In football as a whole, tactical trends change so quickly.This is the same case in the FKF PL with tacticians looking to churn out tactical situations that will aid in then coming out on top.One thing the country has churned out is a wide array of strikers. From Elvis Rupias who come alive in the box to score goals, are active and alert to score with 1-2 touches, proper nose for goals to the Benson Omallas and Erick Kapaitos who are sharp forwards who understand how to make penetrating movements behind the defensive lines and make runs either behind the centre backs or fullbacks.Former Homeboyz and SoNy Sugar midfielder returning after two-year hiatusTo the Clinton Kinangas who use their physical presence to occupy opposition centre backs, win aerial duels, hold the ball up and bring others into play via knockdowns.To the Yassin Sijes who want to drop deep and get touches on the ball to link things together and draw defenders out of the defensive line with movements.In the FKF Premier League, this season we have seen the rise of the forwards who make penetrating movements behind the defensive lines come to the fold.The top two teams in the league have in their ranks clinical in behind forwards.The craze of high blocks has hit the Kenyan Premier League, and coaches have jumped on the idea of winning the ball back quickly as it has meant attacking teams constantly have to improve their ability to play through the press rather than break down a low block defense.##NAJAVA_MECA_7950993##When opposition teams press from the front, it works only if the whole team pushes high up and follows, Through this there is always space to be exploited due to the high defensive lines.To exploit these spaces in behind, teams need the right profiles to take advantage of the high defensive lines.Thus the need for a striker with the ability to read the situation, and understand where there might be space, that much-acclaimed pocket of space between the fullback or centre back.The ability of technically very neat passers, line breakers in the league like Kenneth Muguna of Police FC, Austin Odhiambo, arguably the best player in the league and lead assister ClifftonMiheso plays those dangerous penetration lines in behind for the in-behind strikers to latch on has further fueled the need to get the aforementioned types of forwards.Team of the Week For Matchweek 24.#FKFPremierLeague pic.twitter.com/AOKr1tob2t— FKF Premier League (@Officialfkfpl) March 11, 2024 Finally, in the FKF Premier League, most teams come up against physical monsters as defenders, with long lanky legs, superior tackles, and aerially superior center-backs. One can name a bullish center-back from almost every FKF Premier League team, Brian Eshihanda of Homeboyz and Tom Teka of Tusker are center-backs you cannot touch in their box, while Kennedy Onyango of Gor, Ken Owino of AFC Leopards, Rashid Toha of Kenya Police, Christopher Orochum of Posta and Alex Onchwari of Muhoroni Youth will eat you alive on aerial duels.Thus most coaches see no need to play to the opposition’s strengths thus employ runners in behind, no defender is ever comfortable with a striker playing on his/ her shoulder.From Tusker’s well-oiled wing combination play, to Gor Mahia’s neat penetration play, to Posta Rangers pin point in-behind play, and Police FC’s prevalence of overloading between the lines, all these have become a recipe for teams to employ in-behind strikers.Much credit to the coaches for adapting and switching their recruitment patterns to aid in behind forwards, a shift from our normal box presence forwards.
