Sefa Writes: The broken sceptre, Mohammed Kudus looks to reclaim dynasty

A king is without a kingdom, neither is a talisman without goals.

Rulership and dominion come from the exertion of one’s authority, which translates into conquering.

A lot of prelude to an easy theme.

If the goals dry up, you really find yourself frustrated and wanting, as Kudus has.

Kudus is undeniably the eye of the Black Stars, and for that matter the ruler of this team. When he plays well, the team plays well.

When he’s off, the whole system shutsdown.

It wouldn’t be an over statement to say its been well over 12 months since we did see Kudus get to his optimum for the Black Stars.

Don’t get me wrong. He was brilliant against Central African Republic (CAR) in Kumasi with every touch and control in the World Cup qualifiers.

But in this current dispensation, capping off an excellent performance for the team must come with a goal.

And in that light, he’s struggled to find the back of the net since his brace at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on his debut against Egypt.

Ideally, that should have been a building block but Kudus has folded since then, and an awful lot has taken place in that time.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, after Ghana dropped points against Sudan in the double header of the AFCON qualifiers, he let out his frustration by poking a number of Spurs players in the face during West Ham’s game against their London rivals.

By then, his head was gone and he was all over the place.

His former manager, Julian Lopetegui, said after the incident that saw Kudus sent off.

“I think that he brings his frustration with his national team too, because they lost and drew their matches, and that was bad.”

But is Kudus’ situation really concerning, or it’s just Ghanaians getting worked up for no reason?

I would have sided with the latter if his club form was at least promising.

Since finding the net against Brighton in December 2024, Kudus has gone 12 Premier League games without scoring a goal, neither has he provided an assist in that time.

His longest spell in front of goal without finding the back of the net. How do you try to mince this? It’s impossible to say otherwise.

Scoring at club level at least provides players with the confidence to take their chances in the national team.

But at the moment, the way he has played in the last six games for Ghana in the qualifiers, he is playing like a player with none of that – confidence.

Before the international break, he had the Premier League on chokehold, running rings around Arsenal at the Emirates in February.

The subsequent weeks, it was just a decent output. Mentally, he doesn’t seem to be in the right place.

The AFCON qualifiers seemingly appear to have weighed heavily on him.

But Otto Addo is confident, the last man to be upbeat, and so should Kudus. His manager says it’s a new year, a new competition and a fresh start.

Despite all the stick and wrongs Otto consistently churns out, he’s right.

The surreal feeling of representing your nation on the biggest stage should be enough motivation.

If that isn’t encouraging enough, the thought of holding the record as the first Ghanaian to score twice in a World Cup game should propel him to play out of his skin for another opportunity to express himself on the biggest stage.

Unlike the AFCON qualifiers, where the Black Stars stood no chance of qualifying,  their chances to make the World Cup is huge.

Third in their group, games against Chad, who -with all due respect- look defeated before the game starts, should be what Kudus should be eyeing for an upturn in form.

The game against Chad is Ghana’s first in 2025, and someone has to step up and set the ball rolling.

Kudus is no stranger to opening Ghana’s account in a new year.

Back in 2021, Kudus scored Ghana’s first goal of the year against South Africa in a 1-1 draw.

Currently enduring a run of nine games without a goal for the Black Stars, Kudus will be hoping to break his duck against an out of sort Chad on Friday.

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