A sunny afternoon in Nairobi provided the perfect backdrop for the Marisasi derby. A well contested affair between the country’s security forces, Ulinzi Stars vs Kenya Police FC.Ulinzi Stars played host to the current fourth-best team in the country, if the table standings are anything to go by. A depleted Ulinzi side plagued with key absentees of some of their best players as well as the head coach Bernard Mwalala was tasked with a huge ask to turn around their league fortunes after picking up only two wins in their last five outings.On the other hand, Police were coming into the fixture enjoying an unbeaten streak in their last five matches. In fact, they were looking to make it three wins in a row.##NAJAVA_MECA_7284485##Both teams came up with a clear plan on how to maximize their strengths to try and sway the results in their favor.Ulinzi had centered their plan on a physical battle, looking to create more than fifty situations, win their duels, and quickly turn them into attacks by bypassing Police’s aggressive press.As for the visitors, a more cautious and calculated approach was deployed, a patient buildup from the back, knocking the ball around, and waiting for the right moment to pick a forward pass.Ulinzi stage comeback to hold Police as forces derby ends in another stalemateThe visitors had lined up in a 1-4-3-3 shape with Job Ochieng in goal, a backline of Baraka Badi, Abud Omar, David Ochieng, and Musa Mohammed. The midfield generals were held firm by Marvine Nabwire alongside Clifton Miheso and Lesley Otieno. Elvis Rupia led the offensive line with the support of Duke Abuya and Francis Kahata.The home side was also set up similarly, a 4-3-3 with Omondi Sylvane between the sticks. Salim Swaleh, Omar Mbongi, Andayi Boniface and Muchika Bonventure stood in front of him while Ongoma Bernard, Elvis Nandwa, Stephen Etyang and Issa Lumumba played in the middle of the park. Enosh Ochieng, Stephen Etyang and Elvis Saenyi made up the front trio.In possession, the visitors were organized in a dynamic 2-3-2-3 shape that was constantly making movements and interchanging positions. At times it morphed into a box midfield when the overlapping fullback remained behind or moved further up the lines.The two full-backs moved high up the pitch. They would either join Nabwire, who stayed back in the second line or either of them would move to the third line. Marvine would often drop deep to help with progression.David and Mohammed drifted apart to stretch the pitch and make Ulinzi’s press cover large distances. If Nabwire has dropped, Lesley or Miheso would also drop to make themselves available as the second receivers.Reprieve for AFC Leopards as FKF Appeals Committee delivers clement decisionThis means that the remaining midfielder or Abuya angled their positioning close enough and within a passing lane to be the outlet and unlock the final third plays.This is how Police scored their first goal. Nabwire drops to receive, Abuya also drops to be the second or you can call it third receiver or outlet and quickly turns to find that final pass to Rupia. The midfield trio moved around seamlessly and Ulinzi could not cope well.Abud and Badi moved depending on the game situation. Kahata often inverted to either provide an extra body or match the opponent’s numbers in central zones.Therefore, Abud found huge spaces to exploit down the right flank, hence, made more overlapping runs to capitalize on the overloads. David made a lot of direct passes from the first line to the overlapping Abud as a result of this tactic.Francis Baraza’s men imposed fluidity and saw more of the ball because of this approach, at least in the first and partly second phase of their build-up. Police FC faced numerical challenges because of how Ulinzi had set up.The 4-3-3 shape morphed into a 2-3-2-3. This meant that, in both shapes, Ulinzi had enough bodies to commit to matching Police numbers during a press. As a result, Police were forced to go long after entering the second phase.After Nabwire receives and tries to combine with his midfield pair, Ulinzi closed down spaces aggressively denying their opponents much time on the ball in central zones. This forced a long pass in behind to a through ball to find the likes of Rupia, Kahata, or Abuya. More often than not, these efforts were in vain and resulted in turnovers for the opponents.Ulinzi stage comeback to hold Police as forces derby ends in another stalemateOff the ball, Police were organized in a 4-4-2 shape with Rupia and Abuya leading the charge. Rupia jumped to press the goalkeeper while also cutting off the passing lane to Andayi. Duke looked to be keeping eyes between Lumumba and the full backspace by staying in between them, ready to pounce if the ball goes wide or be close to jumping onto Lumumba’s shoulder to stop him from receiving or force him back if indeed he receives. This system caused problems for Ulinzi, forcing them to go long, time and time again.Ulinzi had an interesting plan in a similar shape (as explained above). However, the difference in approach was as clear as day. Sylvaine initiated their build-up by a throw-out or a pass to either of the center pair depending on the positioning of the opponent’s first line of pressure. He would pass to Bonventure, he then finds Mbongi and depending on the availability of the next pass, he would either go back or force a long ball into the channels. The hosts had no problem going long, trying to force duels in the midfield and trust in their ability to win their contests.With numerical equality most of the time, the possibility of whether Ulinzi retained possession or not depended on their success rate in the duels. It must be noted that Ulinzi struggled in this aspect because they lost most of their battles and that resulted in ball losses.If they won their duels, they tried to either, use player relationships to combine and escape their markers or quickly switch play to isolate their wide players against the opposition fullback. The general rationale for using the term ‘wide players’ as opposed to wingers is that players changed positions to manipulate, occupy and attack spaces as they see fit.Ulinzi Stars, Police FC drawUlinzi Stars settled for a one-one draw with Police FC in the thirty-first FKF Premier League clash played at Nyayo national stadium.Ulinzi Stars are currently in position 8 with 45 points while Police FC are holding position 4 with 57 points. pic.twitter.com/1b77XljNAi— LOOK UP TV (@lookuptv) May 27, 2023 At times, Etyang was the wide player, and sometimes Enosh or Saenyi were. Etyang’s profile also played a key part when Ulinzi won their duels. He utilized his brilliant body orientation, close control and dribbling skills to breeze past some of the questions the enforcers were posing with their press.This opened up space, not only for him, but his teammates also. Vincent, the coach on the day, and his boys created a couple of scares through this approach.Ulinzi’s shape, despite containing Police in less dangerous zones on the pitch, came at a cost. The team struggled to sustain possession spells. In possession, players were a bit distant from each other. While this strategy often stretches the pitch for the opponent, it can come in jeopardy to the imposing team. It may be used by opponents as a weapon to isolate and press.This means that support is not as close as it should be. If the ball player is vulnerable, it is a huge risk. Ulinzi players, especially after winning their duels, found themselves swallowed in blue shirts and easily the ball. This shape provides sufficient numbers for counter-pressing but the distance between players presents a difficult situation to initiate effective counter-press.Vihiga Queens pocket Ksh 1 million on coronation day, Kisumu All Starlets relegatedThe second half saw Ulinzi coming out all guns blazing while Police reverted to a conservative approach. As Ulinzi brought more offensive outfits, the dynamics of the game shifted in their favor and saw them create very good chances, one of them being the equalizer.It looked like these two teams swapped tactics in the dressing room. Just after Ulinzi secured their equalizer, instead of the game going back to being a bit more balanced, it turned into tactical chaos.An end-to-end affair, basketball-esqueThe general view on the game is that it achieved tactical equilibrium, making it hard for both teams to bully one another. A draw was probably a fair result considering how both teams played. The result left Police fourth placed, while Ulinzi went home being the eighth ranked team in the FKF Premier league.
