The Bandari resurgence under Twahir Muhidin continued on Saturday as the dockers beat Sofapaka 2-0 at Nyayo Stadium.Sitting on 51 points, the coast-based side looked to keep up their good form against an unpredictable Sofapaka.In this piece we look to solely understand how Muhiddin and his charges executed their plot.##NAJAVA_MECA_7299382##Bandari set up in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation with emphasis on verticality and quick wide rotations to progress into the opposition alarming area.Bandari, being a heavily vertical side as stated above, looked to mix up their build up structure.In the game, Sofapaka looked to detach their first line of pressure from the Bandari centre back pairing of Brian Odera and Andrew Juma. FKF Women’s Cup: Kibera Soccer Ladies floor Kisumu All Starlets to finish thirdThis enabled them to play out from the back with ease.In this build up phase, the dockers looked to push the fullback pairing of Mohammed Siraj and Atariza Meja into the same line as the double pivot of Fidel Origa and Amos Asembeka.As both fullbacks moved higher, the centre backs and the double pivot were tasked with the responsibility of keeping the ball. Asembeka was the more mobile of the duo, he would often drift wide to create a diagonal passing lane by dragging out a Sofapaka player. This movement aided them in keeping possession at the back and setting up the progression phase. Additionally, the Bandari pivot players were able to progressively carry the ball with ease noting their qualitative superiority.The carries seemed to draw Sofapaka players out of possession even more creating direct passing lanes into the Bandari FC attackers, who could now receive the ball in optimal positions to attack especially with Abdallah Hassan and James Kinyanjui in the wide areas.In the creation and finishing phases of the game. Bandari took up a measured pattern in attack. Their attacking line against Sofapaka consisted of Umaru Kasumba leading the line, Burundian international Shassiri Nahimana in the central playmaking role. James Kinyanjui and main man Abdallah, who got a goal and an assist in this game, scoring in his fourth consecutive start and adding his tally to 11 goals and 12 assists, completed the front four. Kinyanjui on the right side, looked to play in a hybrid winger role. He can come in and also hug the line. He had a good understanding with the right back who could create good overlapping and under lapping runs. Meja, was clever to adjust his positioning in relation to the position taken up by Kinyanjui.Against All Odds: The inspirational journey of Paul Jawa, refugee turned football starIn this Sofapaka game, Bandari created wide overloads majorly on the right side with phases of neat interplay to create.Bandari looked to use cutbacks and crosses majorly to find Kasumba, with Kinyanjui tucking in to attack the box too on the crosses and cutbacks. They got their second goal through some good 1v1 work by Abdallah on the right and then cutting back to Kinyanjui. The most dangerous player in the Bandari set up was Abdallah as stated above.He terrorized Sofapaka right back Simon Abuko. Abdallah is very aggressive in the 1v1 scenarios, he knows how to turn his pace and attack the box well. His positioning is impeccable with him creating positional and qualitative superiority anytime he is in possession. The major wildcard for Bandari. A huge chunk of Bandari chances came from him and the well-timed support also from fellow Harambee Stars international Mohammed Siraj made it very difficult for the opposition to keep up.When terming how vertical Bandari have become under Muhiddin, the main parameter to use is the pattern they use in the final third. Bandari heavily exploit balls into the channels. Sichenje returns to help KuPS register big win over HakaThey progress well in the central zones between the midfield trio and then release a runner in the channel. This action destabilizes the opposition backline catching them off guard. Their chances by the runners in the channel really frustrated Sofapaka FC who could not deal with them, especially in the second half. The win gives them momentum to finish the season at an all-time high, targeting a top four position and build on it in readiness for the new season.
