There’s a cruel symmetry to two unravelling crises thousands of kilometres apart, where Accra and London are bound by instability, underachievement and despair.
In Ghana, the Black Stars are trying to drag themselves out of one of the bleakest spells in recent memory, while in England, Tottenham Hotspur are staring into a season that has veered from dysfunction to impending disaster.
Both have sacked their coaches — two in Spurs’ case; both have invested resources only to lurch from tactical confusion to emotional drift and back again, and both of these fabled institutions, these fallen giants, are clinging to the idea that a reset can save them.
For both, this rebooting will be taking place without the injured Mohammed Kudus.
Losing Kudus to a ‘significant quad injury’ stretches beyond the absence of one more name on the teamsheet. His loss will have a decisive, significant impact on both FIFA World Cup dreams and English Premier League survival hopes.
For Spurs, he proved — at least on occasion under Thomas Frank — that he was that rare attacker who could conjure chaos from nothing.
Without Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, both yet to feature this season, he was increasingly invaluable, with individual displays of excellence against Burnley and Leeds United in the first half of the campaign encouraging Tottenham fans to believe that they were primed for a push for Champions League qualification.
For Ghana, he’s been the difference-maker, a rare touch of quality in this demoralising cycle, where the four-time African champions have found themselves shorn of the individual excellence and strength in depth of squads gone by.
The parallels between these two decrepit edifices are striking.
Ghana’s recent collapse has been marked, because of both the results and the fashion in which they’ve arrived. Qualification for the Qatar World Cup papered over the cracks that had been increasingly evident, while ultimate failure to qualify for the bloated 24-team 2025 Africa Cup of Nations was a national embarrassment.
Otto Addo’s exit felt inevitable, but hasn’t erased the damage of the previous spell. It arguably came too late, and surely has come too close to the World Cup for Carlos Queiroz to succeed to the best of his abilities.
Similarly, for Tottenham, Igor Tudor’s dismissal felt inevitable, but the board’s decision to cut with him has not solved the damage done during those miserable 44 days. Last year’s Europa League success under Ange Postecoglou partly papered over the cracks of Spurs’ structural decline, but there’s been nowhere to hide this season.
Roberto De Zerbi’s arrival has surely come too late, and surely too close to an increasingly inevitable relegation for the Italian to succeed to the best of his abilities.
Their appointments have reflected their institutions’ desire to recruit specialists in order to pull them out of the mire in which they find themselves.
Queiroz will offer Ghana the experience that was so often questioned under his predecessor Addo, even if his tournament record isn’t particularly stellar, while De Zerbi is meant to bring boldness, a front-foot playing style and vitality back to Spurs.
Both men surely need time, however, to implement their visions and establish their standards, although given the impending World Cup and Spurs’ plight, it’s a luxury that neither possesses.
That’s why the loss of Kudus becomes such an acute agony.
He’s more than just a talented attacker, he’s a talismanic figure of hope, with his flamboyance, his invention, his fine delivery from open play or set pieces, and his ability to receive possession while under pressure.
He can stretch the play, forge openings, trouble opponents with his tenacity and pace, change the tempo and dynamic of a match with his dribbling, and transform his side’s fortunes with an effort from range.
In various different modes of play, each of these teams would be markedly strong with Kudus present, whether it’s in build-up, transition, taking chances… he’s an irreplaceable loss, whether against weaker or stronger opponents.
On one hand, Spurs have stronger options – on paper – than Ghana, so could better absorb his loss, but by the same token, the Lilywhites have also been dealing with a devastating injury record this season, making Kudus’s setback all the more painful.
Given the club’s misery with injuries this term — at times, over a dozen players have been sidelined — one could forgive a certain suspicion on the part of the GFA that Spurs sought to rush back Kudus too quickly following the hamstring injury he suffered in the winter.
Given the incoming De Zerbi’s desire to have him available, and Tottenham’s crisis situation, a certain urgency on their part could have been forgiven, but given their medical team’s catastrophic recent record, and the impending World Cup, it looks to have been a disastrous determination from Ghana’s point of view.
Given the club’s extensive investment in recovery science, risk prevention and load monitoring, given Spurs’ facilities, there must be an enquiry into how another superstar has been lost for the run-in.
There are consequences for all parties.
Kudus is a man for moments. Spurs need as many of those match-defining moments as they can muster in their remaining six fixtures of the season. Without Kudus, it’s hard to see where this magic comes from.
Ghana face a similar dilemma, albeit in a different context. Queiroz’s likely approach at the World Cup is well established, and we can see the blueprint in his previous campaigns – notably with the Iran national team.
Expect compact distances, disciplined defensive structure, measured possession and carefully chosen moments to attack. Ghana may be a little more expansive against Panama, but against England and Croatia, we can already see how they’ll set up.
Queiroz, unlike De Zerbi, is no purist. He wants control, certainly, but he knows that there are different ways to navigate tournament football, not all of which involve controlling the ball.
Typically, the Mozambique-born head coach’s international teams play narrow, with a midblock, close out the central zones of the pitch, and prefer to deal with threats out wide. He likes his fullbacks to progress the ball, his midfielders control territory, and forwards’ ability to forge openings (and take them) are favoured.
Kudus would have been a huge asset, given his ability to improvise, to both create and take chances.
If Ghana are being outplayed, are short of possession — as they’ll expect to be against their two European opponents — Kudus could have been the antidote. He could absorb pressure, drag markers, roll opposition, and give Ghana a dimension the other way as well.
Without him, where does the Black Stars’ main threat come from? Antoine Semenyo surely steps into a more prominent role without his compatriot.
The Manchester City man is enjoying a strong end to the season under Pep Guardiola — he was magnificent in the recent 4-0 demolition of Liverpool — and while the prospect of him and Kudus dovetailing together at the grandest stage, he could slip comfortably into a role on the right flank should Queiroz not desire him in a more central role.
A front three of Semenyo, Jordan Ayew and Adul Fatawu would suit Queiroz, while Prince Kwabena Adu — who featured in both of Addo’s last two matches, having made his debut in November — may retain his central role under the new coach, as the main direct beneficiary of Kudus’s injury.
While the Czechia-based new boy is an intriguing arrival in the camp, two more familiar faces could also take more prominent roles at the World Cup in light of Kudus’s absence.
Kamaldeen Sulemana has struggled to impress since arriving at Atalanta, with only three goal contributions in Serie A so far this term, but his ability to play out wide or through the middle makes him a versatile addition for Queiroz. He also has that rare dribbling ability to beat a man, stretch play, and give opponents something to think about in behind.
Could Ernest Nuamah also be the unlikeliest of beneficiaries? The speedster hasn’t been seen since April 2025 after being sidelined for a year with a knee injury. He’s recently returned to training, and while normally, has probably left it too late to force his way back into contention, could see his stock rise if he can return to action and prove his sharpness with Olympique Lyonnais.
He’s another who would relish one-on-one combat, and could be a valuable squad addition who could facilitate the kind of absorb-pressure, stay structured, counter-attack-with-speed-and-efficiency approach that Queiroz is expected to favour.
While there’s no doubting that Ghana and Tottenham are comfortably better with Kudus, the Black Stars do have options and do have players who can offer some, if not all, of the qualities that the stricken midfielder could bring to the table.
Perhaps Queiroz has the wiles to turn the setback into a strength; without Kudus’s individualism, perhaps he will more readily be able to forge a more compact, cohesive, conservative unit. At least the Black Stars don’t have things quite as bad as Spurs.
These two fallen giants begin again; old wounds, new coaches, both seeking redemption, one in the shadow of disaster, the other with disaster looming large before them.
Both have talent enough to recover, although both will recognise that when you lose the player who makes the impossible feel possible, then salvation risks slipping out of reach.
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