Cameroonian goal poacher Franck Mbella Etouga Thierry is having a stellar debut season in the Ghanaian topflight league as he tops the goalscoring chart with 19 goals so far.
The prolific striker alongside his compatriot Georges Mfegue sparked a lot doubt and controversies amongst Ghanaian football fanatics when they first joined Kotoko before the start of the 2021/22 season. Not many people knew about their pedigree and prowess but after months of consistent impressive performances for the Porcupine Warriors, the two have won the hearts of many people.
It is always not easy for foreign imports to breakthrough in their debut Ghana Premier League (GPL) season and so for Etouga to be having these impressive numbers for a competitive side like Kotoko, speak volumes of his qualities as a striker. For a player to have scored 19 goals in less than 25 games will obviously mean there are so many positives to pick from his play.
One very notable thing about the Kotoko striker is his calmness in front of goal. A lot of times, when strikers are presented with a great opportunity to score, there’s that eagerness to hit the ball as quickly as possible to avoid being dispossessed by the opposing defense. However, for Etouga, he becomes so calm even under pressure and perfectly finds his spot at goal.
The calmness of Etouga in the penalty box of the opponent is one of the reasons why Asante Kotoko have probably won more penalties than any other club in the ongoing league campaign. His intelligence to keep hold of the ball and draw tackles from opponent is a smart attribute of a striker.
One other thing of note is his intelligence on the ball to hold up play and find the right pass in the final third of the field. The ability to beautifully link up play with teammates is laudable and something worth emulating for fellow strikers in the GPL. He’s built such a strong partnership with teammates, most especially Mfegue who has assisted most of his goals.
Mbella Etouga is also a player whose fitness level seems to be very high as he plays 90 minutes of almost every game he’s had with Asante Kotoko. With the luxury of attackers currently at Kotoko, it is not a fluke to be playing every minute of almost every game for the Ghanaian giant. This surely has to be a man who doesn’t joke with his training and fitness.
With six games to end the GPL, a player who will legitimately be in contention to win the best player of the season, is certainly Franck Mbella Etouga. There’s no question about his sterling performances for the season which has won the hearts of both Kotoko fans and rivals as such.
He is indeed a player who is worth the hype he has gotten so far considering the brilliant goals and overall performance for the season.
By: Edward Kyei Frimpong
