Mabhakaniyas,
forget about injuries to key and senior players, forget about pathetic and
dubious refereeing, forget about lack of players' fighting spirit, commitment
and dedication, forget about elapsing of concentration at the back which
resulted in conceding soft goals in the dying minutes of the game and also
forget about the ultra-defensive techniques deployed by Roger de Sa (RDS). The
main downfall of Orlando Pirates is revealed underneath after an in-depth
analysis of the team overall performance to this end.
What’s wrong playing
with a lone striker system?
Game
after game, be it Takesure Chinyama or Collins Mbesuma, it has been shown that
putting one man alone upfront as striker doesn’t work for Pirates. RDS insisting of using lone striker is
madness, disregarding logic and reason. It is irresponsible to put that load on
one man´s shoulders. So even with good flow of the ball it is nonsensical to
play with a lone striker.
The
biggest down fall of Pirates this season was a lone striker tactic which never
yields sufficient positive results and avalanches of goals. The team has the
best defensive record coupled with the best attacking midfielders but the
striking force is too toothless. In the previous 10 games, Pirates won 1, lost
3 and drew 6 games but the disturbing factor was the 8 goals they scored in the
previous10 games which are paltry 0.8 goals per game which is below 1 goal per
game. This unimpressive scoring rate befits a team fighting for the relegation
than defending a championship. The lone striker tactics was never the best
throughout the season.
Mbesuma
is one of the best box strikers with the best goal poaching ability but he
can't score any goal outside the box. Mbesuma failed to perfect the lone
striker role with distinction because of lack of support around him. Mbesuma
lacks pace to trouble the defence, lacks ball playing skills to penetrate the
defence, lacks aerial ability to score more goals and lacks energy to chase
around defenders when losing possession. He spent most of his time shielding
the balls back to midfielder to further create a sufficient space to shoot on
target. RDS system of lone striker failed Mbesuma and even Chinyama to score
more goals. Don’t get me wrong, Mbesuma and Chinyama are deadly strikers when
partnered with a supporting striker with high tempo and defence hustling
ability.
Why last year
striking force did well?
Benni
McCarthy was always partnered with either Tokelo Rantie or Ndumiso Mabena to
add the speed upfront. McCarthy excelled because his aggressive supporting
strikers did a lot of dirty work with non-stop hustling to defender. McCarthy was
also too vocal upfront communicating with boys regarding any attacking move. He
kept the players going as he hates to lose with passion. He was the master of
set-pieces, he used to score brilliant goals outside the box, he was good with
aerial balls, he has good ball playing skills, and he combined well with his
team-mates. He was too influential and scored a lot of crucial goals whilst
partnering Rantie or Mabena. The last season striking force was simple the
best. McCarthy and Rantie score 17 Premier Soccer League (PSL) goals between
them whilst Mbesuma and Chinyama already scored only 9 goals between them which
is not the best return for investment.
What
is the difference between the previous season striking force and the current
lone striker tactic?
The
current striking force lacks speed, set-pieces ability, aerial balls ability,
ball playing skills, communication skills and can only managed to score 0.8
goal per match.
Why playing 2
strikers is the best system in the PSL?
Kaizer
Chiefs used two strikers in all the game with Bernard Parker as a preferred
striker partnering either Lehlohonolo Majoro or Kingston Nkhatha. The 3
strikers managed to score 27 goals amongst them.
Pirates
lone striker system produced only 9 PSL goals between Chinyama and Mbesuma but
if we include the goals from attacking midfielder Sifiso Myeni who was also
deployed as a lone striker when the chips were down, the tally increase to 14
goals. Myeni scored 5 goals which are two more goals than Chinyama who only
managed to score 3 PSL goals.
Conclusion
The
system of lone striker contributed to the downfall of Pirates to defend the league
and other cups. The current striking force lack sufficient speed to trouble any
defence, but RDS kept on playing the malfunctioning lone striker system. The
lone striker system was broken throughout the season but it was never fixed.
The coach continues to deploy a failing system but even his assistant coaches
were too blind to see that the lone striking system is contributing to the
downfall of the team.
The
dream of another treble is up in smoke and the Premier Soccer League dominance
is over but the drawing board is readily available for future planning.
By Owen Mashudu
Twitter: @shudulizah
