TACTICAL ANALYSIS: Inside Pamzo's tactical masterclass that Posta Rangers relied on to beat Tusker
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Reading Time: 6min | Mon. 29.09.25. | 11:27
The win saw Posta extend their unbeaten start having kicked off the campaign with a 2-1 win over Mathare United
Posta Rangers took on Tusker FC in the second round of the 2025/2026 FKF Premier League at Dandora Stadium last Saturday.
The match was initially set for Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos, but was moved to Dandora, a venue where the Brewers have struggled to get positive results in.
Heading to the match, Posta were in full momentum, having come from behind to win 2-1 against Mathare in their previous fixture.
Tusker, on the other hand, were already under pressure after a not-so-convincing display against KCB FC, where they lost 2-0.
Posta piled more pressure on Tusker as they emerged 2-1 winners in this fixture.
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In this tactical analysis piece, we try to understand Posta Rangers' game plan that saw them overcome an out-of-sorts Tusker.
Team news
Posta Rangers set up in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Frederick Odhiambo was in goal. The backline consisted of; Dimpol Omamo, Faustine Ojiambo, Bernard Ondiek, and David Leon.
The double pivot of; Jackson Dwang and Kevin Juma were flanked by Maxwell Odada and talisman Caleb Olilo.
Brian Otieno played off Eliud Lokuwam who led the hunt for goals.
Tusker set up in a 4-2-3-1, a slight change to the 4-4-2 formation employed against KCB.
Coach Charles Okere made four changes to the team that started against KCB in a bid to shake up things and possibly bag the first win of the season.
Brian Opondo was handed his first start of the season, slotting in between the sticks ahead of Joseph Okoth.
George Kaddu and Collins Odhiambo kept their places in the fullback positions.
Charles Momanyi and Alex Onchwari were the centre-backs.
The double pivot consisted of former Ulinzi man Issa Lumumba and Chrispine Erambo, who started over Denis Iguma.
Vincent Owino played as the central attacking midfield, with David Polepole and Yakeen Muteheli as the wide attackers.
Two-time 'Golden Boot' winner Erick Kapaito was the focal point in attack.
From the onset, Posta Rangers appeared to set up in a compact structure off the ball.
The 4-4-1-1 structure ensured they went man-to-man against Tusker in the centre of the field out of possession.
Lokuwam aimed to make the Tusker centre-backs uncomfortable when on the ball.
In their build-up phase, Tusker employed a 4-3-3 formation, with Erambo as the sole deep-lying playmaker to aid in build-up.
Lumumba and Owino operated in the half spaces. In this deep-lying playmaker role, Erambo rotated with Lumumba in some instances.
Posta in 4-4-1-1 midblock, Tusker (white, in 4-3-3
With the compact structure of Posta, the Brewers struggled to play into their midfielders.
They resorted to playing long balls into the channels for the attackers to run onto, with Tusker looking to have Kapaito run off the shoulder of the defender.
Tusker's long-ball approach led to Posta's first goal inside the second minute of the match.
Having recycled possession at the back, the ball fell to Momanyi, who failed to deal with pressure from Lokuwam, resulting in playing long.
The resulting ball found Ondiek, who cleared after a duel. Juma also made a touch on the loose ball in midfield, with his long ball being contested by Momanyi and Lokuwam.
On another day, Momanyi would have easily won the duel, but he lost it to Lokuwam, who fed Otieno.
From there, a sequence of passes was witnessed as Otieno laid the ball to Olilo in what was a good exchange at the Tusker area.
All this time, Tusker failed to deal with the situation, yielding to confusion that saw the ball fall on the path of Lokuwam.
The former Gor Mahia man made no mistake in slotting past Opondo for his first of the afternoon and season.
Brian Otieno dropping right side receive in build up to first goal.
The wide combination on the right looked to be the main arsenal for Posta Rangers.
While in possession, Olilo provided width on the right side by hugging the touchline and was the main transition threat.
On the left was Odada, who moved into the half space, dropping lower to receive in build-up sometimes.
A key variation for Posta that saw them also cause chaos among the Tusker out of possession structure was how the frontline attached to the centre back and how they dropped deep to receive between the lines.
Posta would access the front men with looped balls in behind.
This variation caused a 4v3 against Tusker in midfield.
On transitions, it was more wanting as only one sole deep-lying midfielder was up against two or three players.
This was caused by the Tusker backline not being comfortable stepping in and following their man deep.
Posta right side joy
Posta got their second goal from basically in the same routine as in the first.
Otieno dropped right to create a triangle between himself, Olilo, and Leon.
Dropping untracked, he received well and played back to Leon who found Olilo.
Another neat interchange saw Olilo into space, who again played into an untracked Otieno.
Otieno played one-two again with Olilo, who hit the byline and cut back to an unmarked Lokuwam in the box to slot home his second.
The intelligent positioning of Otieno and Lokuwam, aided with the threat Posta had on the flanks, was causing room for worry for Tusker who were now 2-0 down by the 23rd minute.
As Tusker looked to get back into the match, they became more daring, pushing numbers forward.
Their fullbacks pushed higher up.
Instinctively, Posta dropped lower, leaving a lot of space between the last two lines of defense and the first two lines.
This was causing Tusker to find their midfielders well. Erambo and Owino received in space.
Tusker capitalized on this as Erambo received in space and played the ball in behind for Kapaito, who had made a run off the defender before slotting home calmly to keep Tusker back in it.
Coach Okere's men utilized the threat of Polepole and Muteheli, who received out to in, beating their men to either cross or shoot.
Looking to avoid another defeat, Tusker rang the changes. Denis Oalo came in for Owino as Thomas Omole was introduced for Muteheli.
In Oalo, Tusker had a proper between-the-lines threat, and in the wide areas, Omole and Polepole looked to run at their men with 1v1 trickery.
As the game wore on and Tusker got more frustrated, former Posta man Curtis Wekesa was brought on for Polepole.
Wekesa provided the threat out wide and almost levelled things for Tusker, failing to keep his effort low.
Needing to thwart the growing Tusker threat, Coach Sammy Omollo brought on Musa Mohammed in defence.
This saw his side shift into a 5-3-2 shape.
This was with emphasis on having extra numbers in defense when the wingback would go out to commit and stay tight to his man.
With the above twist, Posta thwarted Tusker's wide threat as the Brewers looked to solely work on playing wide to cross.
Ondiek and Musa were no nonsense in this aspect, winning their aerial duels with ease.
Posta back five and two holding midfielders when they cross.
The midfield duo of Dwang and Wasambo would collect the second balls and feed the front three of Robert Karisa, Trevor Omondi, and Brian Marita.
Posta managed to see the match through, a promising display and a true show of the character the mailmen possess.
Having come from behind in their initial fixture, and now holding on to a lead under pressure from a top team.
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