An interesting tactical player set up during the recently concluded 2022/2023 FKF Premier league season was the role of one Siwa Shaphan in coach Robert Matano’s Tusker FC side. Matano’s side finished second in the league, finishing a point off winners Gor Mahia. A bitter pill to swallow noting that they, at a given time, seemed to be cruising to the league title as Gor Mahia faltered on given instances.In this player tactical analysis piece I am going to look at what exactly Siwa Shaphan brought to the Tusker fold and how the Tusker FC set up looked to maximize the player’s strengths.Football is all about fun and new challenge.💪Shaphan Oyugi siwa .#ScoreCrunches pic.twitter.com/qZnWoV7kwZ— ScoreCrunches (@ke_score) September 29, 2022 At a given point in the season, Shaphan was indispensable in the Tusker FC set up. Siwa broke through as a number 10 at Tusker FC, playing the more advanced role in a midfield that majorly had Humphrey Mieno and David Odoyo. As an orthodox number 10, Shaphan has had to adapt his style of play to be able to get the best out of his huge potential. Shaphan is a very energetic player, his out of possession work is one any manager would want in his side.He has the intelligence to understand how his manager wants him to guide the out of possession structure. He can also calmly slot into central midfield and play as a box to box, his technical ability on the ball being so exceptional, as his link up play too.In possession, Shaphan times his runs well into the box for passes mainly created through their left back Levin Odhiambo. When Tusker FC manage to shuffle the ball wide to Levin, Siwa Shaphan looks to attack the near post on most occasions, forcing the opposition center backs to track his runs. Through this, he creates space for late runners in the box to capitalize on the crosses.He also plays well when he is able to slide to the left side, creating a passing option for the left back, and allowing the left winger to play in the half space.This movement creates options for Odhiambo to play deep crosses into the ball far winger to attack the space as the opposition block shuffles to deny an overload on the left.In the Tusker FC set up, the main striker employed majorly looks to drop into sort of a false nine role, looking to get free from the center backs and with this action, they look to draw the center back centrally, creating space for runners off him.The above is a movement crucial with Tusker FC, and Shaphan has adapted well to the strikers movements.Tusker FC look to press high, aiming to force the opposition into going long or wide.Their main aim is to deny any form of central penetration.In this out of possession phase, Shaphan is seen pushing up to help the press. His pushing up in this phase allows Tusker to majorly have a numerical superiority over the building team to force them long.Tusker coach Robert Matano has used Shaphan to base this structure on.When Tusker FC play against teams who find joy in building out from low output, Shaphan is also employed to chase the opponents down. Through chasing an opponent down it means the midfielder tracks a ball carrier down with the main aim of looking to funnel them into a given area or win the ball through a tackle.Coach Matano looks to back Shaphan up in this way by employing a good pressing structure behind Shaphan, who has grown key in this role due to, as mentioned above, his work rate.##NAJAVA_MECA_7364184##His insane work rate and exceptional agility, allows him to change direction and track movement anywhere, making it rather hard to get rid of him when he is bearing down on an opponent.So how does this happen?Shaphan looks to time his runs well, goes after a player on the ball, and once the player passes sideways into the nearest passing option, he recovers his position,looking to cut the passing lane into the central free option.Out of possession, Tusker look to defend in a 1-4-4-2 structure. Here, Shaphan pushes up to join the striker, with the low block at 1-4-5-1.2023 FIBA AfroCan: Quarters spot up for grabs as Morans take on Gabon in final pool gameHe slots into central midfield, helping shuffle across well to cover zones and force the opposition into playing backwards and sideways through the overloads he has created.Though the season ended in disappointment for the brewers, it was interesting to study the patterns employed by Matano and how he used Shaphan.It will be even more interesting to see how he switches things up next season.
