Warriors tactical analysis ahead of Algeria tie

After releasing a probable 11 yesterday Zim Soccernet has got two names wrong after Prince dube and Tafadzwa Rusike were both left out of the squad which has been released as follows:

Elvis Chipezeze, Divine Lunga, Tendayi Darikwa, Alec Mudimu, Teenage Hadebe, Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura, Ovidy Karuru, Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat and Tinotenda Kadewere.

Many will be asking where Jordan Zemura fits into today’s matchday team but Warriors gaffer Zdravcko Logarusic appears to have gone for a solid defensive line up aimed at frustrating the hosts, yet also possessing the ability of hurting their opponents on the counter. Darikwa, Lunga, Mudimu and Hadebe will be the Warriors defensive spine which will have to be highly disciplined in preventing an offensive Algerian outfit.

Lunga and Darikwa are often fond of overlapping but these tendencies are expected to be more suppressed in today’s encounter in which the Warriors are set to defend with a low block and heavily rely on counter attacks. While the visitors system will start off as a 4-2-3-1 formation it is expected to assume a 4-4-1-1 shape when defending.

In the absence of the injured Marshall Munetsi Logarusic has pushed Zemura into the defensive midfield position where together with Marvelous Nakamba the duo will have a task of frustrating any Algerian attempts of breaking the lines.

With Zimbabwe set to heavily rely on catching Algeria on the break where the pace of Billiat and Kadewere and the intelligence of Karuru and Musona will be vital, the Warriors could assume a 4-2-1-3 shape when in attack especially given the threat posed by Billiat, Musona and Kadewere who all enjoy making their presence felt in the penalty area. 4-2-3-1 formations often become a 3-1-3-3 formation when making use of wing backs but in today’s scenario Zimbabwe will most likely be more conservative with Divine Lunga and Tendayi Darikwa not expected to venture forward often.

With Zemura comfortable with both feet and possessing a strong right leg he will most likely occupy the right side of the double d-link pivot while Nakamba will be the left sided defensive midfielder.

Ovidy Nakamba, Knowledge Musona and Khama Billiat will be charged with providing the attacking spark when the Warriors transition from defence to attack with Kadewere playing up top where he is expected to keep the Algerian backline busy owing to his frame and pace. Owing to his mobility Kadewere could at times drift into wide areas allowing any of the 3 other attacking players to occupy the space left vacant by Kadewere. Zimbabwe’s trump card will be the ability to execute swift counter attacks which could catch Algeria unaware like was the case in the Warriors second goal against Zambia.

If Zimbabwe execute their plan well, the one area they ought to be weary of is undoing any hard work by conceding via a set piece situation. The Warriors will have to deal with Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ramy Bensebaini who poses the strongest aerial threat. Apart from heading abilities Manchester City player Riyaad Mahrez will pose another huge threat from free-kicks around the box thus the need to guard against unnecessarily conceding free-kicks around the penalty area.