The women’s game in Africa might not enjoy the same exposure as it does on other continents.
This is partly due to limited coverage and partly because its highest-profile names ply their trade elsewhere (the NWSL boasts many of its current stars).
Still, women's football in Africa is undoubtedly just as capable of producing headlines and giving those who follow it memories to last a lifetime.
2024 has proven that, with the recent CAF Women’s Champions League finals taking place and providing what can only be described as a shock winner at Morocco’s Stade El Abdi in the port city of El Jadida.
TP Mazembe Women avenged their group stage defeat to Moroccan giants AS FAR Women to secure their first-ever continental accolade.
It has been quite a turnaround for the DR Congo club (which is based in the nation’s second-largest city, Lubumbashi).
They had previously competed at this stage back in 2022.
They saw their run end after the group games had been completed.
A win against Egypt’s Wadi Degla Women was cancelled out by defeats to South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies and Nigerian outfit Bayelsa Queens.
Their ability to make it this far is due in no small part to the efforts of head coach Lamia Boumehdi, who was appointed to her position in 2023.
Considered a trailblazer in her native Morocco, she has instigated a tactical evolution at Mazembe that has transformed their performances and made them a much tougher side to face.
This tactical analysis will focus on that, detailing the tactics that took them to the podium's top step and showing why Boumehdi has had such a positive impact on their play.
The scout report will also credit key players who contributed to their success, highlighting the roles they played in their team’s name being written into the history books.
TP Mazembe Women Building Attacks
When watching TP Mazembe Women play, what immediately stands out is the manner in which they build attacks.
They constantly desire to get on the front foot early and take the game to their opponents.
However, this does not mean that they always sent long balls up the field.
Instead, there was a nice variety in everything that they did during transitional phases and adapting to different circumstances, which proved key to their being so tough to contain.
Their approach was more often than not centred around using the wings and trying to be as expansive as possible, a key demand that Boumehdi has always had in her philosophy.
In this case, DR Congo attacking midfielder Marlène Kasaj can be seen carrying that out perfectly.
She receives the ball inside the pitch and instantly angles her body to feed it into the path of international teammate Esther Dikisha, who has sought to take advantage of Nigerian side Edo Queens’ compact backline.
It didn't lead to anything on this occasion.
Dikisha’s attempted inside pass was cut out by defenders in her vicinity.
This is not the only occasion when the new champions were seen making these diagonal forward passes and attempting to outflank their opponents.
The issues it caused certainly contributed to their averaging 2.2 goals per game as the tournament went on.
However, as mentioned, Mazembe's actions were varied and adaptable.
That was highlighted clearly here, with Kasaj in possession and having an opportunity to shift the ball up the field to instigate another shot on goal.
On this occasion, she opted not to make that pass.
Instead, she sent the ball across the field, prioritising retaining possession over the risk of losing it once it was sent into the air.
This highlights a key point about Mazembe’s build-up play.
Boumehdi had her tactics.
However, she also wanted her team to play with freedom, making decisions and recognising when to attempt a vertical pass and when to consolidate what they had gained up until that point simply.
Marlène Kasaj’s Pass Map For The CAF Women’s Champions League 2024
Registering a 61% passing accuracy for the tournament, this ability to control the tempo of their games was something else that led to their success, and Kasaj was the one so often at the heart of that.
As this graphic indicates, she often dictated when her team put their combined foot on the pedal and when they simply bided their time.
Plenty of her passes travelled up the pitch, but a high volume was more horizontal.
Given this, it will be no surprise to learn that she was included in the tournament’s Best XI (alongside teammates Merveille Kanjinga and Marta Lacho).
It's clear how influential she was in the composure and control her side operated with.
It would certainly have been a lot harder for them to be crowned champions without her pulling the strings in the manner that she did.
This does not mean that Mazembe always played in this measured manner, though.
They were just as capable of launching rapid counterattacks.
In this case, Ivorian forward Lagoali Kreto has possession and is looking to turn a break up the field into a shot on goal, knowing that Edo Queens are short of numbers at the back.
However, this is where another key decision needs to be made.
Kreto has the aforementioned Kanjinga ahead of her; therefore, she can play her through to shoot at goal and test her own luck from range.
Miracle Usani's movement towards her creates even more of a gap, which results in her choosing the latter option.
It might not have come off here, but Mazembe are not averse to shooting from these distances.
As many as 66.7% of their counterattacks end in a shot on goal, resulting in them not waiting whenever they move up the pitch until they get into the perfect position.
Therefore, this is another factor that needs to be considered when considering why they were so tough to keep out at times.
TP Mazembe Women's Rotations In Possession
One of the key themes in this scout report so far is TP Mazembe Women’s passing strengths, which have proven helpful in other ways.
As the tournament continued, they sometimes didn’t have those same wide spaces available.
They needed to work a little harder to create the gaps their tactics relied on so heavily.
Boumehdi clearly understood this and had made provisions for her team to adapt to these potential problems.
She introduced a rotational element to their play whenever they moved the ball around the field.
This was one occasion when that came in useful, with Edo Queens’ defensive line evenly spaced out and appearing impenetrable at first glance.
However, Wivine Makasi's pass down the nearside wing towards Ghanaian midfielder Thelma Baffour bypasses Paulina Ali, who cannot intercept it and tempts Valentina Uroko out of line.
This hands Mazembe the advantage.
Ali does track backwards to fill the hole that has now appeared in the backline.
Still, it doesn’t manage to connect with Comfort Folorunsho before Makasi can play Angolan forward Lacho through the gap and into the open territory.
On this occasion, the Benin City-based side was let off when Lacho hit the crossbar from a tight angle.
However, the threat was there, and it indicated how capable Mazembe were of manipulating their opponents and taking advantage of any errors that occurred.
In many ways, this kind of play mirrors what fans expect from a team like Barcelona Femení.
The reigning European champions are also known for making runs and passing the ball in ways designed to create gaps.
It is not the only way that the two sides share stylistic traits.
Another is the way that Mazembe seek to involve their striker in build-up play.
It's typical to see Kanjinga drop back and get on the ball in deeper areas and push up the field to lead the line.
The rotational aspect of this comes when looking at the wide forwards, though.
They make the opposite run and become the team’s outlets at the top of the pitch.
In this case, Lacho and South African international Kgalebane Mohlakoana are in those roles, stretching the pitch out vertically.
This ensures that Mazembe can maintain their potency and that Kanjinga has options when she turns to keep the attack in the ascendency.
On this occasion, she looked to find Lacho, not Mohlakoana, before running into the penalty area to receive the return pass.
It didn't end with a goal.
Kanjinga failed to get a clean enough touch on the ball once it returned to her path.
However, the key point is how she and the wide forwards worked in unison here.
It was their reverse movements that kept AS FAR guessing.
However, Mazembe have not always been able to fashion gaps in such a simple manner.
There have been games in which they have needed to look not for a hole in the opposing backline but for areas where resistance can be minimised.
This is one example, with Senegalese club Aigles de la Médina proving robust at times and forcing Mazembe to think carefully about how they break them down.
The solution here was for Kanjinga to make an off-the-ball decoy run towards the nearside wing.
That proved critical, with the Senegal trio of Anta Dembélé, Ngouye Sarr, and midfielder Bineta Seck tempted towards where she and Lacho were and being removed from the game as a result.
Even at that stage, Lacho would not have found it easy to play an opponent through the gap, with Kreto being tightly marked by Aminata Kanté.
This is where the point about having a limited defensive presence comes into play, with Mazembe aiming to give Kreto as few opponents as possible to negotiate with.
Had Kanjinga not made the decoy run, she could have taken on three or four defenders when the ball was sent in her direction, but it was now just one.
In the end, it was not too difficult because Kanté took a step towards the ball, leaving Kreto with enough space to round goalkeeper Thiaba Gueye Séne and score.
Again, this is reminiscent of something that Barcelona have sometimes favoured in their tactics — especially last season when they constantly looked to overload one wing and open up space on the other.
Now, Arsenal Women forward Mariona Caldentey made the run that Kanjinga made here more often than not.
It proved a highly effective strategy for them on several occasions.
For Mazembe, it certainly helped them in tighter matches and is another contributory reason for their ending the tournament as continental champions.
TP Mazembe Women's Defensive Strategy
TP Mazembe Women’s offensive play was not the only thing that caught the eye during the recent Champions League tournament, though.
Their defending contributed just as much and must be credited for that.
This is especially true considering that they only averaged 44.85% possession per outing and conceded just 0.8 goals per game.
That indicates that they spent significant periods of time without the ball and did not allow opponents to convert that into goals scored against them.
Given the front-foot nature of Mazembe’s play, it perhaps comes as no surprise that their defending revolves around taking the game to their opponents and being proactive.
This came through them pressing from the front whenever there was a chance to do so.
Lacho is doing just that here as she closes down Ali and forces her into making a loose pass in her attempt to find Uroko.
The interception is inevitable as soon as the ball leaves Ali’s boot.
However, Mazembe were interested in more than just forcing errors when pushing up the field in this manner.
They were also keen to see their opponents make long clearances up the pitch, which played into their strengths.
This is because they knew that those further back were particularly adept in defensive and aerial duels.
They won 70.4% and 51.1% of them throughout the Champions League main stages.
When opponents made hurried, long passes up the field, they backed themselves and often came out of line to meet the ball early, just as Cameroonian player Ladifatou Ngambe has done here as Aigles de la Médina attempted to find Seck.
She was aided by a loose touch by the Dakar side’s midfielder as she attempted to control the ball, but the key point is Ngambe's intent and determination.
It is not the only time that those involved in the defensive side of the game have made these runs out towards the ball.
They have matched the proactiveness that those ahead of them have demonstrated.
This is not to say that Mazembe can only defend in that way.
There have been times when they needed to absorb more pressure and focus on being solid rather than regaining the ball early.
This was evident from their opening match of the group stage.
South African side University of West Cape Ladies attempt to penetrate their rearguard here.
Mazembe sit back in a 4-4-2 shape to put as much ground between the ball and their goal as possible.
However, this is not to say that they allowed UWC to gain ground easily.
It's clear that Lacho and Karaj are pressing South African forward Sibulele Holweni on either side.
However, the back four are not making any attempt to come out and help them by cutting off another angle.
That is the key point as it highlights how, despite this not being where they are most comfortable, Mazembe have different ways of defending in their locker and can once again adapt to what is happening around them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has examined TP Mazembe Women more closely, highlighting the different reasons they successfully lifted the CAF Women’s Champions League trophy for the first time in their history and defied expectations in the process.
As the analysis has indicated, their triumph really came down to clever tactics in each of their games and a strong partnership of what was needed at different times to ensure that they could either win or minimise damage.
That comes in many ways from how Boumehdi and her players have bonded since her arrival.
It is clear that the team has adopted her methods and that both parties are working in the same direction.
As champions, they are guaranteed a place in next year’s main stage, and it will be interesting to see if they can become the first team to retain the trophy (AS FAR’s solitary win separates Sundowns’ two titles).
To do so would be quite a feat and will not be easy to accomplish, with the South African and Moroccan former winners wanting to respond to their various setbacks this time and others capable of challenging if things fall into place for them.
However, Mazembe have shown that they are not worried about statuses and previous title wins, and that makes them a team that no side should underestimate.
It has been quite a story to see them lift the trophy, and it is something that no one connected with the club will ever forget.
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