They came, they saw and they nearly conquered. The Kenya Under 18 national team brought the country to a standstill with their exploits in the recently concluded CECAFA Under 18 championships. The Junior Starlets reached the finals in style, their beautiful displays leading to them attracting huge crowds in their games in Kisumu and Kakamega.The coining of the phrase, “Salim Babu ball” was no mean feat as his tactical identity was etched through the team. The current Kenya Police FC assistant tactician within a short period had the team play some of the most beautiful football witnessed in this country for a while. Away from the combative and direct style the Senior National team plays, the Junior Stars were out to impress and impress they did.In this piece, we look to understand how the Junior Stars set out and highlight the same principles that Salim Babu employed at Nzoia Sugar FC last season which saw his side among the front runners for the title. Further noting how he can translate this at his current club.Uganda down Kenya to win CECAFA U18 titleOn paper the Junior Stars played in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation, however, the left winger would majorly look to move inside, making space for the left back to advance and the left central midfielder to rotate out wide or keep the balance. This was the same scenario applied at Nzoia where Babu would look to employ Hassan Beja (now at AFC Leopards) on the left wing but with the hybrid role of playing in the half-space to create room for Vincent Mahiga (now at AFC Leopards) with his wand of a left foot to provide width while Kevin Juma (now at Gor Mahia) would look to provide the balance on that side. Luis Ingavi operated as the striker for the Junior Stars (an exciting prospect), especially from a country that has provided us with Dennis “The Menace’ Oliech and Michael Olunga, maybe just maybe Ingavi could be the next big thing. The star of the side was however national sensation Aldrine Kibet who seemed to have developed a proper understanding with Ingavi looking to play just off him. When Ingavi dropped Kibet would run in behind when Ingavi made channel runs on the defender’s shoulders Kibet would be alert to fill the space created by the vacated opposition defensive players. Overlapping runs by fullbacks especially on the leftAgain, this was a phenomenon widely seen at Nzoia last season. Yassin Sije (now at AFC Leopards) was the main target man, his hold-up play ‘chefs kiss’ among the very best now, James Mwangi at Tusker FC would look to play off him filling the space and enjoying good rotations amongst the pair. Mwangi ended the season with 14 goals.During the CECAFA championships, Kenya came up against deep block 4-4-2 teams on several occasions, this is where the tactical freedom, individual brilliance, and confidence to take shots from a distance came into play, again Salim Babu’s blueprint. In Kibet, Kariobangi Sharks star man Humphrey Aroko and Rainbow FC’s stalwart Tyron Kariuki opponents never stood a chance 1v1. Unless they faced well-oiled sides like Tanzania and Uganda. A significant strength of the Kenyan side as highlighted was the ability to score different types of goals. Goals from direct free kicks, channel runs, or cross balls were something key too for Nzoia Sugar. A key example of the cross balls is Kenya’s first goal against Sudan in their 5-0 thumping of Sudan, the ball is laid off by Kariuki who has come inside to the overlapping Collins Ochieng who swings in a sumptuous cross to Ingavi with a diving header.Wanyama reveals how he missed chance to join Manchester UnitedThis same phenomenon could be witnessed as indicated by Mahiga’s overlaps and crosses. It is a highlight of Babu’s sides as they look to recycle the ball and drag out opponents to the edge of the final third and deep crosses with only one player attacking the box, it is something his sides look to do a lot.Coming into the final, defending transitions was always going to be an issue of concern for the side, as is the issue with high-possession sides, even at the Millers (Nzoia) the only difference is that Babu’s Nzoia had Munyendo and Juma as his double pivot and the two would sniff out opposition counter-attacks while at the Junior Stars, his midfield struggled as they majorly consisted of technically very good players but no out and out destroyer. The transitions are something the Ugandans looked to exploit with direct balls in behind and a very aggressive approach in the middle of the park.If you missed it here is Aldrine Kibet’s goal against Rwanda he scored the only goal for Rising stars #CECAFAU18BOYSCHAMPIONSHIP #CECAFAU18 #risingstar pic.twitter.com/RxmtD7iWu7— Duncan M. Askofu (@duncoaskofu_) November 28, 2023 We have highlighted the similarities now we can highlight the only notable difference in the two sides set up. Junior Stars scored a majority of their goals from successful dribbles and shots from progressive carries. This was due to the availability as highlighted of high-end dribblers in the team, at Nzoia he had Beja as the main progressive carry threat. At Nzoia as stated too the team did not give away lots of chances but due to the midfield double pivot, they gave away transitions against well-oiled deep block teams.##NAJAVA_MECA_7765190##Now, with the expert poised to take over the mantle at Police FC, after the axing of Zdravko Logarusic, it will be key to how he employs the side to fit his identity and deliver silverware for the law enforcers. Expect free-flowing possession-based football, with aggressive midfielders to thwart transitions and creative sparks like Tyson Otieno and Kenneth Muguna to break down low blocks. In the Police FC arsenal, Babu has everything he needs to propel them into scaling greater heights. If given the role it could be scary hours for premier league teams.
