully install the automatisms, spacing patterns, and attacking habits that define a side with a clear tactical personality.

What Ghana showed against Panama looked less like a polished game model and more like a team trying to survive with the tools available.

They dug deep, stayed in the fight, and found a result. It was not beautiful, and it was never supposed to be.

It was functional football from a coach who has made little secret of the fact that aesthetics do not interest him nearly as much as outcomes.

Queiroz’s football has always been rooted in pragmatism. Possession for the sake of possession means nothing to him if it does not lead to goals or points. Control is useful only when it serves the result.

If his side has to sit deep, suffer, scrap for second balls, and leave the game ugly, then so be it.

The mission is to win, not to impress neutrals with patterns and pretty combinations.

That is why England’s confidence in “figuring Ghana out” may be slightly misplaced.

To counter a team properly, you normally need to identify recurring principles: how they build from the back, where they create overloads, which channels they target, how their press is triggered, where their defensive line squeezes space, and where their transitions begin.

But what if Ghana do not yet consistently do any of those things?

What if the Panama performance was not a window into a defined tactical system, but merely a one-off survival plan tailored to the opponent and the moment?

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If that is the case, then England are not really preparing to dismantle Ghana’s style.

They are preparing to exploit flaws from one specific match in which Ghana were still feeling their way through a new era.

Of course, that does not automatically favour Ghana. In fact, the lack of a clear structure may be the Black Stars’ biggest problem heading into this game.

If there is no stable tactical identity, then there is also no reliable platform to fall back on under pressure.

England are not Panama. They have the quality to punish loose play, attack the channels between centre-back and full-back, and force hesitation in a defence that is not fully synchronised.

A back line that was stretched against Panama could be ripped apart by the movement of England’s forwards if the same gaps appear again.

But there is another side to it. Ghana’s tactical vagueness can also make them awkward to read.

England may know where the spaces were against Panama, yet still find a different kind of game in front of them.

Queiroz could easily decide that this match demands a completely different setup: a narrower block, a more conservative back line, and a midfield screen designed purely to shut central spaces and force England wide.

If so, then all those clips from the Panama game become less of a roadmap and more of a rough reference point.

That is what makes this contest so intriguing. England will enter believing they have spotted Ghana’s weaknesses. They will think there are holes to attack, distances to exploit, and structural flaws to expose.

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But Ghana are still in that uncertain phase where their biggest tactical weakness may also be their greatest disguise.

They are not yet a fully formed side with a fixed identity. They are a team being shaped in real time by a coach who values survival over style and points over performance.

So perhaps the bigger question ahead of this game is not whether England can counter Ghana.

It is whether Ghana can even be countered in the conventional sense when they are still figuring out what they want to be.

Because if the Black Stars themselves are still searching for their true tactical face, then England’s analysts may discover they have spent days preparing for a version of Ghana that no longer exists once the whistle blows.

FKA/BAI

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