Agyeman Badu: There’s no leadership crisis in Black Stars

Black Stars and Udinese midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has rubbished speculations that there is a leadership crisis in the Black Stars and reckons reports of a rift between captain Asamoah Gyan and his deputy Dede Ayew have been exaggerated.

Agyeman Badu was dropped from the recent Black Stars squad that thrashed Ethiopia 5-0 in a Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia.

The victory was short lived as it was overshadowed by a customized Gyan armband that has re-ignited the debate about captaincy and leadership in the Black Stars squad all over again.

The Udinese midfielder who has 76 caps under his belt and knows the teams’ dynamics well reckons the issues have been mixed up.

“For now, there is perception”, he told Dora Badu Acheampong in an interview “but I have been with the team for nine years and worked with everyone and not seen anyone like that.

Both players have denied it. The point is that you don’t need to be friends outside your job to be good teammates.

“They have their friends they are more comfortable with and so do all of us but do they work well for the good of the football team? Since I have been there, they do and mostly the team gets good results which is the most important thing.”

Badu said watching the Ethiopia game from home was not what he wanted but says he was impressed with the quality of the new players on show.

It has also left him in no doubt the amount of work he needs to do to get back into the squad. “It is the national team so some go and some come”, he said. “Not being in this time only strengthens my resolve to work harder and earn my place back and prove to the coach I can still be useful to the team.”