Welcome to iMore! I agree that the ghost player is irritating, especially when it's right on top of where you're trying to play. Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to turn it off.
I'm with you on this one. Also a little pet peeve of mine is how the level starts zoomed in a bit. When the level starts the view zooms out, and I find that distracting and tricky, especially if there are enemies nearby at the start of a level!
Hopefully one day it'll have an update to turn it off or hide it.
I don't mind seeing it when they are far infront or far behind me but when it's neck and neck sometimes it really throws me off.