Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry has explained why he needs to reduce the squad ahead of the Football Kenya Federation Premier League 2023/24 campaign.

In doing so, the former Uganda Cranes tactician says competition and quality will improve in the squad. McKinstry’s suggestion comes after a transfer ban was lifted, and many thought the club would sign more players to increase the pool and balance of the squad.

Gor Mahia’s depth

“We wanted a little more depth in midfield, where we have added a little competition, and also in goal, where we wanted a little bit more competition too. 

“We want to add depth in terms of competition but also reduce the squad numbers. We sort of jumped from having 20 players in the first half of the season to 29 players after the ban was lifted. We want to reduce it down to 25 or 26 because we want to add real competition,” McKinstry said, as quoted by a local media outlet.

The Premier League winner revealed his concerns, especially with the attacking department. The frontline depended more on Benson Omala, who was impressive throughout the season but lost the Golden Boot race to Elvis Rupia of Police FC.

“That has been especially true on the offensive line. Not necessarily at striker because we have Benson (Omala) and (Kaddu), who are great competition for each other and have different profiles.

“However, in the line behind that, we need more. Austin (Odhiambo) finished the league very highly with nine goals, seven or eight assists, and fifteen or so goal contributions when you put everything together.

“Beyond that, no one else got into double figures for goal contributions. Peter Lwasa, John Macharia, and George Odhiambo had lower numbers. Boniface Omondi had okay numbers, but still not above the magic 15 numbers. So we are thinking of beefing up competition there,” the former Rwanda head coach added.

Unrealistic targets

Despite his concerns, McKinstry was cautious not to set unrealistic targets for his players.

“It is not that our number 9s can’t score the goals. There is no doubt about that, but if you said Ben and Patrick would have 20-goal seasons, that is what you want from your number nine. Expecting them to score 40 goals each is unrealistic.

“That is why we need to get more from those offensive line numbers 10s, 7s, and 11s,” he concluded.