Player analysis: Just what makes Enosh Ochieng tick?

Enosh Ochieng has been around for a while. The Ulinzi Stars striker still appears to be as effective as ever, despite ups and downs over the past few seasons.

We take a look into what makes the lethal man tick.

He may have the most useful skill a striker can have in football; movement. In both in-possession and out-of-possession situations on the field, he is always on the move, giving defenders a torrid time on the ball and making proper runs behind or into the channels.

The striker’s movement in the box is based on his impeccable positioning, acceleration and change in direction. More often than not, the first two are the ones he has hinged his gameplay on, majorly, with the latter the one he results to when facing an opposing defender in 1v1 situations.

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The 32-year-old often starts by pinning opposition centre-backs (CBs) back, he can position himself between two defenders or on the shoulder of one; this pinning back is then followed by a sharp run in behind after which he may add a change in direction if the defender cuts off his initial run.

The above pointers underline how the lethal forward finds himself in goalscoring zones consistently, despite being a fairly average athlete without the physique of say Michael Olunga or the stockiness of Enock Agwanda. He does not possess the explosiveness or dribbling ability to create separation from defenders but what he certainly does is score goals!

What has majorly caught my eye when watching the military man play is how he is a master of disguise, he does not pull a disappearing act like Houdini, far from that. What he does is he is his own Houdini when it comes to playing well off the defenders’ blind spot.

Enosh's impeccable movement in the channels

Enosh uses the defenders’ blindside as a reference point for his positioning, the same way every target man would.

Ulinzi Stars this season has struggled in the creation phase, hardly making enough entries into the opposition box. However, they need Enosh at his epitome, his constant movement and positioning in the defenders’ blind spot gaining him a slight head start on the defender behind him.

His darting runs in behind have also caused havoc for FKF Premier League teams over the seasons. This still comes back to his positioning on the last line and the blind side of defenders.

He is a willing runner, working to attack spaces behind the moment they become available, he is ready to exploit any slight chink, in the armour of the opponent. His runs in behind catch the opposing defenders off guard on numerous occasions.

These runs in behind allow Enosh to get shots from extremely dangerous areas, majorly between the width of the 6-yard box and from very close distances. The Ulinzi Stars forward’s relentlessness means he will always be a willing runner for his team on multiple occasions in the game.

Enosh (highlighted) making a run in behind on defenders' blind side against Sofapaka

His understanding with Bernard Ongoma, Brian Birgen and Omar Mbongi over the years to pick out his runs have been a joy to watch. When not picked, Enosh is a true soldier, he does not sulk but immediately resets and makes another aggressive run after the ball.

What makes this dangerous and vital for his side’s attack is how time they are. Although he is liable to get caught offside fairly often as with most CBs pinning strikers, he is extremely adept at timing his runs.

Part of this is down to his aforementioned positioning as his insistence on hiding behind opposition defenders means he can keep both them and the ball in his line of sight, thus allowing him to time his runs well enough to beat any potential offside trap.

Enosh is also a master at using defenders’ momentum against them, often dropping slightly just to dart in behind as the opposition backline pushes up.