Match week 17 serves up a cracker of a tie as the top two teams clash, second-placed Posta Rangers play host to league leaders Gor Mahia at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos as they seek to shave the 5-point gap at the helm and halt Gor’s invisible record.This is a game that Rangers Coach John Kamau has laid keen interest in, the leaders have not been as convincing in their displays scrapping a draw against bottom-placed Nzoia Sugar and registering scrappy wins against Muhoroni Youth and Bandari FC, results that have left the Gor faithful questioning the tactical preparations of the team, even calling into question the squad selection. Posta too have not had a smooth December but seemed to regain their rhythm with a classy 2-0 win against Ulinzi Stars.##NAJAVA_MECA_7775514##In this piece, I look to understand the tactical intricacies that could decide the match in either team’s favor.Posta have majorly set up in a 1-4-4-1-1 formation. Their devastating wing play and resolute displays in the center of the pack and defense have not gone under the radar, with it being a very common occurrence seeing their players all over the FKF Premier League teams of the week. Using their lineup against Ulinzi Stars, Posta set up in the aforementioned 1-4-4-1-1 formation. Second-choice goalkeeper Michael Wanjala was in goal as lead clean-sheet goalkeeper John Njau was on the bench, reportedly recovering from an injury. Lanky Dicken Mwema and technically solid Titus Achesa were the respective fullbacks as Faustin Ojiambo and evergreen captain fantastic Ken Owino paired as the center-back options. Brian Musa, a midfielder having a season to remember was in the middle to orchestrate things with Vincent Wasambo beside him, they were flanked by the deadly wing duo of Caleb Olilo and Brian Otieno, the duo among the best 1v1 specialists in the country currently. Patrick Otieno, a channel runner extraordinary led the line supported by Peter Oudu.The Mailmen will most likely keep the same squad except if Njau passes a late fitness test then we could see him return in between the sticks while Jackson Macharia will be used early on to play off the striker or he could be an option off the bench.The general formations aside now into the intricate patterns of play, it will be key in how Gor looks to stop the mailmen build-up, Musa is key in their initial build-up phase, and Posta look to heavily build in a 3-1-3-3 formation, with Musa the designated first phase orchestrator, on build-up. Salim Babu Ball: Drawing comparisons from Junior Stars to Nzoia Sugar and what Police can expectEverything nice and progressive goes through Musa and Owino in Owino Posta have a progressive carrier and is one of the best progressive passers from the back in the league. Now to combat this will Gor Mahia look to distract the Posta side from playing by pressing high in a 4-4-2? However, the Jonathan McKinstry-led side hardly plays in a high block, especially with two forwards, they look to designate the forward chasing to Benson Omalla, whose triggers are mainly the fullbacks, their midblock is done with the main aim of not giving up control in the middle and ensuring they have numerical superiority.Majorly Gor Mahia should look to wait for Posta in the middle of the park, however, I would expect a slight alteration as they will most likely place a man on Brian Musa.In Posta Rangers’ progressive phase, they now employ a 3-4-3 structure, looking to drag opponents to one side that quickly switch play to the opposite side to create 1v1 in the wide areas, this now will be key, Posta majorly have qualitative superiority in the wide areas, however, against Gor they will equally come up against fullbacks who have had the edge over their opposing wingers in most if not all games, Rooney Onyango and Geoffrey Ochieng. To counter this scenario, I see Posta looking to create double teams on the wings, something they did with aplomb against Ulinzi Stars, creating 2 v1 situations against the Soldiers with devastating effect. Both their goals against Ulinzi came up from good work on the wings, the first a winger-to-winger goal from the far post after a neatly lobbed ball.The second goal was to a lobbed cross to the far post and a cutback for a simple tap-in. To create these 2v1 situations the fullbacks advance or one midfielder drifts wide to create the overloads.To counter these overloads Gor will need to always provide support to the fullbacks, either through the wingers tracking back or through the midfielders drifting out wide. FKFPL: How KCB outsmarted Police in a tactical battleFor Posta, the main chink in Gor Mahia’s armor will be the space left behind right back Rooney Onyango when he advances, in the past few games he has been tasked with providing width options on the right and Posta could look to exploit that space, especially on transitions with pinpoint balls in behind. Another area that can expose Gor Mahia’s soft underbelly is giving away shots at the edge of their box, their covering of the D-Zone areas is not the best, not that they concede lots of goals from it though.In conclusion, coming into the game at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos is a tie against equally matched teams, the margins of difference are narrow, set to be a highly cautious affair but one for the tactical side to marvel on.
