Iñaki Williams’ Ghana Nightmare: Wrong player or wrong system?

Iñaki Williams arrived in the Black Stars setup in 2022 carrying a reputation built over years at Athletic Bilbao.

He was fast, experienced, durable and capable of playing across the front line. Four years later, however, he leaves Ghana with two goals in 28 appearances.

That is an uncomfortable statistic for both the player and the national team. But was Williams simply a bad fit for Ghana, was he not as good as many thought, or did the Black Stars repeatedly fail to use him properly?

Williams' international career was played under four coaching periods: Otto Addo in 2022, Chris Hughton in 2023, Addo again from 2024 and Carlos Queiroz in 2026. Different coaches, different ideas, but remarkably little change in the outcome.

The criticism of Williams is fair. He missed chances. At times, his confidence in a Ghana shirt appeared completely different from the player seen every week in Spain.

His first Black Stars goal took more than 800 minutes and 12 appearances to arrive, when he finally scored the winner against Madagascar in November 2023.

But the argument that Williams was simply a poor player for Ghana does not fully stand up.

At Athletic Bilbao, he was rarely judged only by his goals. His pace stretches defences, his movement creates space, and his ability to attack from wide positions makes him dangerous when the team can transition quickly.

He has also remained an important contributor for Athletic even when he is not the one finishing attacks.

So what happened when he joined Ghana?

One problem was the supply.

Hughton himself acknowledged the issue during Williams' goal drought, arguing that Ghana were not creating enough chances for the forward. That matters because a striker can only finish opportunities that arrive.

There was also a tactical question.

Williams appeared most dangerous when he could move into space, particularly from wider areas, rather than being left to operate as a conventional No 9 with his back to goal. Yet Ghana often struggled to build attacks that allowed him to exploit his pace.

Even more telling was what happened when Williams' club form improved. In October 2024, Williams was in strong form for Athletic, producing goals and assists and assuming greater responsibility, but had limited impact with Ghana.

That contrast cannot automatically be blamed on coaching. International football gives players little time to build combinations, and Ghana's attacking structure has itself changed repeatedly.

Perhaps, then, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Williams was not blameless. He needed to be more clinical and impose himself more consistently.

But Ghana also never consistently built an attack around what made him dangerous.

So was it the wrong player, the wrong team or the wrong tactics?

Probably a little bit of all three.

The evidence suggests Williams’ biggest problem with Ghana was more tactical than technical.

He was not blameless; two goals in 28 appearances is a poor return, and he needed to be more clinical.

But his club career showed he could contribute through his pace, movement, width and creativity, even when he was not scoring.

Ghana never consistently found a system that brought those qualities to the fore.

FKA/AM