This is what Dawuni Yahaya brings to Kotoko

Dawuni Yahaya joined Asante Kotoko from Division One League side Susubiribi Sporting Club. The 19-year-old centre-back was scouted by Prosper Ogum and brought to the Baba Yara Sports Stadium where he is rebuilding a new side for the club.

The addition of Dawuni will strengthen the Porcupine Warriors' defence, giving Ogum a range of tactical possibilities, such as a possible line of three centre-backs.

Individual Tactical Analysis

In order to analyse the defender who hails from Kpandai, we must first highlight his most developed structures, as they will have a great impact on his behaviour on the pitch for Kotoko.

The first structure that stands out for Dawuni is his conditional capacity. The young defender is a physical prodigy, capable of covering large spaces in behind thanks to his physical stature and his speed of movement, both in short and long distances.

In addition, we must also highlight his cognitive ability. The centre-back has become a fundamental part of his team’s ball distribution, thanks to his overwhelming ease in finding the free man and the favourable spaces for progression.

The first to analyse is the defender’s ability of ‘Covering The Center Back Or Full Back That Is Defending The On-Ball Opponent’. As well as knowing when to apply the fundamental, Dawuni is capable of winning the ball if his teammate is beaten by the opponent.

Dawuni's second fundamental strength, which the player masters perfectly is the ‘Reducing The Space From The Opponent Dismarking In Support To Feet’. In situations where his direct opponent makes a supporting move to receive to feet, the centre back identifies whether he should reduce the space or not (this will depend on whether there is an opponent who can run into the space behind). Furthermore, if he does reduce the space, the defender has an incredible ability to anticipate and steal the ball.

Thirdly, one of the fundamentals that he has used most in recent times during his time at Susubiribi and the games he played for Kotoko during the pre-season friendly games, and which in turn is indirectly caused by the defensive structure of both teams, is ‘As The First Center-Back, Defending The Front Post When There Are No Attackers To Mark’.

The centre back has a brilliant command of different essential fundamentals at this phase of the play, such as: ‘Making Safe Diagonal Passes To Teammates On The First Line’, ‘Fixing The Opponent To Create Numerical Superiority’ and ‘Switching The Point Of The Attack To Take Advantage Of Open Opportunities’.

Finally, the possible addition of Dawuni gives Kotoko an extra edge in terms of aerial dominance. In recent seasons Kotoko have had problems defending in the air. However, with the arrival of the Rock, this problem should be solved, as the current Chelsea player is excellent in these situations.