Tactical Analysis: How Police FC ended Gor Mahia’s unbeaten run

The Police Sacco Stadium played host to the Sirkal derby pitting hosts Kenya Police and league leaders Gor Mahia.The build-up to the match was filled with cries, especially from the K’ogalo fans including their manager, Johnathan McKinstry about the very high ticket prices for this game.However, the off-pitch issues did not curtail the on-pitch quality.Police coach Salim Babu set up his team in a 1-4-2-3-1. Kenyan international Patrick Matasi started in goal. Ahead of him, club captain Musa Mohammed and David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng were the center-back pairing.Benson Omala set to move to AlgeriaBadi Baraka and another Kenyan international Omar Abud were the right back and left back respectively. In midfield, the versatile David Owino started in the midfield pivot alongside Charles Ouma.Former Gor Mahia midfielder Kenneth Muguna was the attacking midfielder in a very star-studded lineup. On the wings, we had the magical David Okoth inverting from the right with Alvin Mang’eni operating from the left.South Sudan international Tito Okello was leading the line for the law enforcers. The Green Army’s McKinistry set out his soldiers to play also in a 1-4-2-3-1.The league’s current best shot-stopper Kevin Omondi was in goal.Kenyan sensation and former Wazito right back Ronney Onyango operated from the right with club captain Geoffrey Ochieng’ ‘Simiti’ holding fort on the left.Joshua Onyango was partnered in central defense alongside Kennedy Ochieng. In midfield, midfield maestro Ernest Wendo was partnered with the ever-impressive Alpha Chris Onyango in the double pivot with Austine Odhiambo as the main chance creator operating in the attacking midfield position.##NAJAVA_MECA_7845137##January signing Shariff Musa was on the left with Christopher Ochieng attacked from the right. Benson Omalla was the center-forward looking to end his recent goal drought.Police FC were fascinating in possession, especially with their fluidity and positional awareness.From build up they started with both centre-backs splitting either side of the goalkeeper and one of the midfielders acting as the link. This shape quickly morphed into a 3-2 shape as the ball progressed with either one fullback, mostly Badi dropping alongside the center backs to form a back 3, or one of the holding midfielders dropping in between the center backs.The most common iteration, however, was when Badi dropped deep and the two CDMs formed a double pivot just ahead of the back three. Police goalkeeper Matasi was so calm and composed on the ball with his ability to break lines with accurate well-weighted passes being a weapon for Police to beat the Gor Mahia pressure all game.The former Tusker and AFC Leopards goalkeeper misplaced only 2 of his 20 passes in the game and even those 2 were long passes deep into the second half. This fluidity in build-up with different players occupying different positions coupled with Matasi’s menacing ability on the ball made it hard for Gor Mahia to press high and they eventually opted for a middle to low 4-4-1-1 out-of-possession shape.In the progression phase, the Police backline pushed up and this made their entire team push high into K’ogalo’s half. In attack, the police wingers looked to stay narrow, operating in the half spaces and in between the lines.The fullbacks were given the license to bombard forward on the flanks. However, due to how high the Gor Mahia wingers were positioned, the police FBs did not go forward as frequently as they would have wished as this could have left space at the back for Gor to attack.Old boys Okello, Muguna shutter Gor Mahia’s unbeaten runThis narrow attack without width meant that most of their attacks were central. In K’ogalo’s half, the midfielders were tasked with keeping the ball, ensuring ball circulation through high-volume passing.They did this well with David Owino having a game-high 48 passes with a big chunk of this being short and mid-range passes. The risky progressive balls in between the lines for Police were majorly played by their defenders, ensuring every player was involved in their attacks.Gor Mahia on their side used a 2-4 build-up shape. With both Fullbacks pushing high alongside the double pivot and both center-backs splitting either side of the goalkeeper.Alpha Onyango was heavily involved in the build-up up being tasked with taking the ball off the Centre backs and progressing it. Ronney Onyango was also instrumental, with his switches of play from the right to Sharrif Musa on the left was valuable in getting K’ogalo up the field.Gor Mahia winger Christopher Ochieng operated narrowly while Shariff was high and wide holding width. Gor’s Austine Odhiambo was constantly drifting into the wide channels, and with Benson Omalla dropping deep almost in the number 10 position, they would form a box overload over the police midfield.Police, however, countered this with their narrow wingers. As Police dominated most of the possession, especially in the first half, Gor resorted to staying back and waiting for their moments, these transitional moments were where Shariff Musa came alive with the fleet-footed winger being used as the outlet.Nzoia Sugar sign Dan Musamali from Kenya PoliceTo stop the Police dominance, Gor Mahia made numerous tactical fouls that broke up play most of the time. They were also physical and won most of their duels.Out of possession, K’ogalo set up in a 4-4-1-1 midblock that would drop deeper into a low block when necessary. The front two of Omalla and Austin were however passive in their pressing meaning Police found it easy to move through their build-up phase and into their progressive phase.Ernest Wendo was, however, instrumental in defense operating as a destroyer in the middle of the park thwarting most of the Police possession exploits in midfield through his tackles and tactical fouls.Overall, coach Babu had done his homework well and managed to get a convincing win and stop the unbeaten league leaders. It was a successful tactical setup and a well-deserved win.

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