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 9th
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
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