ENNPI 'Triangles' that Frustrated Gor

Football is won and lost in the midfield- period. This is the engine of a team and the fulcrum upon which every move revolves. Midfield is a mentality and not a position, the positioning follows an inbuilt disposition in a player.

There are defensive and attacking midfielders, where a special type is a playmaker who can be described as a central midfielder. The defensive midfielders are more of tacklers and spoilers while playmakers and attacking are creators. Passing is a must for any midfielder as it is the only way to complete an efficient play. In Kenya, we have more than enough supply of defensive midfielders but the others are rare.

It is with this in mind that I set my eyes on the Egyptian side ENNPI when they played Gor Mahia in the return leg of Confederation Cup second leg. They played a  4-3-3 formation but the two wingers fell into the midfield when they were defending for a  4-5-1 on back peddle.

The three midfielders were defensive- Mohammed Sobhy Gazy and creatives Nader Saber El Ashry and Abdalla Shahad Ibrahim. Whenever they were defending Gazy was always infront of the defense but Nader came down to play on Gazy’s left. This meant that the Egyptian side had a six man wall in the defense then Shahad was in the centre circle to form a midfield triangle with the base in the defense.

In the offensive, Nader moved up field as Shahad went to the left, shifting the base of the triangle into Gor’s side of the field. Gazy remained as the apex in front of the defense. This happened with a static Joseph Njuguna and Teddy Akumu positioned in a diagonal line in front of Gor defense. Thes three ENNPI midfield players blocked and outplayed a Gor midfield composed of Kevin Omondi, Ali Abondo, Joseph Njuguna and Teddy Akumu. 

Moses Odhiambo is an accomplished midfielder, and his introduction stifled ENNPI in the second half.

Gor appeared purposeful when Rama fell deep into the ‘hole’ behind Serunkuma and acted as a playmaker, which faults their midfield. There was another shift in play when Innocent Mutiso came in for Teddy Akumu.

ENNPI ‘triangles’ meant that in the offensive they played a 4-1-5 system and 6-3-1 in defense. The transitions were seamless, the passes accurate but their finishing was poor. The ‘extra’ players filling the gaps meant that Gor’s efforts were always watched by an extra set of eyes not committed to active play. This is the player who curtailed the moves before they turned dangerous. These extra player(s) sometimes transformed the triangle into a diamond, another formation that if played well, locks opponents out of play.

Watching KPL clubs play leaves you with insights why our football lacks an edge in the region and Africa as a whole. Our midfielders are way average for the game. Those who can tackle and win balls cant hold on to it. Those who can hold have a low complete passing rate. The play-makers are non-existent especially with the exit of Humphrey Mieno to Azam FC.

We need to develop our midfielders’ individual play then work on their team work in terms of transitions and cohesion. ENNPI employed a simple play that made sure they consolidated their 3-0 win advantage over Gor in Cairo.

Catch me on Twitter @stuttistician

Tactical Improvement in Tusker Premier League

Stop and take your eyes off the action in the EPL and UEFA Champions League and spare sometime for the local version of the beautiful game. TPL clubs are slowly getting the gist of matters technical football, the few matches I have watched this season, clubs are getting entrepreneurial and taking risks in the game.

One department that works for our players is the defence side of things. Gor Mahia and Tusker FC have the best defence so far, Thika United also have great talent at the back but the league is still young to separate the diamonds from graphite. On area of want is the holding midfield or defensive midfielder- the diamonds are still rough.

This is an area where we have abundant talent, but to be honest, most of it is average. Those who can hold the ball have a low delivery rate on passes like Peter Opiyo of Tusker. Those who can tackle and win the ball, may be poor in holding it like Teddy Akumu but again good in passes. When individual talents are refined, then coaches can give us good formations.

The 4-4-2 formation became obsolete but all other formations that came after it always work with it as a template. TPL clubs play with a four man defence  Francis Kimanzi tried three defenders last season with Sofapaka but went back to back four. Our players’ physical fitness and technical ability makes it difficult for coaches to experiment new formations as well.

The choice of a formation is determined by players' tactical ability, individual talent and team dynamics. To this end TPL coaches have challenges because our players may be good in talent but average in tactical prowess.

Two man holding midfield

Because we lack creative midfielders our midfielders tend to default to defensive mode. Look at Gor Mahia against Sofapaka on Saturday 9^th March when Gor won 1-0 courtesy of a sublime Mungai Kiongera back heel goal. Akumu was the holding midfielder; Kevin Omondi and Paul Mbugua were the other midfielders with Rama playing in the hole behind Edwin Lavatsa and Kiongera.

Sofapaka had towering George Owino in that hole as a defensive midfielder to mark the diminutive Rama Salim. On a day that Osborne Monday failed to deliver the passes and Tito Mulama lacks speed in the midfield, it meant that Sofapaka defense always had Mulama as a third leg due to his lack of fluid in the midfield.

In reality, Paul Mbugua and Akumu were holding midfielders leaving Kevin Omondi with the task of breaking the Sofapaka defense, something that gave Sofapaka relief in defense. Kiongera’s goal came from the Lavatsa’s cross from the right after beating Collins Kisuya, the midfield works more in the defence than offence.

At Ruaraka based Tusker, Peter Opiyo is always deployed as a central midfielder but he has an inherent defensive trait, the good thing is he adopted passing later. He is always falling deep to play in a straight line with the deployed holding midfielder. Is it prudent that TPL clubs just adopt a double holding midfield pattern then try a three man defence  This means that 4-5-1 will be the most preferred formation.

The flanks

If there is another area our clubs lack in exceptional talent it is wingers. Very few players can run to the touch line and deliver an exceptional cross. Crosses are always hard balls to defend and there is a likelihood that a striker like John Baraza will drill it in. Leopards’ Paul Were is a magician here, but sometimes he gets lost in the details then he ends up losing his major role.

The new sensations on the flanks are Sofapaka’s Zimbabwe import Obadiah Tarumbwa and Tuskers Ugandan import Omunuk, both foreigners but great talent all the same. Logarusic prefers to play direct play with Gor Mahia- his less action on the flanks may be due to his realization that we lack players with the speed and ball control for the wings. Our wingers tend to get lost in the midfield, so the midfield is ever crowded but somehow the clubs that break into the box scores the goals.

The ideal winger knows when to defend and when to go to the midfield. Then there is the changing of flankers; how does playing a right legged player on the left flank influence a game? It means he has to cut back and run towards the box with ball away from the goal or risk dribbling on the side exposed to the marking defender. It works well though to confuse defenders, and Sofapaka and Tusker use it often and it works.

Forwards

There has been an increase in goals in TPL in the past few match days. If you take a look, these goals have not been scored by strikers but midfielders. KCB has had a good run so far, watching them against Ulinzi, I saw a cohesive approach to the game rather than tactical prowess. The lads are enjoying themselves, thus scoring many goals.

So far, KCB have perfected the morphing of 4-4-2 into 4-5-1 and a solid 5-4-1 when chasing the ball. Then there is the pseudo centre forward played well by Jacob Keli, where he comes in from the midfield to score the goals. Very effective teamwork formations, I hope Juma Abdalla will manage to keep up the tempo.

I will try my best to bring you the clubs’ approach to the game as frequently as I can and soon after the matches. For the Good of Game and Country

catch on twitter as @stuttistcian