Solomon Islands U17: a performance analysis

Solomon Islands did not perform well and lost to Paraguay by 7-0. The Islanders had more ball possession (55%) but only had one shot on target during the whole game. Oceania Football Center goes deeper to bring an analysis about the Bonitos campaign in U17 World Cup.

The first thing that needs to be pointed is how Young Bonitos players have a huge lack on physical preparation compared to other national teams. Everything is more difficult when you are not prepared properly and it is the first big problem because it can take them to other problems and mistakes.

Other big trouble that needs to be pointed and corrected is the ball possession. Why keep passing the ball through the defense? Let’s be honest, Solomon Islands midfield is not able to create and keep the possession and the defenders are not prolific passers to break opponent’s defensive lines. Sometimes it is better to kick the ball forward than losing it in defense. Solomon Islands were many times in big troubles because they insisted on passing and passing and passing until losing possession and suffering a counterattack. Some good examples happened in Italy’s first goal and Paraguay’s sixth goal and you can check them in the highlights videos that are linked at the end of this article.

The midfield and defense are also leaving too much space to opponents. Defensive midfielders are not protecting the defensive line and there are lots of through balls behind the fullbacks, specially in the right side of the defense. A good example comes from Paraguay’s first gol against Solomon Islands today.

Other big defensive problem comes from crossing situations. Dear players, you need to look less to the ball and pay more attention to the opponents. Coaching staff please take a look at this, you can correct it for the next match. Here are some clear situations of this problem in the two matches:

The team is always making the same mistakes and it is not their fault. Coaching staff should have noticed it because all 12 goals suffered by Solomon Islands came from these three situations. Someone please send this post and the highlights to them! These situations did not happened only in the goals. This is the kind of thing that needs to be corrected with training, players need to know all this stuff before the kick-off.

Raphael Lea’i has been the most dangerous player, but he does need to touch more the ball. A great solution can be found by bringing him to the midfield. If midfielders cannot receive the ball and pass them well, why not placing the most skilled player as attacking midfielder to increase team’s offensive actions?

OCEANIA FOOTBALL CENTER SUGGESTION

Mexico lost to Italy and has only one point in group F. They really need to score a lot of goals against Solomon Islands if they want to qualify to round of 16. They will surely come with a high pressure in the first minutes of the match and Solomon Islands needs to hold their first 15 or 20 minutes of each half.

As we stated in this article, defense is being a big issue for Solomon Islands. Placing three defensive midfielders could be an interesting alternative to protect the defensive line and containing Mexican attack. These defensive midfielder could also cover the fullbacks when they run forward, just like in this picture below

Raphael Lea’i playing as trequartista (but with some defensive responsibilities) could be interest because of three reasons
1- The most skilled player would be closer to the defensive players, improving their capacity of creating (but not using short passes as their main strategy)
2- In “kick and rush” situations he has the possibility of taking the ball with an open field so he can run and assist to one of the two strikers
3- If Mexico really wants to score lots of goals they will probably not care a lot with Solomon Islands attack, so Lea’i could find some freedom between the defensive lines.

The two strikers would be helpful in kick and rush situations that should be more used by Solomon Islands. Kicking the ball forward is better than losing the ball and suffer a goal. These strikers can fight for the ball against rival’s centre backs to retain some possession in the attacking field.

Of course these things would not avoid Solomon Islands losses but at least they may not have suffered 12 goals in two matches. The gap between Europe/South America and Pacific Islands are huge and it is also because of football culture. Pacific Islands need to have more contact with the next level. The development is not only technical but also physical, tactical, mental and administrative. And that is the biggest difference between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. You cannot develop well if you still do the same old minded and outdated things.

You can check the highlights here (against Italy) and here (against Paraguay).

Oceania Football Center staff will be in Kleber Andrade to watch Mexico vs Solomon Islands. We will be there with a huge Solomon Islands flag to support them!