How Otto Addo could set up against Portugal

Black Stars head coach Otto Addo has a tough game on his hands as Ghanaians expect the gaffer to steer Ghana to a positive result against Portugal in their opening Group H game at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Black Stars will face Portugal, one of the tournament's favourites, at Stadium 974 (Ras Abu Aboud) on Thursday, November 24, 2022.

Otto Addo's tactical acumen will be in the spotlight and whether or not Ghana can pick a point will largely depend on how he will set his team up for the match.

The German-trained gaffer has been unpredictable regarding his lineups and formations for games since taking charge in March 2022.

His flexibility to adopt and switch formations depending on the opponent is his hallmark as a young manager.

Otto Addo's most used formations are 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2. Among the two formations, 3-back seemly gives him the right balance for his team against tough opponents.

During the World Cup playoffs second leg against Nigeria, he started with a 4-back system and ended the game with a 3-back setup.

Ghana had drawn goalless at home in the first leg and needed at least a scoring draw to qualify based on an away goal.

Black Stars took the lead in the first half but they looked shaky and jittery in defending and eventually conceded a penalty to end the half in a draw.

In the second half, Otto Addo tweaked his formation to a 3-back shape and managed to get the needed draw to qualify.

In September when Ghana played Brazil in a pre-World Cup friendly, the Black Stars were dominated and conceded 3 goals from porous defending in a 4-back shape in the first half.

Again, Otto Addo switched to a 3-back in the second half, which helped the team settle and avoided conceding more goals. They were able to match the Brazilians to some extent in the 3-5-2 shape.

Given that Portugal is a powerhouse in World football and are superior in terms of quality, this time, Otto Addo would not want to gamble with a 4-back.

Also, with the game being an opening fixture, he would want to set the tone right and build the confidence of the team by aiming for at least a point. Hence, he would set out his team to be a bit more defensive.

Ghana would not have more of the ball and thus have to make good use of it the few time they would have it. This means that quick passing to turn defense into attack would be Otto Addo's strategy for the game.

Therefore it looks likely Black Stars will start the game in a 3-back system. However, with regard to Otto Addo's choice of players for this strategy and tactics, it is very unpredictable.

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