15 November 2021 was the last time Harambee Stars had played a match prior to Tuesday’s game against Iran.Kenya had been locked out of international football by FIFA thanks to the interference by the government.After 18 months in oblivion, Stars were back with a bang, securing a high profile friendly against Iran, a team ranked 24th in the world FIFA rankings.In this piece, we will specifically look at the defensive robustness of Stars, where they managed to hold Iran in open play, only conceding in the latter stages of the game through freekicks.Tactician Engin Firat and his coaching staff set out for the game with a clear plan on how they wanted to approach the game.Obiri a late entrant in next month’s Boston MarathonThe plan was to soak in the pressure and look to hurt the Iranians on the break through quick transitions on the wide channels. To see this plan to fruition, Firat, put Patrick Matasi in goal, a centre back pairing of Brian Mandela and highly-rated Gent defender Joseph Okumu.The fullback positions were occupied by Amos Nondi and Eric ‘Marcelo’ Ouma who put in a very good shift.In the midfield, Firat employed a double pivot of Richard Odada and the well-travelled Anthony Akumu.There was a flexible front four which consisted of AFC Leopards dribbling wizard Victor Omune, Kenya Police FC lynchpin Duke Abuya, Masud Juma and skipper Michael Olunga.##NAJAVA_MECA_7139399##Firat looked to defend in a compact and narrow 1-4-4-2 formation. He tasked the front two to look to start from a deeper mid-block and look to deny central penetration by the Iranians, who boasted of very technical players between the lines in Mehdi Taremi and Shariarh Moghanlou. In this set up, one of the front two looked to follow the ball while the second forward looked to screen the opposition defensive midfielder and deny passing lanes into the central midfielders. Odhiambo terms move from Mathare to Tusker as dream come trueFirat looked to have players stepping out in time of the pass to block the passing lane or to hurry the ball carrier by forcing them back.The midfield block was very active in controlling the ball carrier and his closest options with no room for passivity or lapses in concentration.When the Iranians looked to switch the ball, the stars appeared to move quickly as a unit, this sliding action was done to avoid losing compactness or the defensive structure. From the set up, and the coaches’ antics on the touchline, it was clear that the instructions were that, the block must be able to shift on and on, noting the high levels of concentration needed to do this; this was clearly a plus for aside that had not played together for over 18 months. When the Iranians looked to up the tempo of the game, the Kenyan defensive block would step back to reduce space between the lines and behind the defense, this closing action was well orchestrated by Odada and Akumu.The wide midfielders, especially Masud helped the fullback. Wazito boss Charles Odera picks positives from Sharks drawThis action was key in the game as the Iranians looked to heavily centre their attacks towards the Kenyan wide channels, this was due to the qualitative superiority they looked to achieve with Ehsan Haji Safi, Mehdi Taremi and Shahriar Moghanlou who would look to create wide overloads and work the ball into the box for the target man Mohammad Mohebi and the midfielders who would join the attack from deep.Eric Ouma depicted how to defend 1v1 situations, with how he stepped out to close down his opponent quickly, looking to minimize scenarios in which his opponent received the ball in an optimal position to attack, and blocked the crossing angles by being very intense when stepping out.His display, especially in the first half is commendable noting the opponent he had to face, Alireza Jahanbaksh who had turned out for English Premier League top flight team Brighton and Hove Albion for 3 years and was now plying his trade for Dutch giants Feyenoord.Player ratings: Night to forget for Matasi as Harambee Stars bow to IranAlso commendable in the defensive display was how the midfielders looked to slide to bring cover in case of 2v1 situations on the wings.Kenya however slightly struggled to defend between the lines in the initial stages with the centre backs hesitant in stepping out to close the space between the lines when Iran breached.Iran had also proved to be very dangerous and among their arsenal. They had the long ball into the channel, something the Kenyan team seemed to have done proper homework on, the sweeping from goalkeeper Matasi(Who could be given his fair share of thorns, especially in conceding of the two goals, but also deserves roses) on how he looked to come out and claim , with the defense on high alert with this longballs.With Kenya putting up a resolute defensive display and frustrating the Iranians to minimal open play chances, the team should hold its head up high. A look into Matasi’s match statistics against IranIt was a robust defensive display, something that for sure gave the manager a clear glimpse on how to set out against top opposition and a learning point on game management for the players.Ladies and gentlemen, our beloved Harambee Stars are back, with proper friendlies against top teams and building on the out of possession display in Tehran, the team can only scale to greater heights fromhere. Good things will for sure come.
