the numbers show he does not have a speed merchant in his side – none measured better than nine metres per second, which is too slow for a high-intensity output.
A team needs at least three players who can hit an average of seven metres per second in the attacking line, a feat former French captain Thierry Henry hit at relative ease in every team he played for before his move to the US.
Only one player in the entire squad can give Mapeza a variation in attack and that is Quincy Antipas.
He posted excellent stats in the friendly against Zambia and is the only man that can play a pressing game.
If a team wants to press from the front like Zimbabwe did against Zambia for the greater part of the first half, Antipas is the most suited because his physical output can give you at least eight metres per second and have the heart to do so for more than 90 minutes.
On average, the ball spends 27 minutes out of play, but in the match against Zambia it was 33 minutes, yet against Mali it was 24 minutes as both teams tried not to make mistakes.
In the period the ball was in play, Billiat had the longest time in possession 5.23seconds, even higher than the best keeper of the ball in the world Xavi Hernandez of Spain who on average keeps the ball for 4.37seconds (Please note this stat is for Spain, he clocks 6.14sec in Barca team).
But the difference between Xavi and Billiat is that the Spanish midfielder know the zones where to play the ball and when and he is the key orchestrator of his team’s dangerous attacks.
Billiat should know when to isolate telling passes from meaningless square balls, which are in the majority of his balls.
On average the ball changes hands 400 times a match but in both matches under review, the average was 393 times, a shade lower than the average.
Mapeza need all our help to realise that only a third of goals in football comes from fluid situations, yet the majority comes from corners, free kicks, penalties and throw ins – stop start set pieces.
But Karuru’s stats indicate that he is a player who covers a larger part of the ground in crucial areas more times.
When the balls is not moving from the defensive third, he drifts wide right, pulling with him a central midfielder creating a web around the ball while shutting down passing options.
In the final third, he always moves into space, creating options for a player with the ball and can be moulded into a more incisive playmaker and all the numbers give him an edge over others.
Since the majority of football lovers are not numbers men, let us not put unnecessary pressure o Mapeza as Zifa do not have a team of performance analysts who provide the numbers to the technical for use.
We may get the coach making some choices that appear out of sync, it could be numbers forcing his hand as the best teams in the world have the best performance analysts – Liverpool have Damien Comolli and South Africa have a strong team of eight.
Research has shown that all coaches are right 30 percent of the time using their gut feeling, so we may be judging Mapeza on that yet, the numbers which constitute 70 percent of the success chances and is not difficult to put together, remain unused.

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